Let's say I have two different versions of the same song, both of which have been matched by iTunes Match, and one of which is higher quality (i.e., better audio). I want to replace the lower-quality version with the higher-quality version, but I've listened to the lower-quality version 200 times and want to keep the play count. Is there a relatively easy way to do this without screwing up my iTunes library? Thanks.
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possible to replace/upgrade a song in iTunes while keeping the play count?
- Thread starter jk73
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I *think* if you close iTunes, replace the actual file in ~/Music, then load iTunes and re-play then it *should* maintain the play count. It's probably worth backing up your library file first though 
I *think* if you close iTunes, replace the actual file in ~/Music, then load iTunes and re-play then it *should* maintain the play count. It's probably worth backing up your library file first though
Thanks. I did the above a few times before iTunes Match but haven't tried it since. I'm hoping someone has tried it post-iTunes Match and knows for sure.
Just a few weeks ago I burned ALL of my CDs into a new, separate iTunes Library (for archiving as a backup), which holds all of CDs with music in Apple Lossless import setting.
There are a few "albums" that I bought a long time ago that in my main iTunes Library (which is matched via iTunes Match) but aren't available in the iTunes store, and I've been meaning to re-import them for two reasons - to get the bit rate up and to "join" some tracks that are just meant to be together. Some of the those songs have lots of plays...
I changed my "When a CD is inserted:" setting to "Ask to Import CD" and my import setting to the one I wanted for my main iTunes library.
For the CDs I wanted to "upgrade", and when I was prompted to import, I pressed the "Cancel" key - then "joined" and/or checked the songs I wanted to import, then imported the selected music from the CD into my Main iTunes Library. I was asked whether I wanted to replace the selected music - I did - and the import commenced.
My Play Count and Playlists were untouched - and I'm a happy camper. I then updated iTunes Match and all of the newly imported music was uploaded - and 192k to 256k files are available on my other Mac now. Nifty.
There are a few "albums" that I bought a long time ago that in my main iTunes Library (which is matched via iTunes Match) but aren't available in the iTunes store, and I've been meaning to re-import them for two reasons - to get the bit rate up and to "join" some tracks that are just meant to be together. Some of the those songs have lots of plays...
I changed my "When a CD is inserted:" setting to "Ask to Import CD" and my import setting to the one I wanted for my main iTunes library.
For the CDs I wanted to "upgrade", and when I was prompted to import, I pressed the "Cancel" key - then "joined" and/or checked the songs I wanted to import, then imported the selected music from the CD into my Main iTunes Library. I was asked whether I wanted to replace the selected music - I did - and the import commenced.
My Play Count and Playlists were untouched - and I'm a happy camper. I then updated iTunes Match and all of the newly imported music was uploaded - and 192k to 256k files are available on my other Mac now. Nifty.