Disable Album Art Generation in WMP and music libraries
This is a continuation of the topic posted here: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/GettingReadyforWindows7/thread/0b3e71b3-9b85-4d0a-987c-e7b52677840d/ as it was asked to be moved " using Windows 7 Pro I have a very large music collection with album art already specified for most files. The album art filenames can be folder.jpg or AlbumName.jpg or cover.jpg or front.jpg or embedded within the file itself.. As on Windows XP pro I was using winamp. The only thing keeping me from WMP is that it generates its own album art files (creating clutter - very annoying) and most of the time will not use the album art I already have. I tried using the music library on windows 7 but then WMP accesses it and starts creating album art files. So my question is: is there a way to use the libraries and WMP so that album art files are not generated? (since if I set WMP to scan/watch a music folder it will add to the music library, and if I add a music library it will be added to WMP) it would be even better if WMP would use the album art files I already have and not generate it's own but I don't think that's possible right now, right? Maybe a future update microsoft *nudge**nudge*? Thanks, Dan Notes: 1. on the Organize -> Options -> Library tab I have everything unchecked. the problem isn't overwriting files I have, it's adding album art to a folder. ex. if the folder is of album XYZ, and the file that has the album art is called XYZ.jpg, or if it doesn't have any album art file -> WMP automatically adds something like album_art####.jpg, album_art_small and/or album_art_large. I think I've narrowed the problem to the WMP not the library settings --> I took the sample music files that came with windows 7 and put them in their own folder on the desktop. only the mp3s. I then made that folder part of the music library. no extra files appeared. I start WMP and the following files appear: AlbumArt####.jpg, AlbumArt###.jpg, AlbumArtSmall.jpg, Folder.jpg How do I stop the adding of these files. Again, it's not overwriting files, it's adding files. 2. when I add the folder to the library it does become indexed. but how does that affect if there is album art added or not? after I remove it from the index and then start WMP, the files are added again. " General Notes: WMP is reading from the music library, so if it's in my music library it will be in the WMP music library. Adding folders the music library will not add Album Art until I start WMP.
September 23rd, 2009 10:32pm

If you enable "Show hidden files" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" in folder options and then manually delete any images but the "correct art", it should use the "correct art". Right click on an album or track in the Windows Media Player interface and "Open File Location". Then cut & paste the correct art and it should stick. WMP12 seems rather cludgy. If you use any other third-party music apps like Zune, iTunes or even Windows Media Center it creates a hectic disorganized mess of album art because they all use different formats. I right click on the art and hide them once they are set up like I want them.
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September 24th, 2009 1:09am

Hi misterdan, By default, Windows Media Player 12 will download the album art provided by the Music provider. To remove the unneeded album art, please double check if the "Retrieve additional information from the Internet" is unchecked under Options -> Library. After that, please go to the music folder and then deleted the "AlbumArt####.jpg, AlbumArtSmall.jpg, Folder.jpg" files you mentioned. After that, restart Windows Media Player 12 and the album art shall be removed. In addition, as an end-user myself, I fully understand that it is inconvenient if we cannot change the album art information manually from Windows Media Player 12. I will help to forward your feedback to our related team and they will look into it. Meanwhile, I found a workaround to change the album art. I have included here for your reference: We can rename the .JPG file you would like to use as the album art to the same name as the one automatically downloaded by Windows Media Player 12 (the name is similar to AlbumArt_{5FA05D35-A682-4AF6-96F7-0773E42D4D16}_Large.jpg). Then, replace the original album art to the new one and restart Windows Media Player 12. The album art shall be changed to the picture you would like to have. Hope it helps. Regards, Linda
September 24th, 2009 11:08am

Thank you. Going off of the numbers in the file, where do they numbers come from? is that an MD5 or similar checksum of the music file?
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September 29th, 2009 6:21pm

Hi misterdan, This string of number is called GUID (globally unique identifier). The GUIDs seem to come from their media database(s) so the same album will have the same GUID on everyone's machine. Music that has album art assigned but not an album GUID will just have a hidden 'Folder.jpg' along side it in Windows Explorer (as well as the desktop.ini which maps it onto the music file). True album art images will have a GUID in their name (such as {3EC6E36D-ECAF-46A3-88B7-609ADE36D82D}) and this tells you that this particular music file (or album) will have album art in Windows Media Player.
September 30th, 2009 6:00am

To remove the unneeded album art, please double check if the "Retrieve additional information from the Internet" is unchecked under Options -> Library. After that, please go to the music folder and then deleted the "AlbumArt####.jpg, AlbumArtSmall.jpg, Folder.jpg" files you mentioned. After that, restart Windows Media Player 12 and the album art shall be removed. Hi, this solution DOES NOT WORK. I have disabled both "Retrieve additional information from the Internet" on the Library tab as well as disabled some of the settings from the Privacy tab (which sounded awfully similar). WMP STILL generates those pesky JPG AlbumArt files. This means it's impossible for me to use Live Sync for example to sync my music folders, because those files will constantly get spread from one system to the other. EDIT: I don't know if this is important or not, but my MP3 files have album art embedded into the tags themselves. I'm guessing that WMP could be taking those and throwing them them into those pesky AlbumArt files... Aside from the fact that this is very silly (after all, the album art is already there and making more copies doesn't make sense) this still begs the question: how to stop this?
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October 30th, 2009 11:44am

