iTunes 2: Unicode ID3 Tags With Double-Byte Characters Appear as Garbled Text

When using double-byte characters, iTunes 2.0 and 2.0.1 incorrectly format Unicode ID3 tags on songs they encode, and the Unicode tags of songs encoded with other application programs and subsequently edited with iTunes 2.0 or 2.0.1.
Symptom

When using double-byte characters, iTunes 2.0 and 2.0.1 incorrectly format Unicode ID3 tags on songs they encode, and the Unicode tags of songs encoded with other application programs but edited with iTunes 2.0 or 2.0.1. Tags for these songs appear as garbled text.

iTunes 2.0.2 properly formats Unicode ID3 tags, and automatically corrects the formatting for songs that were encoded by iTunes 2.0 or 2.0.1. However, it does not correct ID3 tags with double-byte characters, for songs encoded with another program and subsequently edited using iTunes 2.0 or 2.0.1. For these songs, iTunes 2.0.2 displays ID3 tags with garbled text.

Solution

If you are using iTunes 2.0 or 2.0.1, download and install iTunes 2.0.2 or later. It is available from the iTunes Web site (http://www.apple.com/itunes/). iTunes 2.0.2 can automatically correct Unicode ID3 tags on songs for tracks improperly encoded with iTunes 2.0 or 2.0.1

If you are using iTunes 2.0.2 and Unicode ID3 tags display incorrectly, you can still play songs without any issues. However, the ID3 tags of songs encoded with another program and subsequently edited using iTunes 2.0 or 2.0.1 will appear as garbled text.

Apple expects to release a version of iTunes with a feature that can manually fix incorrectly formatted Unicode ID3 tags.
Published Date: Feb 18, 2012