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iTunes has artwork, phone has been synced - iOS still missing artwork

petrucci666

petrucci666

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 30, 2009
714
14
Los Angeles, CA
As the title states - iTunes has all the artwork for music, I've synced the phone multiple times but iOS still misses the artwork.

I'm using an iPhone 5 on iOS 6.0.1

iTunes Screenshot (same album):
drfgh4.jpg


iOS Screenshot:
2s0e89t.png


Coverflow iOS:
29ctlat.png
 
My problem is that the correct artwork appears in my iTunes, but on my phone, it syncs artwork from other artist. So, my Brandy album has Bruno Mars as it's artwork
 
Check the size of the artwork. IME artwork over a certain size will not sync. I don't know exactly where that threshold is, but it's bigger than 800 x 800.
 
This problem has happened to me several times. I think it may happen if the first song (intro I guess?) listed in the album on your iOS device does not have the album cover attached to it, but at least one of the songs in the album does.

Hopefully iTunes 11 corrects this.
 
petrucci666 said:
As the title states - iTunes has all the artwork for music, I've synced the phone multiple times but iOS still misses the artwork.

I'm using an iPhone 5 on iOS 6.0.1

iTunes Screenshot (same album):
Image

iOS Screenshot:
Image

Coverflow iOS:
Image
Click to expand...

You may find that 'Christmas Lights' on iTunes doesn't have a artwork. If you select that one file and 'Get Info' does that song have an artwork?

I have had this problem before. I select a whole album then 'Get Info' and paste the artwork. Sometimes (for some reason) the artwork isn't applied to every song.
 
SMIDG3T said:
You may find that 'Christmas Lights' on iTunes doesn't have a artwork. If you select that one file and 'Get Info' does that song have an artwork?

I have had this problem before. I select a whole album then 'Get Info' and paste the artwork. Sometimes (for some reason) the artwork isn't applied to every song.
Click to expand...

Yes, under Get Info there is artwork:

28gxblt.jpg


mr8uv4.jpg




I copy/pasted the artwork myself from Google Images. What makes is even more strange is that it used to be there before. Somehow it disappeared after a sync. This is happening for other albums as well, not just 'Christmas Lights'
 
If you have iTunes Match enabled or if you change the bit rate for syncing music (first sync screen on iTunes) then album art disappears.

Came across this myself. Disable iTunes Match on the device and ensure you leave the bit rate for synced music to the device at the stock setting in iTunes.
 
I've been able to fix this problem before by changing the cover to a different size, like shrinking it from 1500 x 1500 to 1200 x 1200 or something like that.

I've also been able to fix it by replacing the existing cover with a larger version, like going from 1200 x 1200 to 1500 x 1500.

Really though, as long as it's a different version of the cover (even if it was the same size; like, say the brightness was different), it showed up on my iPhone just fine.
 
Last edited:
WeegieMac said:
If you have iTunes Match enabled or if you change the bit rate for syncing music (first sync screen on iTunes) then album art disappears.

Came across this myself. Disable iTunes Match on the device and ensure you leave the bit rate for synced music to the device at the stock setting in iTunes.
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with bitrate or iTunes Match. BUT: You can fix it if you are using iTunes Match by downloading the song. Deleting it from iCloud, adding it again to iTunes, changing the album cover to your desired size, (the size is irrelevant) then updating iTunes Match. This solved the 5 albums I couldn't get the artwork to show up on. I don't know about syncing the music direct to the device when not using iTunes Match.
Edit: perhaps if you remove the songs from iTunes and then add them again ? Just a suggestion

----------
GrandPhrase said:
This problem has happened to me several times. I think it may happen if the first song (intro I guess?) listed in the album on your iOS device does not have the album cover attached to it, but at least one of the songs in the album does.

Hopefully iTunes 11 corrects this.
Click to expand...

I discovered this too. If one track is missing a cover it will create this issue. It's does not explain when it happens with single tracks though....
 
Last edited:
Defender2010 said:
It has nothing to do with bitrate or iTunes Match. BUT: You can fix it if you are using iTunes Match by downloading the song. Deleting it from iCloud, adding it again to iTunes, changing the album cover to your desired size, (the size is irrelevant) then updating iTunes Match. This solved the 5 albums I couldn't get the artwork to show up on. I don't know about syncing the music direct to the device when not using iTunes Match.
Edit: perhaps if you remove the songs from iTunes and then add them again ? Just a suggestion

----------



I discovered this too. If one track is missing a cover it will create this issue. It's does not explain when it happens with single tracks though....
Click to expand...

If I sync music from iTunes when iTunes Match is enabled on the device, album art is missing. Adding it manually does not work.

Also, if you sync music from iTunes which you have downloaded from iTunes Match and which is now stored on your drive, changing the bit rate at which you sync the music removes the artwork as you are editing the original file.

