Automagic insertion of album art into iTunes on the PC?

November 9, 2005 4:36 AM

What is the most reliable way of automatically adding album art images to iTunes on a Windows PC?

I've done loads of Googling and have checked the AskMeFi archives for this, to no avail. I even tried one piece of software, which didn't seem to work at all. There are a number of options for Macs but I can't find many for the Windows PC. My iTunes library is over 20,000 tracks so there's no way I can manually add images to all of those. Ideally I'd like to leave some application on all night (or for several days!) and have it automatically seek the relevant images and insert them so that iTunes can see them. Any suggestions?

posted by unclemonty to computers & internet (15 comments total)

It probably would have helped if you'd told us which piece of software didn't work?

I found two tools for Windows; both require the .NET framework, which is a dealbreaker for me, but might work for you: iTunes Art Importer, iTunes Album Art Importer. There's also an iTunes widget for Konfabulator which connects to Amazon.com.
posted by mumble at 5:29 AM on November 9, 2005

I had the same question but I also am looking for a folder monitor tool (like windows media player and musicmatch have) that will keep my itunes library in synch with "My Music" folder. I add and delete songs to that folder not through itunes often and it surprises me that itunes can't keep track of that.

(not trying to hijack your question, just hoping that whoever knows the answer to yours will know the answer to mine at the same time...)
posted by GrumpyMonkey at 6:41 AM on November 9, 2005

Mumble - I don't know whether it was the .NET framework which is failing but it was the iTunes Art Importer which I tried, and it simply isn't working. The application doesn't even load up for me.
posted by unclemonty at 6:59 AM on November 9, 2005

Try icuemix. Its main purpose is to build playlists from your collection (which it does rather well) but it will automatically add album art and, I believe, lyrics as it works its way through your collection.
posted by grahamwell at 7:00 AM on November 9, 2005

Thanks for the advice so far. If I try the Konfabulator iTunes Companion, it only loads the art in when I first play the track. Is there an equivalent to the Mac "NeedleDrop" script, which plays the first few seconds of each track automatically? That would then cover my requirements.
posted by unclemonty at 7:02 AM on November 9, 2005

Huh? Sorry, bad link. I meant icuemix
posted by grahamwell at 7:03 AM on November 9, 2005

My experience with the Konfabulator iTunes Companion was that it worked well for about the first 10-15 songs and then stopped finding the art, despite the fact that it was available. Reboot cleared it up but only for another 15 songs.

I have much better luck with the iTunes Art Importer but haven't attempted to run it on my entire collection at once.
posted by undertone at 7:32 AM on November 9, 2005

I used iArt and it worked pretty well. I just pointed it to my music folder (25 gbs) and it did the rest. There's a free demo on the site.
posted by gfrobe at 7:40 AM on November 9, 2005

iArt screwed up big time for me and messed up my collection.

Might I suggest Media Monkey as a potential alternative to iTunes? I freakin' LOVE IT. It supports the iPod, and does AWESOME album art, tag updating, etc. It makes iTunes its beeeyotch if you ask me.

Another tool I like is Anapod Explorer from Red Chair Software. It's another "itunes replacement" that takes out all the iTunes bloat and lets you just manage your iPod / music collection.
posted by twiggy at 8:10 AM on November 9, 2005

Whilst we're at it, anyone find one that works for a Mac? I have used one app (who's name I forget) but it was a fairly manual process - I'd like to just let it run and then QA the next day.....
posted by brettski at 8:22 AM on November 9, 2005

I use Tag&Rename but it's not all that automated. More appropo for albums than singles.
posted by phearlez at 8:40 AM on November 9, 2005

brettski- on the Mac I used "FetchArt" but it was SLOW. On a 30gB collection it took 3 days on a g5... It's all in Applescript and I don't even want to think about how they implemented it. As a matter of fact it crashed when it was 95% done and I had to wrote my own Applescript to finish the job. But it might work for you.
posted by neustile at 9:15 AM on November 9, 2005

I also am looking for a folder monitor tool (like windows media player and musicmatch have) that will keep my itunes library in synch with "My Music" folder.

Periodically drag your My Music folder into the iTunes window. Anything in there that's not already in the library will be added.
posted by kindall at 11:33 AM on November 9, 2005

I tried iCueMix but it did nothing in terms of album art. So then I went into options and clicked the album art button. Still nothing. What am I missing?
posted by unclemonty at 12:23 AM on November 10, 2005

brettski: Whilst we're at it, anyone find one that works for a Mac?
I use Fetch Art. It occassionaly pulls up the wrong cover but most of the time it's fine.
posted by tellurian at 5:19 PM on November 17, 2005