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I'm using Windows 7 to do this. I have quite an extensive library of music and now I have quite a lot of duplicate tracks but in different albums. Obviously I don't really want duplicate files but I'd still them to appear in all of the albums they should. The biggest example I have is that I have multiple UK Top 40s now and some songs are in the charts for weeks, so I have multiple versions of that song which I don't want - but I do want to be able to see the track in each week still. (On my iPhone...)

Is there any way to do this in iTunes? I don't mind a bit of tedious work if it means I can eliminate duplicate tracks!

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4 Answers 4

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You could use individual playlists for the Top 40 of each week. This way you can include a specific track into several playlist without duplicating neither the track/audio data nor the metadata.

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  • Yeah, looks like this will be my best bet. Simplest anyway, and by the looks of it the only way. Guess I've got a lot of playlists to create. Thanks for the suggestion.
    – Andy
    Commented Aug 7, 2012 at 13:40
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No, there is not a way to do this. A track is only allowed one set of id3 tags. Similar Apple Support question: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3846099?start=0&tstart=0

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  • Feared this would be the case. It's a real shame but I guess they didn't think about this when designed the system. Thanks for the information
    – Andy
    Commented Aug 7, 2012 at 13:38
  • Granted, it's been 8 years since this post, but I'm cleaning my iTunes (Music) folder and I've come across cases where I had a song listed twice, and they both pointed to the same physical file. So, it is possible.
    – Zonker.in.Geneva
    Commented Sep 10, 2020 at 21:09
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I was able to put the same track on 2 different albums. I had to download a second copy of the song (track) however. I did this 2 ways with 2 different songs, which I have on albums in iTunes, but wanted to add to a compilation. First method (NOTE: this is an album for which I have the physical CD); I inserted the CD into my drive, but did not allow iTunes to auto import it. I clicked on the CD icon, unchecked the tracks, renamed the track I wanted, the used File; Add to Library; and picked the song/track I wanted. The I just changed the Song Info to match the artist and album I wanted. Second method: (I bought/downloaded the album on iTunes) Use Youtube. I found a Youtube version of the song and used an online Youtube to MP3 converter, which after conversion online automatically downloaded the new track (NOTE: Beware, there is at least one site that does this for free, but keeps asking you to download their conversion program. DON'T! The program is malware.). Again, just change the artist, album, etc info in Song Info and compile your compilation. I don't consider this piracy, as I purchased this song legitimately. But if you change the Song Info in iTunes, it will move the song and you lose it from the album.

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I had this problem with two tracks, same name and same artist, but different composition on two different albums. I preferred one version to be on both albums so, I deleted the version I didn't need from iTunes. (right clicked on track and deleted from library) Went to iTunes media file (I'm using Windows 10) in the iTunes folder and found the remaining track that I wanted. Copied this to my C: drive. (I used the Downloads Folder) Using File Explorer I changed the Album Name/Artist/Album Artist/Track Number and uploaded it to iTunes. It placed it in exactly the right place in the other album. Long winded, but it worked!

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