PDA

View Full Version : All converted files in my iTunes library have been labelled "Explicit" by iTunes 11



ripadeedoodah
12-11-2012, 05:22 PM
All the songs in nearly all the albums in my iTunes library have been labelled "explicit" since I downloaded the iTunes 11 update, even though I don't have any explicit material in my library. There's no way of removing this tag that I've yet been able to discover. All the albums that have this tag are albums I converted using dBpoweramp. Is this a known issue and is there a way of fixing it? Please don't tell me I have to re-rip my entire library!

garym
12-11-2012, 06:00 PM
All the songs in nearly all the albums in my iTunes library have been labelled "explicit" since I downloaded the iTunes 11 update, even though I don't have any explicit material in my library. There's no way of removing this tag that I've yet been able to discover. All the albums that have this tag are albums I converted using dBpoweramp. Is this a known issue and is there a way of fixing it? Please don't tell me I have to re-rip my entire library!

Known problem fix here.

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?27799-classical-music-gets-explicit-tag-added-when-converting&p=127951&highlight=Explicit+tag*post127951

ripadeedoodah
12-12-2012, 05:21 AM
I saw that thread and that's why I posted. It's not a fix - what it seems to suggest is that, in order to get rid of the explicit ratings which are now on every single song (eg Frosty The Snowman) and can't be removed, I have to trash my entire music library and re-rip it from scratch using the new beta version.

I appreciate your kindness in replying but - are you serious?

dgs2001
12-12-2012, 05:34 AM
Theres no need to rerip them just use the tag editor from the beta version.

select a sensible amount of albums and right click > Edit ID-Tags

Then look for the Content Rating tag and change it to 0

** NOTE **
Itunes will not update the display until a track is selected then the explicit label will vanish.

Duncan

garym
12-12-2012, 07:28 AM
Itunes will not update the display until a track is selected then the explicit label will vanish.

or you can delete the itunes music library, then re-add the directory as library and this takes care of all the songs at once. I can't seem to locate it, but I've seen posts here (or elsewhere) regarding a script one can run against their itunes library, that basically will automatically "select itunes files automatically and "touch" them in a way that will cause itunes to reread their metadata automatically and thus make everything show up properly in itunes (of course you still need to do the dbpa edit mentioned above).

garym
12-12-2012, 08:50 AM
I saw that thread and that's why I posted. It's not a fix - what it seems to suggest is that, in order to get rid of the explicit ratings which are now on every single song (eg Frosty The Snowman) and can't be removed, I have to trash my entire music library and re-rip it from scratch using the new beta version.

I appreciate your kindness in replying but - are you serious?

Am I serious? Huh? And that thread does not indicate that you have to rerip at all. anyhow, stuff answered below now with more info.

ripadeedoodah
12-12-2012, 02:52 PM
What a nightmare. I mean, thanks very much for the info, DGS2001 and garym, but what a nightmare. My music library, although obviously ripped in Windows, is contained on a Mac (two Macs in fact) so if I'm going to use R14.4 to edit the tags on every file, it means I'll have to move the entire library back to Windows, and then learn how to edit it, and then actually carry out the editing, no doubt making many mistakes along the way and having to fix them, and then move the whole library back to the one Mac again and see if there's a way of copying it to the other Mac. It's going to take hours of work - I know it wouldn't for you guys but I'm just an ordinary Joe who likes listening to music and I've no idea how to edit tags or any of this stuff. I already spent well over an hour on the phone to Apple Support trying (unsuccessfully) to get this problem fixed before realising dBpoweramp was the culprit. And before you say, "Why not just live with the explicit ratings?", apart from anything else we have parental controls in the family home so the iTunes library is currently unusable.

I'm amazed there isn't a long thread on this topic - surely many people must be affected, and lots of them worse than me? (My library isn't that big.) Maybe they just haven't yet realised it's a dBpoweramp issue.

