Losing Ratings - Again

[Herb_N]

My music library has about 8,000 songs, all of which were rated when I checked a month ago. But today about 1/3 have no ratings. I don't understand what is happening to cause this. I have not done anything to reorganize folders or other aspects of the library. I just added a few new songs and pasted some lyrics which were not available through the Music Bee lyrics lookup. This happened to me a year ago and I never figured out why.

Herb

[Steven]

Check the date modified for one of the files in windows explorer. Is the date modified the same as what MusicBee says in the Properties tab of the tag editor and is it the date you expected?
You could try rescanning the file as well - right click/ Send To/ Rescan File
There isnt any reason for MusicBee to update the files with no rating for no reason. However if you use WMP then it can update files without any action by yourself.
Other than that I have no other suggestions

[Herb_N]

I can't answer your question, Steven, because imported my iTunes XML file which was 98% complete back into MusicBee and got my ratings back. But that raises another question for me. Is there a way to export to an iTunes XML file or some other way of backing up the ratings in MusicBee so I could reimport them if I lose some ratings again?

Herb

[frankz]

Edit->Edit Preferences->Library...music library/export the library as an iTunes formatted XML file

[Herb_N]

But the button to execute is labeled "Move Library" and an ominous warning comes up. I don't want to move my library, just make an iTunes compatible copy.

[frankz]

That's a separate function, not a button to execute.

The file is generated each time you close MB

[Herb_N]

OK, I've got it now. Just one more question: Since the XML file is no longer used by iTunes is there any way to actually transport changes I make in MB over to iTunes? I ask because the sync feature in MB stalls before completing an update of my iPad.

[phred]

I ask because the sync feature in MB stalls before completing an update of my iPad.

MB can not sync with iDevices. Take a look in the Tips & Tricks sub-forum. There are some (very old) threads dealing with iDevice syncing, but I doubt any of them work at this point.

[Steven]

I still think you should check if the rating exists (which was previously missing before reloading the iTunes xml file) - you should check using the Tag Inspector which is opened from the Tag Editor window. You will probably find there is no rating stored in the file and hence at risk for the rating to be lost again in the future.