How iTunes remembers audio CDs
Ever wonder how iTunes knows the name of the audio CD you just put in? Or why it may not remember the name of some burned CDs? If so, then read on.
Products Affected
iTunes, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows OS
Remembering purchased audio CDs
When you insert a store-bought audio CD into your computer, iTunes goes online to the CDDB and finds the CD and track names based on the lengths of each track and the overall length of the CD. iTunes then saves this information for the CD into the "CD Info.cidb" file. It's saved here:
Mac OS X: /Users/username/Library/Preferences
Windows Vista: /Users/username/AppData/Roaming/Apple Computer/iTunes Windows XP and 2000: \\Documents and Settings\\username\\Application Data\\Apple Computer\\iTunes
Each time you reinsert that CD into the same computer while logged in as the same user, iTunes will "remember" the information without having to look it up on the Internet again.
Remembering audio CDs you burn
iTunes also adds an entry to the "CD Info.cidb" file every time you burn an audio CD. This is how iTunes "remembers" the CD and track names for every mix CD you burn. The CD and track names are not burned anywhere onto the CD itself. If you insert the burned audio CD into another computer, the CD will appear as "Audio CD" with generic track names. The one exception to this rule is if you burn the tracks from a particular audio CD exactly as they are on a store-bought audio CD. Since the track length and the overall CD length is the same as the store-bought album, iTunes finds the information for the store-bought album when it looks the CD up online.
Remembering CD information you enter manually
If you enter a CD's track names manually, iTunes also saves this information in the "CD Info.cidb" file.
When you insert a store-bought audio CD into your computer, iTunes goes online to the CDDB and finds the CD and track names based on the lengths of each track and the overall length of the CD. iTunes then saves this information for the CD into the "CD Info.cidb" file. It's saved here:
Mac OS X: /Users/username/Library/Preferences
Windows Vista: /Users/username/AppData/Roaming/Apple Computer/iTunes Windows XP and 2000: \\Documents and Settings\\username\\Application Data\\Apple Computer\\iTunes
Each time you reinsert that CD into the same computer while logged in as the same user, iTunes will "remember" the information without having to look it up on the Internet again.
Remembering audio CDs you burn
iTunes also adds an entry to the "CD Info.cidb" file every time you burn an audio CD. This is how iTunes "remembers" the CD and track names for every mix CD you burn. The CD and track names are not burned anywhere onto the CD itself. If you insert the burned audio CD into another computer, the CD will appear as "Audio CD" with generic track names. The one exception to this rule is if you burn the tracks from a particular audio CD exactly as they are on a store-bought audio CD. Since the track length and the overall CD length is the same as the store-bought album, iTunes finds the information for the store-bought album when it looks the CD up online.
Remembering CD information you enter manually
If you enter a CD's track names manually, iTunes also saves this information in the "CD Info.cidb" file.