Anyway, if you've any other suggestions that could make things easier I would love to hear them.

garym
12-12-2012, 03:05 PM
What a nightmare. I mean, thanks very much for the info, DGS2001 and garym, but what a nightmare. My music library, although obviously ripped in Windows, is contained on a Mac (two Macs in fact) so if I'm going to use R14.4 to edit the tags on every file, it means I'll have to move the entire library back to Windows, and then learn how to edit it, and then actually carry out the editing, no doubt making many mistakes along the way and having to fix them, and then move the whole library back to the one Mac again and see if there's a way of copying it to the other Mac. It's going to take hours of work - I know it wouldn't for you guys but I'm just an ordinary Joe who likes listening to music and I've no idea how to edit tags or any of this stuff. I already spent well over an hour on the phone to Apple Support trying (unsuccessfully) to get this problem fixed before realising dBpoweramp was the culprit. And before you say, "Why not just live with the explicit ratings?", apart from anything else we have parental controls in the family home so the iTunes library is currently unusable.

I'm amazed there isn't a long thread on this topic - surely many people must be affected, and lots of them worse than me? (My library isn't that big.) Maybe they just haven't yet realised it's a dBpoweramp issue.

Anyway, if you've any other suggestions that could make things easier I would love to hear them.

This has nothing to do with Apple, so no use contacting them, but I guess you now figured this out. And most apple users are not using dbpa (because they don't even know about secure ripping). I'm not sure, but maybe this problem only affects lossy files created with dbpa, and I suspect many dbpa users create FLAC files (lossless), so they might not see this issue on their end.

But You must have a backup of your music files that you keep on a USB Harddrive? If not, you need this anyhow. Then just plug this into your Windows machine running DBPA. find the directory with all your files, Select all, right click, select EDIT ID TAG from the menu, then change the explicit tag value, then hit save. You're doing this to ALL your files at one time in one large batch. So other than the backup of the files to the Harddrive, this should take about 3 minutes.

Then delete the music directory on your Mac, replace the files on your Mac with the files from your harddrive, have itunes rescan the music folder to add all the songs back to your itunes library and you're back in business. Maybe 15 minutes in total. Just in case, I'd probably create two copies of my music files on the external HD. One would be an exact copy of what you have. The second would be the one you work with for tag edit (and that you copy back to your Macs). This way, if you messed something up, you have the original files untouched.

p.s. If you have no idea how to edit tags how in the world did you end up using dbpa. This is not complicated, but dbpa is usually only used by people that know more than the typical itunes user about ripping, music files, etc. (and I'm not a computer guy, just an average joe music listener as well).

ripadeedoodah
12-12-2012, 04:52 PM
This has nothing to do with Apple, so no use contacting them, but I guess you now figured this out. And most apple users are not using dbpa (because they don't even know about secure ripping). I'm not sure, but maybe this problem only affects lossy files created with dbpa, and I suspect many dbpa users create FLAC files (lossless), so they might not see this issue on their end.

But You must have a backup of your music files that you keep on a USB Harddrive? If not, you need this anyhow. Then just plug this into your Windows machine running DBPA. find the directory with all your files, Select all, right click, select EDIT ID TAG from the menu, then change the explicit tag value, then hit save. You're doing this to ALL your files at one time in one large batch. So other than the backup of the files to the Harddrive, this should take about 3 minutes.

Then delete the music directory on your Mac, replace the files on your Mac with the files from your harddrive, have itunes rescan the music folder to add all the songs back to your itunes library and you're back in business. Maybe 15 minutes in total. Just in case, I'd probably create two copies of my music files on the external HD. One would be an exact copy of what you have. The second would be the one you work with for tag edit (and that you copy back to your Macs). This way, if you messed something up, you have the original files untouched.

p.s. If you have no idea how to edit tags how in the world did you end up using dbpa. This is not complicated, but dbpa is usually only used by people that know more than the typical itunes user about ripping, music files, etc. (and I'm not a computer guy, just an average joe music listener as well).

