I have several mp3 files that iTunes just will not import. Can anyone suggest a workaround method to getting them in the darn application?

Anything special about these MP3 files?
How big are they?
What does iTunes say when you try to import them? (Please give the exact text of any error messages)

try using Add to Library or drag to itunes window?

iTunes won't import mp3
 

As far as I can tell, the mp3s are average files (3 - 6 MB each).

After trying to import, whether by double clicking, opening with Add to Library, File open, or dragging into iTunes, there is no error message -- the files are simply not added.

are you sure that they are not already on there or that files with the same name are not already on there. If you double click one of the files you are trying to add what happens?

Do they play, in the Finder for example ?

Yes, I've had this happen before. Those are usually incompatible file types that are labeled using the .mp3 extension. Did you rip these files yourself or did you get them off of a site or P2P or etc???

First, double-check the iTunes Library and make sure that the files have NOT been added to it.

Open one of the files in the QuickTime Player and confirm that it is not corrupt by playing it. Then confirm that it is, in fact, an MPEG Layer 3 file by Getting info on it (Command+I).

If it is a real .mp3 file, is the NAME of the file in the format xxx.mp3 or is it something like xxx.mpeg3? iTunes has become very picky about names in the last few iterations and the files should end with .mp3.

I've seen people put mp3 extension on aac files and not even Quicktime would recognize them until the extension was changed...

Bigc - Exactly, that is what I was alluding to.

The files are definately NOT in the iTunes Library. I tried playing them in QuickTime, and they wouldn't open, however, I am able to play them with Audion. All file names end in .mp3

Does Audion have a way to get more detailed info about the file format etc of the song files? (Something similar to iTunes' "Get Info") If so, what does it say about these files?

In the terminal, when you type

file /path/to/weird.mp3

what's the result ?

when Audion would open mine but iTunes wouldn't they were .m4a files someone tagged .mp3.....I think the files were made with winampPro.

edit: Can't remember for sure but may have gotten them to open in iTunes by removing the extension and then using Open With and selecting iTunes (or Amadeus)...

/path/to/weird.mp3: cannot open (/path/to/weird.mp3)
does this tell you something?


Getting rid of the file extensions did not help, and Audion's information window provides the file name...not much help.

I appreciate all the suggestions...keep them coming!

voldenuit meant for you to substitute the actual path to one of the troublesome files for "/path/to/weird.mp3"
E.g. if the file in question is called loveSong.mp3 and is in a folder "Songs" under the folder "MyStuff" which is under your home folder then you would do something like:

file ~/MyStuff/Songs/loveSong.mp3

( ~ is your home folder in Unix notation)

Alternatively, just type "file "
(note the space after the 'file' command)
and then drag the file from Finder into the Terminal window. That should fill in the path to the file. Press Return and the 'file' command will execute.

OK, I feel like an idiot...thanks for being so patient.


Now that I have a clue, I tried again. This was the response:
/Users/ij67/Desktop/Mood Swings.mp3: MP3 file with ID3 version 2.3.0 tag

That the files don't open in the QuickTime Player is an interesting clue.

If you get info on the files in the Finder, what are the file-permissions? Are you the owner? Do you have Read and Write permissions?

Yes, it appears that I am the owner, and I have read & write permissions.

I was unable to convert the files from mp3 to aac/wav/aiff formats using a demo version of Barba file encoder. Unknown error each time. The converter confirmed that they are mp3 files. Files still play in Audion -- do they use a protected file structure?

Aha! I used the encoder in Audion to convert to AIFF, and now they import and play in iTunes.

Thanks for your help and suggestions!

It sounds like the files were corrupt.

I suggest that you play through each track to confirm that they are complete.

All but one of the files play normally.
Good news.

were the worth it :cool:

has anybody found out how to resolve this problem?

I have just updated to itunes 7 - however, when I try and drag and drop mp3's, it registers in the itunes window that they have been transferred but then fails to actually display them in the ipod's library. Also, when I unplug the ipod, the files are not on it!

So frustrating, took me about 2 hours to download all the relevant files to allow me to backdate to itunes 6! The problem is I wanna be using the latest version of itunes but I need to be able to drag and drop mp3's manually as synching it with my library is just annoying!

How do I fix this problem?? all the files are .mp3's and work fine.

Cheers

Finder and QuickTime have no problem, ...
 

but iTunes won't import them, and doesn't say why. Is there a way to make iTunes tell you what its gripe is with a file that it declines to import? I know Mac software is supposed to hide ugly details from the user, but simply failing with no clue what the problem is, that's pretty ugly.

I got four tunes off a mySpace page. All legal. Two of them will import fine, the other two won't. But they will play in Finder or QuickTime. The "file" command gives identical results for all four files: MP3 file with ID3 version 2.2.0 tag.

