How to convert a music file to a Podcast?

>I have the opposite problem - I have some podcast files I would like
>to keep permanently in my iTunes library - I tried everything to
>stop them being recognised as podcasts, but (so far) to no avail.

If you've got iTunes set to automatically add files to your music
library, it's easy. Just locate the actual song file, drag it onto
the desktop, and double-click it. iTunes will add it back into the
library, but it won't consider it a podcast.

--
Andy Carroll
Toronto, Canada

On 24/3/06 12:45, "Andy Carroll" <andy.carrollsympatico.ca> wrote:

>> I have the opposite problem - I have some podcast files I would like
>> to keep permanently in my iTunes library - I tried everything to
>> stop them being recognised as podcasts, but (so far) to no avail.
>
> If you've got iTunes set to automatically add files to your music
> library, it's easy. Just locate the actual song file, drag it onto
> the desktop, and double-click it. iTunes will add it back into the
> library, but it won't consider it a podcast.
>

Have you tried this? It doesn't work. The mp3 files continue to be
recognised as podcasts, no matter what I do.

In steps:

1. right-click on the podcast file in iTunes and choose 'show song file'
2. option-drag it to the desktop to copy the file there
3. unsubscribe from the podcast, and choose 'delete files' in the dialog
4. double-click on the file on the desktop in the finder - the file imports
5. switch back to iTunes, and under the Podcasts the files are re-imported,
as podcasts and the podcast is re-subscribed.


--
Barry

At 4:45 AM -0800 3/24/06, dkmiller wrote:

>As far I know, the only way iTunes recognizes a file as a podcast is
>if it acquires it as an eclosure from an RSS feed. That is, no
>amount of tweaking of ID3 tags or file formats (which are irrelevant
>-- an RSS feed enclosure can be any kind of file) will turn a
>non-podcast file into a podcast file.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but Audio Hijack Pro offers scripts
to make Hijacked recordings into iTunes or iPod files. I dont know
how it works. It is just an option offered by the app....

-Carl

--On March 24, 2006 2:49:39 PM -0800 Carl Falb <cfalbinfinet.com> wrote:

> At 4:45 AM -0800 3/24/06, dkmiller wrote:
>
>> As far I know, the only way iTunes recognizes a file as a podcast is
>> if it acquires it as an eclosure from an RSS feed. That is, no
>> amount of tweaking of ID3 tags or file formats (which are irrelevant
>> -- an RSS feed enclosure can be any kind of file) will turn a
>> non-podcast file into a podcast file.
>
> I'm not sure if this is relevant, but Audio Hijack Pro offers scripts
> to make Hijacked recordings into iTunes or iPod files. I dont know
> how it works. It is just an option offered by the app....

The scripts in Audio Hijack Pro can add a recording to iTunes or an iPod,
but they go in as standard tracks in the library, not as Podcasts.

You can customize most of the ID3 tags that go with a recording, but none
of they allow for specification of a Podcast (I think Derek is correct and
tracks come in as podcasts when they are downloaded via an RSS feed).

--On March 24, 2006 4:45:35 AM -0800 dkmiller <dkmillerpobox.com> wrote:

> As far I know, the only way iTunes recognizes a file as a podcast is if
> it acquires it as an eclosure from an RSS feed.

Not only does it have to be an RSS feed, it has to come from a web server.
I expanded my earlier efforts by turning on Personal Web Sharing (apache
web server) and dropping my RSS file & audio hijack recordings into a
shared folder and point iTunes at the file in there. That worked well,
bringing in my Audio Hijack recording as a Podcast.

I then expanded the functionality by writing an applescript for Audio
Hijack Pro to automatically update the appropriate RSS feed every time a
new recording is made. It's pretty cool (anyone interested in this script
can drop me an e-mail.)

> no amount of tweaking of ID3 tags or file formats (which are irrelevant
-- an RSS feed
> enclosure can be any kind of file) will turn a non-podcast file into a
> podcast file.

While any kind of file can go into an RSS file, iTunes itself only accepts
MP3, AAC (bookmarked or otherwise), MP4 video and PDF (not sure why PDF).