Ha! Maybe 15 of your earth minutes but I promise you, it'll be more like 15 hours where I come from. However, thank you very much indeed for the helpful tips, which make it sound a slightly less daunting task. I do have an external back-up drive with copies of all my music files but that drive is my other Mac, a Mac Mini, so unfortunately that doesn't help me at all. But at least it points me in the right direction - maybe I can borrow a drive from someone or else I'll have to buy one, and then I can copy all my files over to it and start from there.

I should have said at the beginning that all my files were ripped directly from CDs to Apple Lossless, then moved one at a time (over a long period) from Windows to iMac (and Mac Mini.) Maybe it only affects people running their ripped files on OS X? If not, and it affects Windows too, I would think that a lot of dBPoweramp users would be affected. Like me, they're probably cursing Apple for botching iTunes 11 at the moment and haven't yet realised it's only their dBpoweramp files that are affected. I only realised by a fluke, otherwise I'd still be on the phone to Apple Support..

Anyway, thank you again for your advice. I won't have time to tackle this before Christmas but will try to get it fixed in the new year. Meanwhile it's back to good old LPs and CDs for me!

garym
12-12-2012, 05:12 PM
Ha! Maybe 15 of your earth minutes but I promise you, it'll be more like 15 hours where I come from. However, thank you very much indeed for the helpful tips, which make it sound a slightly less daunting task. I do have an external back-up drive with copies of all my music files but that drive is my other Mac, a Mac Mini, so unfortunately that doesn't help me at all. But at least it points me in the right direction - maybe I can borrow a drive from someone or else I'll have to buy one, and then I can copy all my files over to it and start from there.

I should have said at the beginning that all my files were ripped directly from CDs to Apple Lossless, then moved one at a time (over a long period) from Windows to iMac (and Mac Mini.) Maybe it only affects people running their ripped files on OS X? If not, and it affects Windows too, I would think that a lot of dBPoweramp users would be affected. Like me, they're probably cursing Apple for botching iTunes 11 at the moment and haven't yet realised it's only their dBpoweramp files that are affected. I only realised by a fluke, otherwise I'd still be on the phone to Apple Support..

Anyway, thank you again for your advice. I won't have time to tackle this before Christmas but will try to get it fixed in the new year. Meanwhile it's back to good old LPs and CDs for me!

when you get ready to tackle it, don't hesitate to post back and I'll try to help you step by step. Once you have files on a drive, its actually pretty simple.

dgs2001
12-12-2012, 06:09 PM
Just to confirm its not as daunting as you think.
And yes it affects flac too.

I ended up with a classical piano album which has no singing at all labelled as explicit. but it only took a few clicks to sort it, and sorting multiple albums all at once should only require the same few clicks once they are all selected.

Spoon
12-13-2012, 05:03 AM
Install the utility codec 'ID Tag Update' from codec central, use Batch Converter to select your whole music folder (one click), then convert >> to ID Tag Update, add a deletion rule to remove 'Content Rating' tag value.

Job done.

(test on a few files first)

garym
12-13-2012, 06:54 AM
And yes it affects flac too.


What do you mean when you say it affects FLAC? I looked at all my recently ripped FLAC files (dbpa 14.3). None of these FLAC files have a content rating field/tag. Are you saying that converting to m4a from a FLAC file with dbpa 14.3 will add the rogue content rating tag.

ripadeedoodah
12-13-2012, 02:57 PM
Install the utility codec 'ID Tag Update' from codec central, use Batch Converter to select your whole music folder (one click), then convert >> to ID Tag Update, add a deletion rule to remove 'Content Rating' tag value.

Job done.

(test on a few files first)

I'm sorry but this is like a foreign language to me. What's codec central and where do I install this codec? But most important of all, can I do all this on a Mac? Because my first problem is getting my entire library back into Windows again.