Looks likehundreds of other WMP12 users rapidly abandoning it and switching to another player because of thisbehaviour ...Typical scenario1. Under the library tab every single option is unchecked, specifically "Retrieve Additional Information from the Internet" = UNCHECKED2. Browse to a folder containing a bunch of new mp3 files, each with an embedded image tag.3. First file opened in WMP creates a folder and AlbumArt jpeg.4. Subsequent files opened in that folder now use these jpegs displaying the wrong image for the mp3 file.Here's the thing, I do not want my media library litteredwith jpegs, I like my files to be portable with any art includedwithin the file.Any workaround to the problem greatfully received, as for Microsoft, give us a damn option that lets us enable or disable this behaviour.
December 4th, 2009 4:25pm

This goes beyond WMP and Microsoft, there should be a standard for all media players on how to manage album artwork, instead of each inventing yet another incompatible way. In any case, WMP generates 2 or 3 redundant artwork files, one large enough to use as full screen background during playback, and maybe a smaller one for display in the Music Library should be enough, but not 4 of them! As for portability, there should be some export or sync feature so you can export a playlist or a whole genre or artist to a MP3 player or iPod, and you should be able to choose whether you want any artwork at all (basic MP3 player), or if you want it embedded or external, converting your WMA files on the fly to MP3 if your music library contains some. Audio files and artwork embedded in each song are a bit redundant and old fashioned, I'd rather have my media library contain songs only in video format, with the same audio quality as CDs, but that would be even more redundant globally!
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April 30th, 2010 3:13am

Donc pour ma par j'ai Cocher "Travailler hors connexion" mais sa continu a recrée ces images. Puis Décocher "Récupérer les information supplémentaire sur internet" mais sa continu a recrée ces images. Donc j'ai aussi Décocher "Ajouter les fichier multimédia lus a la bibliothèque" et la c'est bon je peut lire sans que se recrée ces images. Mais attention elles sont quand même recrée si l'on rajoute une chanson ou un album dans la bibliothèque. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So for me Check "Work Offline" but it has continuously recreates these images. Then Uncheck "Retrieve additional information on the Internet" but it has continuously recreates these images. So I also Uncheck "Add media file has read the library" and it's good I can play without is recreated these images. But beware they are still recreated if we add a song or album in the library.
December 14th, 2010 6:14am

MP has problems with naming files due to the database problems they have I use an iPod so I use iTunes and it does a lot better job of keeping music straight. iTunes also places the album art right into the meta tags on audio files so it becomes part of the file. Windows MVP, paid Remote Assistance is available for XP, Vista and Windows 7. My page on Video Card Problems is now my most popular landing page. See my gaming site for game reviews etc. Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews
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July 26th, 2011 6:47pm

If you enable "Show hidden files" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" in folder options and then manually delete any images but the "correct art", it should use the "correct art". Right click on an album or track in the Windows Media Player interface and "Open File Location". Then cut & paste the correct art and it should stick. WMP12 seems rather cludgy. If you use any other third-party music apps like Zune, iTunes or even Windows Media Center it creates a hectic disorganized mess of album art because they all use different formats. I right click on the art and hide them once they are set up like I want them. You sir, are a Genius! Now, if only you could tell me how to get back the original names of the tracks WMP has decided to rename incorrectly...? http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-sound/windows-media-player-12-renamed-music-wrong/082804d2-9473-40fb-b822-24a06d6e921b
July 27th, 2011 12:47am

MP has problems with naming files due to the database problems they have I use an iPod so I use iTunes and it does a lot better job of keeping music straight. iTunes also places the album art right into the meta tags on audio files so it becomes part of the file. Windows MVP, paid Remote Assistance is available for XP, Vista and Windows 7. My page on Video Card Problems is now my most popular landing page. See my gaming site for game reviews etc. Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews
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July 27th, 2011 1:47am

I have a similar problem with WMP 12. Whenever I selected an mp3 file to play in Windows Media Player (right clicked on it and selected "open with Windows Media Player"), an image of a musical note would appear in the center of the screen. If the song was part of an album and it had cover art, that would be displayed instead of the note. I can still play a visualization, I just need to select one manually, which gets annoying. How do I get visualizations to play automatically again?
December 29th, 2011 4:23pm

Untick this option in WMP. Options --> Player --> Add Local media to Library when played This worked for me. Give a try.
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May 19th, 2012 3:57am

If you use a program such as MP3tag (freeware), you can add the album art directly to the tag for the song (WMP does not add the art to the tag). That way you can have portability.
June 24th, 2012 3:41pm

the itunes software is free and a hardware device like an ipod is optional i used the software for quite a while until i got my first nano several years ago Windows MVP 2011-12, XP, Vista, 7 and 8. Hardcore Games, Legendary is the only Way to Play Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews
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June 24th, 2012 3:52pm

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