> Incidentally, note that iTunes, unlike other podcatcher programs,
> actually modifies the ID3 tags of podcast RSS enclosures so that the Name
> and Album tags come from RSS feed elements rather than the file's
> original tags, and the ID3 genre becomes Podcast no matter what the
> original file -- and it renames the file itself on your hard drive to its
> new Name tag. Many podcasters don't like that, because they prefer to
> specify the RSS elements, ID3 tags, and file name independently.

For some reason on my feed it's resetting the date too, setting it to 1904,
even though I have the year specified in the ID3 tags and don't have any
date in my RSS file. I do the same with the Artist -- it's in the tag but
not in the RSS file, and iTunes maintains that correctly. I probably need
to update my script to add a PubDate for each item.

Kevin

At 7:23 AM -0800 3/27/06, Kevin van Haaren wrote:

>The scripts in Audio Hijack Pro can add a recording to iTunes or an iPod,
>but they go in as standard tracks in the library, not as Podcasts.
>

I see this is correct since Audio Hijack creates a playlist by that
name, and the programs go there. Since I use smart playlists for my
several podcasts, the way I listen to the programs on the iPod is
functionally the same, whether the program is a podcast or not.

-Carl

On 27 Mar 2006, at 08:23 , Kevin van Haaren wrote:
> and don't have any date in my RSS file

This is why you are getting a bad date. As I recall, the 'date' in
ID3 tags is only intended for years, so the podcast part of itunes
pulls the date exclusively from the rss tags.

The only plausible explanation I've found about how iTunes tags Podcast files is available at:

http://www.pixeltree.org/code/

The author also provides a command line tool to strip the Podcast flag from iTunes files.

Oliver

--On March 27, 2006 10:55:28 PM -0800 Carl Falb <cfalbinfinet.com> wrote:

> I see this is correct since Audio Hijack creates a playlist by that
> name, and the programs go there. Since I use smart playlists for my
> several podcasts, the way I listen to the programs on the iPod is
> functionally the same, whether the program is a podcast or not.

There were 2 reasons I wanted my Audio Hijack tracks to go into the
Podcasts section instead of the Library.

* You can delete from the podcasts list,s you can't delete from smartlists.
Most of the time this doesn't affect me, but I really don't feel the need
to keep most of my Hijack recordings for years, instead deleting them a
couple of weeks after I've heard them. With the smart list solution I ended
up having to search in the Library for the tracks to delete them.

* Hijack's scripts opens iTunes and adds the tracks to iTunes. My music is
on a network drive. Opening iTunes and adding tracks when the network
drive isn't mounted is bad. By having a script update an RSS feed, the
tracks are instead added automatically when I open iTunes and I can be sure
the network drive is already mounted.

On 28 Mar 2006, at 08:31 , Kevin van Haaren wrote:
> * You can delete from the podcasts list,s you can't delete from
> smartlists.

Of course you can. I do this all the time, in fact, as I have a smart
playlist of "one star songs" which I routinely delete.


--
Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards for they are subtle and quick
to anger.

On or about 3/28/06 5:08 AM, thus spake "Oliver Koell" <okonewbase.de>:

> The only plausible explanation I've found about how iTunes tags Podcast files
> is available at:
>
> http://www.pixeltree.org/code/
>
> The author also provides a command line tool to strip the Podcast flag from
> iTunes files.

Right. I use this command-line tool for this very purpose - i.e., to turn a
podcast into an ordinary music file, so that I can keep it in iTunes in the
playlist(s) I like instead of the Podcasts lists - and it works great. m.

--
matt neuburg, phd = matttidbits.com, http://www.tidbits.com/matt/
pantes anthropoi tou eidenai oregontai phusei
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On Mar 28, 2006, at 10:31 AM, Kevin van Haaren wrote:

> * You can delete from the podcasts list,s you can't delete from
> smartlists.

Sure you can. Option-delete.