Trust me, been there, done it, trouble shot it, worn the t-shirt.
 
WeegieMac said:
If I sync music from iTunes when iTunes Match is enabled on the device, album art is missing. Adding it manually does not work.

Also, if you sync music from iTunes which you have downloaded from iTunes Match and which is now stored on your drive, changing the bit rate at which you sync the music removes the artwork as you are editing the original file.

Trust me, been there, done it, trouble shot it, worn the t-shirt.
Click to expand...

1. Why sync music if you have iTunes Match? Defeats the purpose no?

2. Why change the bitrate? Do u mean syncing songs to the device at 128kbps instead of the standard 256kbps from iTunes purchases? This does not strip the artwork off the songs, only lyrics....i did this for my sister recently to get more tracks on her iPod Touch...It syncs album art fine this way.
If you are referring to the above, it doesn't actually change the file, iTunes changes the bitrate on the fly!
3. This issue is a bug....there is no definite fix. I know what worked to fix my albums that were missing artwork using iTunes Match. Never had any issues when manually syncing music. Works fine for me. Hopefully a fix comes soon. One of the many currently needed!
 
Last edited:
Defender2010 said:
1. Why sync music if you have iTunes Match? Defeats the purpose no?

2. Why change the bitrate? Do u mean syncing songs to the device at 128kbps instead of the standard 256kbps from iTunes purchases? This does not strip the artwork off the songs, only lyrics....i did this for my sister recently to get more tracks on her iPod Touch...It syncs album art fine this way.
If you are referring to the above, it doesn't actually change the file, iTunes changes the bitrate on the fly!
3. This issue is a bug....there is no definite fix. I know what worked to fix my albums that were missing artwork using iTunes Match. Never had any issues when manually syncing music. Works fine for me. Hopefully a fix comes soon. One of the many currently needed!
Click to expand...

There is a setting that says you can import music from iTunes at a certain rate, as you also mentioned, which people often use to save space on the device if all their music is 256kbps or higher and you can opt to convert music to 128kbps (or less) on sync to save space via smaller audio files. If these files have been downloaded from iTunes Match, and are stored on the Mac but have not been synced to the iPhone yet, then changing that bit rate can result in the artwork disappearing. It's something to do with changing the "source" file, as I've witnessed this with both my iPhone and my wife's iPhone. The second I deleted the affected songs from the iPhone, changed the sync bit rate to the stock setting, and resynced the songs again (just dragging them across from music into the iPhone on the left as normal), the artwork was present.

Handy to know, just trying to help. Although it's interesting to see you did not lose your artwork on your sisters iPod.
 
WeegieMac said:
There is a setting that says you can import music from iTunes at a certain rate, as you also mentioned, which people often use to save space on the device if all their music is 256kbps or higher and you can opt to convert music to 128kbps (or less) on sync to save space via smaller audio files. If these files have been downloaded from iTunes Match, and are stored on the Mac but have not been synced to the iPhone yet, then changing that bit rate can result in the artwork disappearing. It's something to do with changing the "source" file, as I've witnessed this with both my iPhone and my wife's iPhone. The second I deleted the affected songs from the iPhone, changed the sync bit rate to the stock setting, and resynced the songs again (just dragging them across from music into the iPhone on the left as normal), the artwork was present.

Handy to know, just trying to help. Although it's interesting to see you did not lose your artwork on your sisters iPod.
Click to expand...

I ll check it out later on. Thanks for the explanation. Hopefully this bug gets fixed in iTunes 11. As I said, the artwork was fine when iTunes converted it on the fly whilst syncing to my sisters iPod. (From her library)
I have never tried converting the files to a different bitrate 'in' iTunes itself before a sync, as I use iTunes Match @256kbps and let it do its thing. So no need. All my songs (either from the store or imported at 256kbps from discs) have 1500x1500 artwork and it works perfectly. Apart from 5 albums which I managed to fix with the method I explained a few posts back. Now it is 100% working fine. Anyhow, hope you get it sorted, if I find any new info I ll PM you.
 
petrucci666 said:
Yes, under Get Info there is artwork:

Image

Image



I copy/pasted the artwork myself from Google Images. What makes is even more strange is that it used to be there before. Somehow it disappeared after a sync. This is happening for other albums as well, not just 'Christmas Lights'
Click to expand...

Hm. Very strange. I can no longer help you I'm afraid. I hope you get this sorted.
 
This happens every now and then with iOS. I think the Music app on iOS becomes confused when navigating between albums quickly. I know for a fact that artwork synced onto iOS devices correctly, but later when navigating albums, I will see the artwork disappear.

Connect the device to iTunes, uncheck/sync/recheck/sync each song in the affected albums, and the problem should be resolved.

Although, I don't use iTunes Match yet, so that might add a few more steps as mentioned on a previous post.
 
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