How Spotify updates metadata and how this correlates to iTunes

Spotify uses Gracenote to try to find additional metadata and correct wrong information. With a combination of ID3 tags (or the metadata if it’s a AAC files), song analysis and track length it does its best to determinate which artist and album a track belongs too and if there are wrong track information.

This data is saved in the files ID3 tag (or the metadata if it’s a AAC files) along with the original data for undo purposes. Since we store the original information you can still restore even if you have re-install Spotify or cleared cache. Even if you’ve moved the file between your computers - you can restore it.

If you are looking for help fixing your issues, please see either:

A few of our users has experienced problems with files being moved or iTunes displaying faulty metadata. This can occur if you have enabled “Keep iTunes Media folder organized” in iTunes » Preferences » Advanced.

The reason behind this problem is that iTunes listens for file changes (on Mac OS X there is a process to do this in near real-time, on Windows it happens every time you start iTunes) and categorizes your files in hierarchy folders (top down):

  • Artist
  • Album
  • Song

And in rare occasions - if iTunes deems the information changed - it can move the actual music files to better reflect the new song info. However, while this is normally a good thing it can complicate the undo process since it has moved the file away from the file path Spotify as stored.

To prevent this you need to follow these steps before you import your local files into Spotify:

  1. Exit Spotify.
  2. Open Itunes.
    3.  
  3. In iTunes, uncheck the “Keep iTunes Media folder organized” option in Preferences » Advanced.
  4. Open Spotify and import your local files.

If you had some problems already regarding iTunes moving your files, you can undo these changes as described in the gracenote undo post.

More questions in Library and Local Files: