Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

flat6pilot

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 27, 2020
42
43
Recently Air Dropped part of my mp3 collection onto my new M2 MBP 16.

The music is in different folders based on artist, genre, etc.

I just noticed that whenever I open a song (plays in the music app) that MacOS removes the song from the folder it's in and places it into a new folder it created called "unknown artist" that's in the main music folder.

Why? And how do I stop it?


Screenshot 2024-05-11 at 2.59.40 PM.png
 

Bigwaff

Contributor
Sep 20, 2013
2,736
1,830
Recently Air Dropped part of my mp3 collection onto my new M2 MBP 16.

The music is in different folders based on artist, genre, etc.

I just noticed that whenever I open a song (plays in the music app) that MacOS removes the song from the folder it's in and places it into a new folder it created called "unknown artist" that's in the main music folder.

Why? And how do I stop it?
What do you want to stop exactly? If your MP3 files have no embedded metadata, Music won't know the song, artist, etc. If you don't want your files moved by the Music app, in the Music app menu Settings > Files > uncheck "Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library".
 

flat6pilot

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 27, 2020
42
43
What do you want to stop exactly? If your MP3 files have no embedded metadata, Music won't know the song, artist, etc. If you don't want your files moved by the Music app, in the Music app menu Settings > Files > uncheck "Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library".

I figured it out.

When I first transferred music, I clicked red tag and made my music folder there. Then added the shortcut to the favorites bar. So there's no actual root folder; it's all just under favorites.

I made a new folder on the desktop with the music, then added a shortcut of that to the favorites side bar. Fixed.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.