Speaking of which, I suddenly had a (very obvious) thought this morning. All my problems would be solved if there were a simple way of editing the library tags on a Mac. Does anyone know of an an easy-to-use tag editor that will fix this problem on a Mac?

Spoon
12-13-2012, 03:18 PM
Codec Central:

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/codec-central.htm

garym
12-13-2012, 03:20 PM
I'm sorry but this is like a foreign language to me. What's codec central and where do I install this codec? But most important of all, can I do all this on a Mac? Because my first problem is getting my entire library back into Windows again.

Speaking of which, I suddenly had a (very obvious) thought this morning. All my problems would be solved if there were a simple way of editing the library tags on a Mac. Does anyone know of an an easy-to-use tag editor that will fix this problem on a Mac?

Yes. Several including iTunes itself.

garym
12-13-2012, 05:46 PM
I believe dbpa can be installed on your Mac using WINE?

Mp3tag is excellent and folks have it running on a Mac.
http://vortexbox.org/threads/3251-Mac-OS-X-version-of-

Maybe one of these Mac compatible.
http://alternativeto.net/software/mp3tag/

ripadeedoodah
12-14-2012, 01:35 PM
Yes. Several including iTunes itself.

As far as I know, and I'd be really happy to be corrected, there's no way of using itunes to edit out the "explicit" tag that's been added, or I'd have done it long ago. Am I wrong?

garym
12-14-2012, 01:44 PM
As far as I know, and I'd be really happy to be corrected, there's no way of using itunes to edit out the "explicit" tag that's been added, or I'd have done it long ago. Am I wrong?

sorry, just looked and it appears that itunes doesn't allow editing of that tag. So I'd try either the OSx version of mp3tag or one of the other Mac tag editors. There are lots of them....but I'm not a Mac user so can't speak in any detail about them. Just google a bit (something like "mp3tag for Mac" should pull up lots of stuff)

ripadeedoodah
12-14-2012, 03:56 PM
sorry, just looked and it appears that itunes doesn't allow editing of that tag. So I'd try either the OSx version of mp3tag or one of the other Mac tag editors. There are lots of them....but I'm not a Mac user so can't speak in any detail about them. Just google a bit (something like "mp3tag for Mac" should pull up lots of stuff)

OK, thanks garym - I don't really fancy the OS X version of mp3tag because it sounds a bit improvised but I'll look at what else is available.

Balok
12-15-2012, 07:28 PM
Note: iTunes (10.2) may cache this information. I followed Spoon's instructions using the 'Convert To' context menu option and the tags were still there. I had to remove the songs from iTunes, and then add them back before the tag disappeared. Using dbPoweramp 14.4Beta, and ID Tag Update codec release 3.

Removing songs from iTunes may result in the loss of certain information, such as options, play counts, last played date and possibly the regular rating, that it seems to store only in its database.

For future reference, I used dbpa's Options section to explicitly tell it to write a Content Rating tag with a value of zero. Hopefully that will prevent a recurrence of this problem.

ripadeedoodah
12-16-2012, 07:03 AM
Note: iTunes (10.2) may cache this information. I followed Spoon's instructions using the 'Convert To' context menu option and the tags were still there. I had to remove the songs from iTunes, and then add them back before the tag disappeared. Using dbPoweramp 14.4Beta, and ID Tag Update codec release 3.

Removing songs from iTunes may result in the loss of certain information, such as options, play counts, last played date and possibly the regular rating, that it seems to store only in its database.

For future reference, I used dbpa's Options section to explicitly tell it to write a Content Rating tag with a value of zero. Hopefully that will prevent a recurrence of this problem.

