iTunes 'matching' non-censored albums with censored/clean ones

[abbstrack]

I was all set to listen to the 'Black Album' by Jay-Z this morning, so I downloaded my iTunes 'matched' copy to my iPhone, only to discover while on the subway it's the edited/clean version. This is an album I uploaded to iTunes from a CD yeaarrrs ago. I have a library of over 19,000 songs.

Now I don't know how many others are affected by this. I just sent itunes a support asking to refund my itunes match subscription and to cancel my account, since this would clearly alter my library if it is happening on multiple albums.

Anyone else come across this?

[abbstrack]

i see about 5 other iTunes match related posts in the iOS5 forum. This is an iTunes match related post.

anyone?

[ftaok]

I don't have experience with this, or iTunes Match, but I do have some thoughts.

Perhaps iTunes Match is using your ID3 tags along with the song data to do the matching. Does the iTunes store tag the "explicit" songs/albums differently than the clean ones? If so, perhaps changing the tags on your ripped "explicit" albums will get the correct match.

[abbstrack]

Originally Posted by ftaok

I don't have experience with this, or iTunes Match, but I do have some thoughts.

Perhaps iTunes Match is using your ID3 tags along with the song data to do the matching. Does the iTunes store tag the "explicit" songs/albums differently than the clean ones? If so, perhaps changing the tags on your ripped "explicit" albums will get the correct match.

it's a good thought..i'm not sure. i can try it, although i'm not sure what the ID3 tag for apple's 'clean' version of this album would be, since when i look at the file in my iTunes it's still my ripped 'explicit' copy, with the 'clean' copy being the cloud/match version.

i'd also hate to have to go through a library of 19,000+ songs and change ID3tags.

maybe their support team will tell me its a known issue and to hang tight. If not, I'd say it's probably not worth the trouble trying to go through all my ID tags, or trying to determine which ones are exact matches and which one's arent. Instead I'd chalk it up to the technology not being fully there to do what apple is doing (which admittedly is pretty ambitious and IMO the best version of 'cloud music' on the market).

[abbstrack]

just to update, i'm finally realizing the ramifications of this, as i tried to bypass iTunes match and put the aforementioned 'Black Album' on my iPhone locally via iTunes sync, and was given an error message that the only version I can put on my device is the cloud version.

i sent a note to itunes support on Friday, and after receiving a response from someone who appeared to be level 1 support on Saturday, i received the following additional response yesterday (Sunday evening):

"I understand after subscribing to iTunes Match, one of your albums was replaced with a censord version in your iTunes library. My name is A**** and I am a senior advisor with the iTunes Store, and I have taken over your request.

I am currently looking in to this matter further for you to determine why an album was replaced in your library. Once I have further information regarding this matter, I will send you a follow up with further assistance. I hope in the meantime you are able to continue enjoying the iTunes store."

so i guess i'm staying tuned for now, but hoping for a quick resolution. Still not sure if this has affected other albums as well.

[jaybou]

Originally Posted by abbstrack

I was all set to listen to the 'Black Album' by Jay-Z this morning, so I downloaded my iTunes 'matched' copy to my iPhone, only to discover while on the subway it's the edited/clean version. This is an album I uploaded to iTunes from a CD yeaarrrs ago. I have a library of over 19,000 songs.

Now I don't know how many others are affected by this. I just sent itunes a support asking to refund my itunes match subscription and to cancel my account, since this would clearly alter my library if it is happening on multiple albums.

Anyone else come across this?

I'm having the exact same problem with one very strange exception. I preordered Childish Gambino's new album and the local version on my Mac is uncensored, while the cloud version on my iPhone is edited. It's pretty strange since I bought it directly from iTunes. You'd think they could match their own music.

[brezz]

Originally Posted by jaybou

I'm having the exact same problem with one very strange exception. I preordered Childish Gambino's new album and the local version on my Mac is uncensored, while the cloud version on my iPhone is edited. It's pretty strange since I bought it directly from iTunes. You'd think they could match their own music.

I'm in the same boat. So frustrating. Keep us updated if they find an answer.

