Purchased Songs Duplicated after Sync

[Maverickster]

Recreation Steps:
1. Automatic Download Music set to "On" on iOS devices.
2. Buy "Test Song" from the Store in iTunes on computer.
3. "Test Song" is downloaded into iTunes on computer and automatically simultaneously downloaded to my iOS devices.
4. Corrected Genre of "Test Song" in iTunes on computer.
5. Added "Test Song" to a sync'd playlist in iTunes on computer.
6. Sync'd iOS devices with iTunes on computer.

Result under iOS 5.0.1/iTunes 10.5.1:
1. "Test Song" appears once in iTunes on computer with the corrected Genre.
2. "Test Song" appears twice on iOS devices -- one with the original/incorrect Genre; one with the corrected Genre.
3. PROBLEM: iOS 5.0.1/iTunes 10.5.1 appears to be treating the "Test Song" contained within the sync'd playlist in iTunes (the one with the corrected Genre) as an entirely different song than the same "Test Song" originally downloaded to the iOS device via Automatic Download Music (the one with the original/incorrect genre).

Proper Result:
When syncing, iOS/iTunes should:
1. Recognize that the "Test Song" on the iOS device is identical to the "Test Song" in iTunes except for the Genre;
2. Recognize that I manually changed the Genre of "Test Song" in iTunes, so that is probably the Genre I want assigned to "Test Song"; and
3. Simply change the Genre of "Test Song" already on the iOS device to match the manually-changed Genre in iTunes rather than treating it as an entirely different song.

Based on this thread at the Apple Support forum, I'm assuming I'm not alone in this, but thought I should check here as well. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3109484?tstart=0

 

[justdoesntwork]

Same Problem

Question is: How do I fix this? (Purchased songs are duplicated on my ipad after sync)

 

[WaydBoggs]

Solution

Question is: How do I fix this? (Purchased songs are duplicated on my ipad after sync)

Fast answer: Do a "Transfer Purchases" in iTunes with your iPhone synced...

I just had this problem and figured it out. I figured its about time to create an account to help out.

I had this issue when I restored my iPhone for another reason. I didn't have time to sync it before work so I took off and went into the iTunes store on my phone and downloaded all my purchases just so I had a little music. When I finally did sync it to iTunes, I ended up getting duplicates of the songs I had downloaded from the store.

To fix it, sync your phone to your computer/iTunes. In iTunes, go to

File>Devices>Transfer Purchases from "<iPhone Name>"

That cleared it up for me. Let me know if it doesn't and I'll try to help.
-Wayd