As for size, the two that *will* import are significantly larger. Which I *suppose* could indicate some differences in compression algorithm, but I don't know how 1. I can find out, or 2. why that would make any difference.

I had this very same problem. Its worth finding out what type of tags are on the file. If they are APEv2 it causes massive problems on itunes. use mp3tag (http://www.mp3tag.de/) to remove tags if this is the case. You then have to re-tag the mp3's and all should be fine

I was having the same exact problem-- had a set of mp3's that I OWNED (didn't buy from iTunes or other), and they absolutely would not import into iTunes. I downloaded and used the recommended piece of software above and found that one of the mp3's from the album was IDv3 2.4. The rest were IDv3 2.3. I stripped the tags off of all of them and replaced with all IDv3 2.3, and viola! Worked fine! Thanks for the tip!

I had the exact same problem with misc different mp3 files, but thanks to this thread the problem was solved! The info here is correct about the problem being due to the id3 tags. The problem was solved by opening the files in Winamp (I'm using Vista), pushing alt-3 with the song highlighted, and unchecking the "Include ID3v2 tag in file" box. At that point the file can then be added to the iTunes library.

Thanks everybody!

sorry to bump an old thread.
i had the same prblm and was able to get my files working with the help of those before me - thanks vmuch

unfortunately, having imported my music to itunes - i have no way of knowing which files on my hd havent been imported lest i happen to look for a particular song and cant find it

does anyone have any idea on a solution for this?

i just recently got my mac and have been leapfrogging from itunes to songbird, back to itunes, foobar2k thru wine.. and now back to itunes if i can just leap this last hurdle


any help will be greatly appreciated.
thanks

me too
 

I have the same EXACT problem. I have a huge folder full of music, most of them imported into the iTunes library just fine (FILE | ADD TO LIBRARY), but some of my MP3 files just won't show up in the iTune library but will play fine if I go to my Mac's home folder while viewing folders/files in "column" mode within the Finder and drill down into the "itunes music" folder. From there once I highlight a song, on the right hand pane (again, in column mode view in the FInder) I get a preview of the song with a little "PLAY" icon over the top of the album artwork (i think this is new to Snow Leopard - the preview thing). Anyways, If I click PLAY on the preview icon, it will play. But, if I double click the file (which is set to open with iTunes) it will do NOTHING -- and I can NOT get those dang files to import into iTunes.

All other files play fine - all other files play from iTunes if I double click them from the hard drive or if I just click them from within iTunes -- it's just maybe 30 of my 1000 or so songs that won't play or import in iTunes.

Has anyone figured this one out? -- I spent 2 hours on the phone with Apple Care and they told me they have no idea and to uninstall and reinstall iTunes - which I did - and did not fix the problem with these same files.

uggg...

I have the same problem, there's only one file that won't add to iTunes. It plays perfectly well in quicktime, which says it's an MP3.

There is a usefull applescript for finding files that have not been added to iTunes here:
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/script...filesnotadded2

I had the same problem: iTunes was choosing not to play 8 out of 10 songs. All songs played in QuickTime and in Finder preview. They all were mp3s. But I encoded them to mp3 again in Audion 3. When opened with iTunes, they are now playing!! :)

I had the same problem and have to reencode my mp3.
I was woried by the quality, it was CBR 320kpbs and I've looked into using lame to do the job.

Here is how I dit it via Mac command line.
If you don't have macports installed, probably this way is not quite for you.

In case you don't have lame installed you can do it via macports:
$ sudo port install lame

Afterwards you can reencode all files in a folder like so:
$ mkdir resamp
$ for f in *.mp3 ; do lame --mp3input --vbr-new -V 0 "$f" "./resamp/$f" ; done

You will loose all ID3 tags this way, but Music Brainz Picard can help you there.

I prefer doing it this way because it's completelly open source, it's the highest quality you can achieve and will work this way like forever, unlike other software mentioned on this thread that haven't been updated for years.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I ran into this problem of iTunes not opening mp3s today, and found a very very simple way of fixing it using VLC Media Player. Every application (Quicktime, VLC, Finder Preview) except for iTunes would open my mp3 file, and it was a true mp3 file.
Simply follow this guide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3LzMl3HPBs and it should work, it did for me.

No YouTube
 

Grrr. YouTube is blocked in China.
Is there another source for that information?

Thanks!

I was able to get the information I needed here http://www.applemacvideo.com/howtoco...o-mp3-mac.html but I needed to convert some .flv into mp3's. If you're trying another format this might not be as helpful. HTH.

Tried the recommendations in this thread - here's what I get when i type the path in terminal:
weird file name.mp3: MPEG ADTS, layer III, v1, 128 kbps, 44.1 kHz, Stereo

And I can't play these files in Quicktime either - they were originally .wma files that I converted to mp3 using "Switch" - any thoughts?