That's bad news. I haven't even got that far yet - I'm still trying to find a way of moving my IiTunes library back into Windows in such a way that it can be edited. I have an iMac with Bootcamp so I have OSX on one partition and Windows 7 on another. I spent an hour yesterday trying to find a way of moving the music library from the OSX back into the Windows 7 partition in such a way that I could write to it but I can't - it always ends up read-only. So today I have emptied out my cupboards and found a Western Digital hard drive that I once used to back up Dell PC running Windows XP. I hooked that up to the Mac but I can't find a way of moving or copying the music library to it. Even if I do find a way, I have a bad feeling that any copy will be read-only once I try to open it in Windows. If you're still listening, garym, you can see why I laughed when you talked about a 15-minute job. I've spent far in excess of three hours on this already and I haven't even found a way of starting yet. And from what Balok says, there's a poor likelihood of a successful outcome even if I do. I do realise some of this is self-inflicted in that the problem would be easier to tackle in Windows but I think it might be easier just to rip my entire library all over again, maybe using a Mac-friendly ripper next time.

garym
12-16-2012, 08:59 AM
In windows I can simply select all my files and remove the "read only" property. Can't you do this in your bootcamp windows partition? This does seem to be excessive struggling for a fairly trivial task. I don't know how much your time is worth versus willingness to spend money, but at some point you might simply want to seek out a computer savvy person that can be paid to assist. An IT person from your work, geek squad from best buy, etc.

p.s. Balok is not saying there will not be success, he is saying that removing then readding the files to your itunes will cause you to lose database things like playcounts, ratings, etc. But you may not use that data anyhow and your files themselves and their tags can easily be fixed (maybe not by you it seems, but again this is not a high tech problem....you just need to copy some files, open them, make a few mouse clicks, and move on). But again, I think you may need to seek some hands on help at this point. Good luck.

garym
12-16-2012, 09:07 AM
but I think it might be easier just to rip my entire library all over again, maybe using a Mac-friendly ripper next time.

This would be like rebuilding your house because you can't figure out how to open a stuck window! ;-)

garym
12-16-2012, 09:09 AM
have you googled a bit on how to change files on your Mac so that they are not read only. Stuff like this:

http://www.ehmac.ca/mac-iphone-ipad-ipod-help-troubleshooting/25781-changing-read-only-permisions-whole-folder.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2314896_fix-permissions-mac-os-x.html

Basically, just google "change read only files in Mac"

Balok
12-16-2012, 09:56 AM
p.s. Balok is not saying there will not be success, he is saying that removing then readding the files to your itunes will cause you to lose database things like playcounts, ratings, etc. But you may not use that data anyhow and your files themselves and their tags can easily be fixed (maybe not by you it seems, but again this is not a high tech problem....you just need to copy some files, open them, make a few mouse clicks, and move on). But again, I think you may need to seek some hands on help at this point. Good luck.
This is correct. I added that sentence as a warning to people who don't know that iTunes stores certain things in its database, not in the metadata of the file. It isn't the design choice I would have made, but it is the design choice they made (I prefer self-describing data files whenever possible).

Those attributes didn't matter to me because I'd just ripped the disc in question and added it to iTunes. Most of them accrue over usage; you won't generally lose much data if you're talking about files recently ripped. The first time I saw the 'Explicit' tags was after recently upgrading to 14.3. I don't know how long dbpa has been creating them incorrectly. But if this is a recent bug, only recently ripped files should be affected, and you won't lose much historical data. The 'options' I'm talking about are the properties controlled from the 'Options' tab of the property sheet/book that appears when you select Get Info from a song's context menu.

ripadeedoodah
12-16-2012, 03:45 PM
OK, Balok and garym, thank you very much for that and I understand what you're saying.

After spending another couple of hours on this today I think I may actually have made some progress.

In Windows, I had previously tried to unmark the read-only mark on the music library folder without success. But the clue was in one of the links you posted, garym - I went back to OSX and found the music library was marked read-only there (except for me, the administrator) so I changed that to read-and-write for all. Then I moved the library folder over to OSX again and used MP3tag and this time, for the first time, it reported having successfully re-tagged all the files. I then moved the library back to OSX again and deleted the old music library folder and used "add library" to add the new, edited, library. I then played a couple of tracks - but no dice, they are all still labelled "explicit" so I could use a little more help.

I went back into Windows again and checked once more with MP3tag to see what it reported. Previously, when I extended the tags, there was a field between GENRE and LABEL named ITUNESADVISORY. All files ripped with dBpoweramp were marked with a 10, which presumably means "the dirtiest song ever recorded, do not listen under any circumstances." I replaced this with a 0 ("suitable for new-born babies"). On checking the tags again with MP3tag, I now find that the ITUNESADVISORY field has completely disappeared. I don't know if this is relevant.

I think the solution lies in deleting the iTunes info folder or something like that but I'm a bit wary of deleting these folders without knowing what I"m doing. If you think I should delete another folder, please could you be clear about which one so I don't make any stupid mistakes?

garym
12-16-2012, 04:40 PM
I don't think you should have to delete any folders in itunes. But you may have to remove the songs from your itunes library (then add them back). The way I do this is select all files (so all are showing in the active itunes window), select all, then right click and select delete. It will ask if you want to remove from library or really delete (forget, maybe it says send to recycle or something). But you just want to remove from library. Then when done, in itunes select FILE > ADD FOLDER tO LIBRARY, then navigate to the upper level directory containing all your music files. Then hit OK. this should then add all these files back to your itunes library. And without the itunesadvisory, they shouldn't show explicit.

you can try to just remove a couple that show as explicit and then add back only those files (FILE > ADD FILES) just as a test to see if this is working.

Balok
12-16-2012, 05:03 PM
I went back into Windows again and checked once more with MP3tag to see what it reported. Previously, when I extended the tags, there was a field between GENRE and LABEL named ITUNESADVISORY. All files ripped with dBpoweramp were marked with a 10, which presumably means "the dirtiest song ever recorded, do not listen under any circumstances." I replaced this with a 0 ("suitable for new-born babies"). On checking the tags again with MP3tag, I now find that the ITUNESADVISORY field has completely disappeared. I don't know if this is relevant.
I have never used MP3Tag. Years ago, possibly before MP3Tag existed, I bought a tool called Tag&Rename for this purpose. It does not allow you to edit metadata it does not understand. There are two basic design choices: provide a means to edit tags a tool does not understand, or ignore such tags. There are valid arguments for either choice; Tag&Rename chose to ignore these tags. So there was no way to use it to get rid of the ratings. But ID Tag Update does allow you to make such edits.

I used ID Tag Update as described above, to delete the tag named 'Content Rating'. I have not used this codec except to delete this specific tag, so I don't know how its modify and add features work. I got the name of that tag from Spoon's earlier post. I did not do anything with a tag named ITUNESADVISORY.

Inside iTunes I deleted the songs. Because iTunes does not manage my folders (I found the design choices its developers made irritating), deleting the tracks has no effect on the underlying files. Then I dragged the folder containing them back into iTunes, which as you may know causes iTunes to scan the folder and add any compatible tracks to its library. If iTunes is managing the media folders then it will likely ask if you want to delete the associated files. I did not have to delete any part of the iTunes library, so I can't offer you good advice on how to do that successfully.

I am a little puzzled as to why dbPoweramp would even create any sort of content rating. First off, where would it get the correct values? Second, I'll handle the censorship, thanks! :) Maybe that's the bug that's why Spoon says you need 14.4Beta?

garym
12-16-2012, 05:07 PM
As Balok points out, you may want to use the ID TAG UPDATE within dbpa to delete the tag CONTENT RATING. But install the 14.4 beta of dbpa first.

ripadeedoodah
12-16-2012, 05:11 PM
YES! Thanks to you, garym, and others that helped, I have FINALLY got rid of the "explicit" ratings! I just took a deep breath and deleted every damn thing and then used the "Add to library" feature to add the newly edited folder like you said and everything seems to be in place, sans the "explicit" tags.

