# ITunes Purchased By
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [September 17, 2022, 11:18am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500 "2022-09-17T11:18:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sonus](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Sonus)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 11:18am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/1 "2022-09-17T11:18:49Z")
I want to find all songs in my iTunes library where the Purchased By is not me.
1. Is there a column that exposes this data?
2. Is there a way to search an entire directory to find just those Purchased By that I am seeking?
New to MP3Tag so my knowledge is limited. However, I did try to add a column in the tags based on older posts and I could not find a column ITUNESACCOUNT in the options.
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 11:25am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/2 "2022-09-17T11:25:41Z")
These are the search results for "purchased by itunes":
> [@iTunes Purchased By Tag](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by-tag/12354):
>
> Hello I Want To Change Purchased By In Songs Of iTunes Please Help Me [:unsure:]
> [@\[REQUEST\] iTunes Purchased By](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/request-itunes-purchased-by/15735):
>
> Can anyone make a script to edit the "Purchased By" field on iTunes? Thanks slight_smile
> [@How to edit the name in iTunes Purchased by?](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-edit-the-name-in-itunes-purchased-by/41857):
>
> It's great that we can edit the email in the iTunesAccount field but how can we edit the name? ITUNESACCOUNT works to changing emails but ITUNESOWNER doesnt change for names when i import it on iTunes to check
> [@iTunes "Purchased By" field/tag](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by-field-tag/16216):
>
> I see that you have added a fully functional ITUNESACCOUNT tag edit. Great to be able to edit the Apple Store ID email address in Mp3tag v2.64 (nice). I was editing some of my iTunes albums that are in .m4a format with Mp3tag v2.64.... I noticed that you don't have an add iTunes "Purchased By" action programmed into Mp3tag v2.64. There also is no action coded into Mp3tag v2.64 to edit iTunes "Purchased By" for albums with a pre-existing iTunes "Purchased By" tag. So, if I want to edit the "Purc…
You could check for a single file what the extended tags shows and whether there is a field for that data.
You could then filter for that field
%fieldname% PRESENT
where you replace %fieldname% with the correct fieldname.
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### Author:  [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 12:40pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/3 "2022-09-17T12:40:02Z")
Note that these iTunes information fields show the data that was present for the original purchaser. They can be changed or even deleted. However the original info is still watermarked into the file, even since the DRM was removed by Apple. You can confirm this by looking at the file in iTunes after making any edits or deletions. It will still show the original purchaser ID and dates. This info cannot be changed with mp3tag.
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### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 12:57pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/4 "2022-09-17T12:57:50Z")
> [@MotleyG](#):
>
> However the original info is still watermarked into the file
Are you sure? Do you have any source for this?
Is this information not just saved in iTunes database, linked to this file?
I can't imagine that Apple really creates a unique watermark into the files (the audio-part or metadata?) for every single purchase.
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 1:17pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/5 "2022-09-17T13:17:12Z")
> [@LyricsLover](#):
>
> Do you have any source for this?
> [@\[X\] metadata field "ITUNESOWNER" cannot be changed in 2.80](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/x-metadata-field-itunesowner-cannot-be-changed-in-2-80/18480/2):
>
> The ITUNESOWNER field actually refers to the ownr MP4 atom (search for this in your HEX editor). I've just ran some tests with v2.80 and it gets updated correctly. What doesn't get updated is the DRM data that also references the name of the files' owner. I have no plans to mess with this data, since Mp3tag would then be very quickly on the grey-to-dark corner of the software spectrum slight_smile Kind regards – Florian
> [@iTunes Owner Tag is not working/Appears another "name" owner](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-owner-tag-is-not-working-appears-another-name-owner/44099/10):
>
> I don't think that I've modified the data you're referring to in Pic\_5 and Pic\_6 with v2.78. It's data that is outside of the Apple iTunes metadata. My guess is that you've used it on files that didn't have this special DRM part that files of kind "Purchased AAC audio file" have. The drms atom of those files contains a little bit more than the user's name (it's what you've found next to the name atom). It contains user which most likely is the iTunes Store user ID, key which is most likely the…
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### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 1:22pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/6 "2022-09-17T13:22:26Z")
I believe that YOU don't change such a value inside the metadata @Florian.
But I'm not sure if an email address in the metdata can be really used as a "watermark".
> **[iTunes Songs Don't Have DRM, But They Contain Your Email Address](https://www.techdirt.com/2009/01/14/itunes-songs-dont-have-drm-but-they-contain-your-email-address/)**
>
> Apple got a lot of press last week when it announced that it was going to remove the DRM from songs it sold through the iTunes Music Store. That’s a great thing in itself, since it removes th…
and
> **[iTunes Store: Wasserzeichen statt DRM - Macwelt](https://www.macwelt.de/article/935026/itunes-plus-itunes-store-wasserzeichen-statt-drm.html)**
>
> iTunes Plus 2009 Nach langen Verhandlungen mit der Musikindustrie hat Apple das DRM-System Fairplay abgeschafft. Auf der Macworld Expo hat Phil verkündet, dass in Kürze alle Songs im iTunes Store ohne DRM zu haben sind. Eines verschweigt Apple...
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### Author:  [@Sonus](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Sonus)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/7 "2022-09-17T13:45:22Z")
As the OP, I wish to clarify that I don’t want to alter anything. I want to find which columns displays Purchased By, and then sort by that column so I can find all songs not purchased by me.
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/8 "2022-09-17T13:48:55Z")
You could check for a single file what the extended tags dialogue Alt-T shows and whether there is a field for that data.
You could then filter for that field
%fieldname% PRESENT
where you replace %fieldname% with the correct fieldname.
---
### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/9 "2022-09-17T13:54:40Z")
> [@Sonus](#):
>
> I want to find which columns displays Purchased By
In addition to @ohrenkino 's advice, you can add additionals columns like this
> **[File List – Mp3tag Documentation](https://docs.mp3tag.de/customization/file-list/)**
>
> Customization options for the File List, including adding, removing, hiding, and rearranging of columns. Mp3tag is the universal Tag Editor.
for the columns mentioned [here](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-owner-tag-is-not-working-appears-another-name-owner/44099/3) like ITUNESOWNER, ITUNESACCOUNT, ITUNESPURCHASEDATE
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### Author:  [@Sonus](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Sonus)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/10 "2022-09-17T14:04:16Z")
Still struggling here. Version for me is 3.17 (current).
I cannot fine a column for ITUNESACCOUNT. Am I looking in the right place?
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/11 "2022-09-17T14:06:44Z")
Have you checked the name in the extended tags dialogue?
If so, and you don't find that name in a field list, then simply type it in.
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### Author:  [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2022, 10:08pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/12 "2022-09-17T22:08:17Z")
> [@LyricsLover](#):
>
> Are you sure? Do you have any source for this?
> Is this information not just saved in iTunes database, linked to this file?
Sorry for the late reply, Saturday = outdoor chores day 😋
There are already some other replies that have links to some backup info. A simple way to confirm this is to _copy_ one of your files downloaded from iTunes to a new temporary location. Rename the file to something you can easily identify to make sure you work with the copy. Delete all of the iTunes related tags. Change as many of the other recognizable tags like title, album, Artist, etc. as you want. Then scan the new file into iTunes. All of the tag changes will be reflected, yet the original owner and and purchase dates will still be shown in the file info section.
There may be other ways to make changes to this info, but it is definitely something Apple has left intact for a reason. I would have to believe that even without any DRM in place, there is still some agreement with the labels that this detail is kept intact.
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/itunes-purchased-by/58500/13 "2026-02-09T12:29:55Z")