Brian

[TomHouTX]

Originally Posted by jaybou

I'm having the exact same problem with one very strange exception. I preordered Childish Gambino's new album and the local version on my Mac is uncensored, while the cloud version on my iPhone is edited. It's pretty strange since I bought it directly from iTunes. You'd think they could match their own music.

In that particular case you can delete your matched version from iCloud and then go to "Purchased" on the right hand side in the iTunes store and add it back to your iCloud as a purchase. The iCloud status of the song should then indicate purchased rather than matched.

[dnkbro]

I had this problem too with several songs. I haven't investigated fully but I'm willing to bet a decent amount of my music has been altered for the worse.

[spengler]

I've been shooting all my music at both iTunes Match and Google Music, to compare the experiences. I found this thread because I noted this exact issue with at least one album (and who knows how many more are affected). No issues at all on the Google front, so far, and Google can eat FLACs....

[THink7]

Just noticed this also with Eminem.

Some songs are fine, others are censored. I have to scan them with TuneUp and see if i can have that force the tags to say the song is explicit.

Silly Apple...

[spengler]

sounds like a lot of east coast and southern hip hop is getting censored by a company in the southwest. I smell a conspiracy!

[Lodoss]

Same issue with me with Watch The Throne made in america was matched to the clean version even though the explicit tag is still there.

[mattjcarbone]

Same issue here. Noticed it on my iPhone more than on my desktop. But this is infuriating!!!!

Please keep this thread up-to-date with any reassurances that this issue has been resolved.

Otherwise I want my money back. unreal.

[spacedcadet]

Beta testers

[salamich]

Same problem here. iTunes even ignores the explicit tag on local files ("ITUNESADVISORY" set to "4" and showing the red explicit tag in iTunes), they still get matched to the clean versions.

[martinmartin]

also having this problem...

itunes match has been a disappointment so far. i cant even turn it on on my phone/ipad because the smart playlists dont work for some reason.

hope they can fix these issues...

[gnasher729]

Originally Posted by abbstrack

i'd also hate to have to go through a library of 19,000+ songs and change ID3tags.

Tags do not matter one bit. iTunes Match looks at the actual music and matches it. Try importing a CD, changing the metadata to complete nonsense, it will still match it.

[brayhite]

Have to say I was pretty upset when Eminem was censored. I can only imagine what other songs are censored. Thankfully I don't listen to rap or hip hop full time, or at least not with ones that are censored. I don't think ATCQ ever put out non-explicit versions of their songs (not that they needed to usually, anyway), so my music should be okay for the most part.

[ugp]

I replaced most of my library with iTunes Matched files and they all are uncensored that I have found anyway...But when I try downloading music from iTunes Match on another computer they are censored. It's very frustrating.

[abbstrack]

Originally Posted by ugp

I replaced most of my library with iTunes Matched files and they all are uncensored that I have found anyway...But when I try downloading music from iTunes Match on another computer they are censored. It's very frustrating.

i've been working with an itunes support staff person since 11/18 on this issue, supplying them additional songs everytime i find them. I am continuously being told they are looking into it, and hope to have a solution soon, but are not providing an eta. At this point my library has been drastically altered, and even new albums that i purchase (i purchased an mp3 album from amazon) itunes matches and replaces songs with a clean versions at random.

[KURUPTION!!!]

I'm having the same issue as well and the more I listen to my library the worse it seems to be. Some albums it varies between tracks. Very annoying.

[ugahairydawgs]

Originally Posted by abbstrack

i've been working with an itunes support staff person since 11/18 on this issue, supplying them additional songs everytime i find them. I am continuously being told they are looking into it, and hope to have a solution soon, but are not providing an eta. At this point my library has been drastically altered, and even new albums that i purchase (i purchased an mp3 album from amazon) itunes matches and replaces songs with a clean versions at random.

I hate to be the master of the obvious here....but why not just quit using iTunes Match?

[rizzuh]

Originally Posted by ugahairydawgs

I hate to be the master of the obvious here....but why not just quit using iTunes Match?

hmm i dunno.. maybe because he already shelled out $25 for it?

[maril1111]

same happening with me, luckily i backed up my library prior to using match.

Tip to anybody especially because space is cheap nowadays , always keep an up to date backup of the previous thing e.g. the original itunes library in this case.