-A

At 11:16 AM -0800 2006/03/23, Andy Carroll wrote:
>In the iTunes Music Library.xml file, podcasts seem to have have an
>entry like this:
>
><key>Podcast</key><true/>
>
>It comes just before the Location entry.
>
>Whether just adding that line to the XML will solve your problem, I
>don't know, and it certainly isn't an elegant solution. But it is an
>answer to your question. (And if you do play with the XML file, make
>a backup first.)

        I've been told by a highly credible source that the XML file
is write-only for iTunes. It's there for other programs to examine
your Library contents. Apparently the real data iTunes reads & writes
is in "iTunes Library".


                                                Chris
--
Chris Pepper: <http://www.reppep.com/~pepper/>
Rockefeller University: <http://www.rockefeller.edu/>

        FYI: My iTunes 6.0.3's Info window, Options pane, has a
checkbox (below Start time & End time) for "Remember playback
position". Try flipping this if you don't like the resume behavior on
your tracks.


                                                Chris
--
Chris Pepper: <http://www.reppep.com/~pepper/>
Rockefeller University: <http://www.rockefeller.edu/>

For people who've tried the fixid3tag tool from http://www.pixeltree.org/code/, how exactly do you use it?

Specifically, do I have to delete the original (podcast-acquired) track from the iTunes library and then reimport the modified one?

Somehow I doubt that I can modify-in-place, but boy would it be nice.

On or about 5/7/06 7:40 PM, thus spake "jmv16" <jmv16cornell.edu>:

> For people who've tried the fixid3tag tool from
> http://www.pixeltree.org/code/, how exactly do you use it?
>
> Specifically, do I have to delete the original (podcast-acquired) track from
> the iTunes library and then reimport the modified one?

That's what I do. So, having downloaded the podcast, I drag it from iTunes
to the desktop, and command-delete it in iTunes to remove it from the iTunes
library and get it into the Trash. Then I run fixid3tag on the file on the
desktop. Then I drag the file from the desktop into iTunes again. m.


--
matt neuburg, phd = matttidbits.com, http://www.tidbits.com/matt/
pantes anthropoi tou eidenai oregontai phusei
AppleScript: the Definitive Guide - Second Edition!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596102119
Take Control of Word 2004, Tiger, and more -
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-customizing.html
Subscribe to TidBITS! It's free and smart. http://www.tidbits.com/

Why not import the tune into your podcast in Garageband and then do as you will with it and your own vocal stream?

I found a real easy to to change the ID3 tag so the MP3 can be recognised/not recognised as a podcast in iTunes.

To remove the podcast tag 1. Download mp3tag - its free from here (windows program) http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html 2. Once installed start up mp3tag and set it to the directory which has your podcast files. (beforehand make a copy) 3. Select all the files eg control A 4. Right click mouse and select "Extended tags" 5. You will see in the Metadata a field call itunespodcast 6. Select it 7. Press red cross to delete field. 8. Now start up itunes. 9. Add in the MP3s and they will appear in your music section instead of Podcasts

To get itunes to recognise an mp3 as a podcast add the itunespodcast field and set value to 1

I found this easy and fast.

Hopefully this helps somebody out as I spent many hours trying to solve this problem and there is very little useful into out there to make things work for the non-techo users out there

1. Get MP3Tag. http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html 2. Once installed get the software to point to the location of your MP3's 3. Control-A/Select all the files 4. Right click and select Extended Tags. This will bring up the metadata. 5. Look for ITUNESPODCAST and click on to select. 6. Click on the red cross to delete

Your files can now be added to the Library as Music instead of Podcasts.

It is a nice non-techo way of doing this.

I tried using FixID3Tag which seems to be a popular way to change the Tags but I found it too slow and fiddly.

Using the above process I was able to update several hundred mp3 in a few minutes.

On the flipside you could add the ITUNESPODCAST tag to your MP3's and make iTunes see the file as a Podcast.

To quickly and sync your newly converted files Itunes Library Updater is great.

http://itlu.ownz.ch

Just make yourself a profile to update your updated MP3 and process and it will add/sync your new files to the Library. As well as add in your new files it can clean up all the lost links etc.