Best Christmas present ever! (Well, a slight exaggeration, maybe, but still a big relief.)

My only question now is, how can I stop this happening again? Presumably I need to download a new version of dBpoweramp but is it only the beta version that will work without the "explicit" tags or can I go with the latest official release?

Many thanks again to all for your patience and especially garym.

garym
12-16-2012, 05:34 PM
YES! Thanks to you, garym, and others that helped, I have FINALLY got rid of the "explicit" ratings! I just took a deep breath and deleted every damn thing and then used the "Add to library" feature to add the newly edited folder like you said and everything seems to be in place, sans the "explicit" tags.

Best Christmas present ever! (Well, a slight exaggeration, maybe, but still a big relief.)

My only question now is, how can I stop this happening again? Presumably I need to download a new version of dBpoweramp but is it only the beta version that will work without the "explicit" tags or can I go with the latest official release?

Many thanks again to all for your patience and especially garym.

Great news. I'm glad you persevered and it is working. I'm pretty sure (but not positive) that you need the dbpa 14.4 beta to avoid this happening again. You can either install it now (if you want to convert files for itunes now), or wait until the 14.4 becomes official (but in the meantime, don't convert any files with 14.3 for use in itunes).

Balok
12-16-2012, 05:49 PM
In dbpa 14.4Beta, I selected Options, then under Meta Data I clicked Options next to Meta Data & ID Tag. You have to click it twice; the interface is odd. The first click turns it from a word to a button, and the second click operates the button. This brings up 'Meta Data & ID Tag Options'. Near the bottom is 'Custom and Fixed Value Tags'. I clicked 'Add Custom Tag' (twice, as above) and typed 'Content Rating' and hit Enter. Then I put '0' in the value field that appeared. I don't know if this is strictly necessary or not. When I fly over a track ripped with this setting. 'Content Rating' appears in the 'Tool Tip' window with a value of 'None'.

So far I have ripped two albums this way, and neither has shown up with Explicit tags. That could be because of what I described above, or it could be that 14.4Beta corrected a bug. I don't know. I just think of it as the 'Belt and Suspenders' plan... ;)

garym
12-17-2012, 07:23 AM
In dbpa 14.4Beta, I selected Options, then under Meta Data I clicked Options next to Meta Data & ID Tag. You have to click it twice; the interface is odd. The first click turns it from a word to a button, and the second click operates the button. This brings up 'Meta Data & ID Tag Options'. Near the bottom is 'Custom and Fixed Value Tags'. I clicked 'Add Custom Tag' (twice, as above) and typed 'Content Rating' and hit Enter. Then I put '0' in the value field that appeared. I don't know if this is strictly necessary or not. When I fly over a track ripped with this setting. 'Content Rating' appears in the 'Tool Tip' window with a value of 'None'.

So far I have ripped two albums this way, and neither has shown up with Explicit tags. That could be because of what I described above, or it could be that 14.4Beta corrected a bug. I don't know. I just think of it as the 'Belt and Suspenders' plan... ;)

I haven't had to deal with this, but I'd be surprised if your steps were required. I got the idea that 14.4 would simply not add these erroneous content rating fields by default. It would be very strange if every user had to use the steps you outline to keep explicit tags from being added in itunes. Perhaps you can test the next rip without the custom tag steps to see if they are really needed. Thanks.

ripadeedoodah
12-17-2012, 09:14 AM
I have never used MP3Tag. Years ago, possibly before MP3Tag existed, I bought a tool called Tag&Rename for this purpose. It does not allow you to edit metadata it does not understand. There are two basic design choices: provide a means to edit tags a tool does not understand, or ignore such tags. There are valid arguments for either choice; Tag&Rename chose to ignore these tags. So there was no way to use it to get rid of the ratings. But ID Tag Update does allow you to make such edits.

