Minor change in iTunes erases all memory points, hot cues and beatgrid adjustments

Hi,

I run the latest versions of iTunes and Rekordbox. I bought the newest NXS2-set about 8 weeks ago and switched from Virtual DJ to Rekordbox.

It took me weeks to manually transfer all my cue-points from Virtual DJ to Rekordbox. I organized my iTunes in such a way that the comments reflect the Camelot-notations and when I was done I was very happy. If I updated a playlist in iTunes and I re-started Rekordbox I could see the updated playlists in Rekordbox as well. It even notices the amount of stars I give a track. That is nice because this way I can use my iPod classic to listen to tracks, rate them in the train, connect to iTunes and voila....Rekordbox changes the ratings I gave the tracks as well.

BUT, here it comes.....I noticed that if I make adjustments to certain variables of a track in iTunes Rekordbox deletes all the work I did on the track in Rekordbox. Beatgrid, hot cues and memory points are gone..... This really freaks me out and I don't really know what to do. I'm starting to become afraid of changing stuff in iTunes.

For example....yesterday I made a new playlist in iTunes. It consists out of tracks that come from other iTunes playlists. I didn't change any of the names of the tracks. I just changed the 'album artist' in iTunes to the name of the playlist the tracks came from. Ok.....so I open Rekordbox and I see that 5 tracks have been 'erased' in a way that I described above. It seems as if Rekordbox looks at these 5 tracks as new tracks. This is weird to me because I didn't do anything different to those 5 tracks besides give them an 'album-artist-name'. But I did that to the other 45 tracks as well and they're fine. Yet Rekordbox did erase all the information on those 5 tracks.... I'm a bit lost....

In a respons somewhere on this forum to somebody else I read this: "The problem you're experiencing when changing information within iTunes is you're allowing iTunes to manage your files - which you SHOULD NOT do when using other applications as they rely on a file path which then changes when iTunes renames / moves the files according to the metadata. The first step you should make is to properly manage and maintain your collection and not allow iTunes to do it for you."

How do I do this??? Because I thought that if I left the names of the tracks alone my Rekordbox would be save. I really rely on iTunes and I don't really want to start over from scratch. The way I work now is the following:

- I buy a track on beatport for example

- Open it in Itunes and drag it to certain playlists

- I analyze the key and write down the notation in the 'comments-field' in iTunes.

- I open Rekordbox and set (hot)cues and memory points.

- I connect my USB, click on the usb, and then it automatically puts the new track on my usb. (If I put the track in a playlist that was already synched because of my settings in the sync manager)

So you see the order. It feels kinda fragile at this point.... It kinda scares me to open Rekordbox after I made some minor changes in iTunes. Especially if I don't know WHAT changes in iTunes cause Rekordbox to 'forget' everything I did to the track.

Please help me....this is costing me so much time and it takes away the fun of DJ'ing in a way. I need to be able to rely on these programs. I spent almost 7000 euro's on the NXS-2 set. It's more than I ever spent on anything in my life. But if I keep finding out during a gig that Rekordbox deleted memoypoints and hot cues......well....it's just really frustrating and stressful.

Thank you so much in advance for the help!

One Eyed Jack 31 de Agosto de 2016 19:11

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What you're referring to is most likely the option for iTunes to "Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized" option under the Advanced Tab in iTunes. The other option frequently mentioned in these forums is the "Share iTunes Library XML with Other Applications." FWIW, I keep both these options on with no problem.

To be honest, it sounds like there's something else going on here. From what I understand, Rekordbox-related Metadata (cue/memory points, etc.analysis) is a separate entity from common metadata edited within iTunes, so making edits to comments, etc. via iTunes shouldn't have any impact with regards to your Rekordbox stuff–if there was an issue, Rekordbox would display a "missing file" error and ask you to relocate said file.

With regards to advice, I would first advise you to make a Rekordbox Backup (data only, not audio files) after each "gridding" session you have.

After completing your latest backup, uninstall/reinstall the latest Rekordbox Software. After that, ensure you've updated to the latest firmware.

Now try again to see if you're having the same issue.

The only other potential problem I could point to would be a reading/writing permission problems, but that's purely speculation.

If all else fails, @Mark or @Pulse will surely chime in at some point. If you're in need of an urgent reply, I would strongly suggest to file a support ticket–if you perform a video capture demonstrating exactly what's going, that would be a HUGE help.

lostnthesound 31 de Agosto de 2016 19:50 0 votos

Hi LostntheSound,

Thank you so much for your quick response. I really appreciate it. So if you change the name of a track (even switch to a capital letter) Rekordbox doesn't to the same thing to you?

It's good to hear that Rekordbox does have messages regarding "missing files". It does worry me that this could be an indication that something else might be wrong. It's so weird though I recently bought and installed everything. I run the lastest versions of everything. Except that I don't use El Capitan but Yosemite.

I make a Rekordbox Backup after every session. Even if I only edit one memory point. I'm starting to loose faith in these programs so I actually took a picture with my iPhone of every track that needed to be 'gridded'. This way if everything goes wrong I can always find the tracks that need 'grid-work' X-D

What do you mean with 'latest firmware' though? On what device? Sorry if this is a 'dumb' question.

Thank you so much for your advice on the 'support-ticket'. I'll keep trying to find out if I can pinpoint exactly when Rekordbox erases information.

Kind regard from the Netherlands.

P.S. I also always make back ups of the audio-files.

One Eyed Jack 1 de Setembro de 2016 16:39 0 votos

Oooooh... iHate iTunes. Please, people, stop using it. It's not DJ software!

@One Eyed JacK > @lostnthesound hit the nail on the head with the "keep iTunes music organized" checkbox. Many people have this enabled and yes, any single tiny change to something in any data field can change the file's location, thus causing rekordbox to lose where it is. I suggest people stop using iTunes, manage the music outside of that scope, and dump music directly into rekordbox for optimal management.

Let me know if there's anything specific you need assistance with and we can drill into the solution.

Pulse 19 de Setembro de 2016 20:53 0 votos

Hi Pulse!

Thanks for the response. I believe iTunes is a great library for iPod's and iPhones. I never considered it DJ-software at all. I hope nobody does.

Well....I did everything that lostnthesound suggested. Including unchecking the particular box that you're also referring to. Well....the same stuff happened again. A few random tracks were 'erased'. All the hot cues, memory points and grid adjustments. The 'funny' thing is that Rekordbox doesn't lose the file. There is no exclamation mark or something that you would get if you moved a track around from one folder to another.

I found out that 'it' happened again even though I did everything lostnthesound suggested. This was during a set and obviously this was the last straw. I just don't believe the whole Rekordbox-iTunes-synching-process works well. I don't trust it anymore. Because I didn't even touch the tracks that were erased. It feels like every time Rekordbox 'checks' the iTunes library things can go wrong.

SO, I decided to throw away months of work and delete EVERYTHING on my Mackbook that had anything to do with Rekordbox. I re-installed everything and even dragged all the tracks that were in the iTunes-media folder to my 'normal' music folders. So basically all the M4A's that I bought in the iTunes store....

These last couple of days I manually added all the tracks in Rekordbox by dragging them into the library. This way there is a clear path towards the file. I took iTunes completely out of the equation. I'm almost done and ready to set up all my hot cues and memory points again. I did 'grid' all the tracks already. I really really really hope this will pay of because if it doesn't I'm going back to vinyl and will probably throw my entire NXS2 set out the window X-D

Kind regards and thanks again for responding you guys. It feels good to hear from you.

One Eyed Jack 21 de Setembro de 2016 19:49 0 votos