iTunes - One track in several albums

5

I'm using Windows 7 to do this. I have quite an extensive library of music and now I have quite a lot of duplicate tracks but in different albums. Obviously I don't really want duplicate files but I'd still them to appear in all of the albums they should. The biggest example I have is that I have multiple UK Top 40s now and some songs are in the charts for weeks, so I have multiple versions of that song which I don't want - but I do want to be able to see the track in each week still. (On my iPhone...)

Is there any way to do this in iTunes? I don't mind a bit of tedious work if it means I can eliminate duplicate tracks!

Andy

Posted 2012-08-06T18:02:56.597

Reputation: 473

Answers

1

You could use individual playlists for the Top 40 of each week. This way you can include a specific track into several playlist without duplicating neither the track/audio data nor the metadata.

nohillside

Posted 2012-08-06T18:02:56.597

Reputation: 506

Yeah, looks like this will be my best bet. Simplest anyway, and by the looks of it the only way. Guess I've got a lot of playlists to create. Thanks for the suggestion. – Andy – 2012-08-07T13:40:14.843

1

No, there is not a way to do this. A track is only allowed one set of id3 tags. Similar Apple Support question: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3846099?start=0&tstart=0

user142485

Posted 2012-08-06T18:02:56.597

Reputation: 1 743

Feared this would be the case. It's a real shame but I guess they didn't think about this when designed the system. Thanks for the information – Andy – 2012-08-07T13:38:14.550

0

I was able to put the same track on 2 different albums. I had to download a second copy of the song (track) however. I did this 2 ways with 2 different songs, which I have on albums in iTunes, but wanted to add to a compilation. First method (NOTE: this is an album for which I have the physical CD); I inserted the CD into my drive, but did not allow iTunes to auto import it. I clicked on the CD icon, unchecked the tracks, renamed the track I wanted, the used File; Add to Library; and picked the song/track I wanted. The I just changed the Song Info to match the artist and album I wanted. Second method: (I bought/downloaded the album on iTunes) Use Youtube. I found a Youtube version of the song and used an online Youtube to MP3 converter, which after conversion online automatically downloaded the new track (NOTE: Beware, there is at least one site that does this for free, but keeps asking you to download their conversion program. DON'T! The program is malware.). Again, just change the artist, album, etc info in Song Info and compile your compilation. I don't consider this piracy, as I purchased this song legitimately. But if you change the Song Info in iTunes, it will move the song and you lose it from the album.

Bri

Posted 2012-08-06T18:02:56.597

Reputation: 1

0

Well if you don't mind the tedious work... do a search to filter down to the duplicate songs, likely using the song name. Then, right click on one of them and select Get Info. You should now be able to enter the album name and it should auto-complete names of existing albums. Once you enter and save this info your song will be bound to and show up in that album when it is selected.

MetaGuru

Posted 2012-08-06T18:02:56.597

Reputation: 3 589

Ok, but what is the seperater for multiple albums. I've tried putting ',' and ';' but it doesn't auto-complete any more if I type anything after that? – Andy – 2012-08-06T18:39:30.987

@Andy I think that the meta data only supports one album per song. I was under the impression you had (using example numbers) say 3 duplicate songs, all from different albums, but were not showing up in the albums appropriately. This method allows you to set which album a song appears in. – MetaGuru – 2012-08-07T13:30:16.703

Oh, no - kind of the opposite really. Not what I wanted to do but thank you anyway! – Andy – 2012-08-07T13:33:38.300

Oh so what you want is a single file to show up in multiple albums, but still only be one file? I don't think that's possible... – MetaGuru – 2012-08-07T14:26:54.433

libertas, Yes. That's exactly what I want but I don't think that's possible either. I'm just going to have to use patrix's suggestion I think! – Andy – 2012-08-09T11:12:43.410

Asked: 2012-08-06T18:02:56.597

Viewed: 4 668 times

Active: 2018-08-26T18:13:24.060