I used ID Tag Update as described above, to delete the tag named 'Content Rating'. I have not used this codec except to delete this specific tag, so I don't know how its modify and add features work. I got the name of that tag from Spoon's earlier post. I did not do anything with a tag named ITUNESADVISORY.

Inside iTunes I deleted the songs. Because iTunes does not manage my folders (I found the design choices its developers made irritating), deleting the tracks has no effect on the underlying files. Then I dragged the folder containing them back into iTunes, which as you may know causes iTunes to scan the folder and add any compatible tracks to its library. If iTunes is managing the media folders then it will likely ask if you want to delete the associated files. I did not have to delete any part of the iTunes library, so I can't offer you good advice on how to do that successfully.

I am a little puzzled as to why dbPoweramp would even create any sort of content rating. First off, where would it get the correct values? Second, I'll handle the censorship, thanks! :) Maybe that's the bug that's why Spoon says you need 14.4Beta?

Sorry, I hadn't seen this post when I posted my previous post.

Two things:

1. You say you deleted the tag named CONTENT RATING. Garym talks about this tag name, too. But when, in Windows 7, I use MP3tag to view the extended tags on all my files ripped with dbpa, I do not see this tag name on any of them. This includes music files that have never been sent to my iMac or iTunes - only copies of them have been sent and the originals are still in Windows. The tag I DO see on them is ITUNESADVISORY and this is the one with the 10 rating which appears to be causing all the trouble. I changed the rating to 0 and now the tag has disappeared altogether. So I don't really understand the references to a CONTENT RATING tag - unless of course it's the same tag as ITUNESADVISORY but MP3tag simply gives it a different name. I think this must be the answer.

2. Like you, I'm also puzzled as to why dbpa creates a content rating and even more puzzled as to where it gets its values from. I think it's helpful to be able to add a content rating but I agree, I think it's something that should be controlled by users, not by self-appointed censors. The trouble is, I suppose, children may be using iTunes so it's a well-intentioned attempt to protect them.

I think for the time being I'll use the latest official release of dbpa and use MP3tag to check the tagging before passing on the files to iTunes. My guess is that this will be fixed in the not too distant future, if it hasn't already, so it'll only be a small and temporary inconvenience.

garym
12-17-2012, 09:32 AM
Sorry, I hadn't seen this post when I posted my previous post.

Two things:

1. You say you deleted the tag named CONTENT RATING. Garym talks about this tag name, too. But when, in Windows 7, I use MP3tag to view the extended tags on all my files ripped with dbpa, I do not see this tag name on any of them. This includes music files that have never been sent to my iMac or iTunes - only copies of them have been sent and the originals are still in Windows. The tag I DO see on them is ITUNESADVISORY and this is the one with the 10 rating which appears to be causing all the trouble. I changed the rating to 0 and now the tag has disappeared altogether. So I don't really understand the references to a CONTENT RATING tag - unless of course it's the same tag as ITUNESADVISORY but MP3tag simply gives it a different name. I think this must be the answer.

2. Like you, I'm also puzzled as to why dbpa creates a content rating and even more puzzled as to where it gets its values from. I think it's helpful to be able to add a content rating but I agree, I think it's something that should be controlled by users, not by self-appointed censors. The trouble is, I suppose, children may be using iTunes so it's a well-intentioned attempt to protect them.

I think for the time being I'll use the latest official release of dbpa and use MP3tag to check the tagging before passing on the files to iTunes. My guess is that this will be fixed in the not too distant future, if it hasn't already, so it'll only be a small and temporary inconvenience.

I think content rating is same as itunesadvisory. There are lots of itunes tag names that are not the official tag name (which is what mp3tag uses). Based on what I've read, all these problems were caused by unintentional bug in dbpa. This is evidently solved in 14.4beta (and of course will be solved in 14.4 official when it comes out).

ripadeedoodah
12-17-2012, 01:18 PM
OK, all good, thanks garym.