# M4A tag missing between MP3TAG and iTunes
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [May 22, 2026, 4:09am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325 "2026-05-22T04:09:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@deeperroots](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/deeperroots)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2026, 4:09am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/1 "2026-05-22T04:09:00Z")
After tagging an M4A file with an Album name in MP3TAG v3.34 it does not persist when viewing in iTunes. I've experienced this problem consistently. It appears correctly in Media Monkey. Codec is MPEG-4 AAC(10.4.12).
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2026, 5:59am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/2 "2026-05-22T05:59:36Z")
Does the tag data re-appear in MP3tag if you open the editted file again?
If so, it is an iTunes problem. You would have to update the registered files in iTunes. This also applies to modified tag data that iTunes does not display.
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### Author:  [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2026, 8:48am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/3 "2026-05-22T08:48:05Z")
> [@deeperroots](#):
>
> After tagging an M4A file with an Album name in MP3TAG v3.34 it does not persist when viewing in iTunes.
iTunes lives in its' own world. The metadata is only read from a file once when it is first added to the library. This becomes part of the iTunes database and is where the program looks for this data. External changes to the metadata afterwards will not immediately be recognized.
There are ways to force changes to be updated in the iTunes database. See this article for some suggestions.
> [@Force iTunes To Update Track Info After Using MP3TAG](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/force-itunes-to-update-track-info-after-using-mp3tag/58778):
>
> For those with IOS devices or are simply using iTunes as your primary music manager, you will find that mp3tag is far more flexible and powerful than the built-in Get Info editor. However any changes made outside of iTunes will not automatically be reflected into any music files that have already been loaded. There are two ways to get these changes to be reflected into iTunes. Open the Get Info panel for each track. This will force iTunes to grab the latest metadata info and overwrite whatev…
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### Author:  [@deeperroots](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/deeperroots)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/4 "2026-05-22T14:32:28Z")
Thanks for the help but I think this is a glitch on the MP3TAG side. Let me clarify.
I volunteer with a community radio station and the software we use to schedule and post shows requires iTunes. Wouldn’t be my choice, but it is what it is. I receive MP3s and M4As from hosts for tagging and uploading to iTunes. Virtually all tagging that I do is done in MP3TAG. All meta data from MP3TAG carries over _when the file is copied_ to iTunes _except_ M4A “Album” field. So, to clarify, the M4A is not in the iTunes universe until it is copied _after_ MP3TAG touches it.
MP3s do not appear to be impacted. To reproduce, create an M4A outside of iTunes and tag it. Copy it to iTunes. The Album meta data item is gone.
Thanks for your responses and hopefully Florian can reproduce this.
Dave
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2026, 2:43pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/5 "2026-05-22T14:43:52Z")
Can you give details on the iTunes version? I assume it's on Windows and you're using the latest version of Mp3tag.
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### Author:  [@deeperroots](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/deeperroots)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/6 "2026-05-22T14:58:13Z")
Hi Florian
On Windows 10. Mp3tag 3.34 and iTunes 12.13.10.3
Thank you
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/7 "2026-05-22T15:08:48Z")
It's working fine here. I've sent you a link for providing test files.
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### Author:  [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/8 "2026-05-22T17:49:24Z")
Very strange. I am on Win10 and have used iTunes since the day it was launched for the Win platform. I manage all of my metadata with mp3tag and never had an issue with the Album tag. Including updates I added today.
How are you adding the Album tag? Maybe share a screenshot of your Extended Tags window for one of the files it is not working in.
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2026, 6:02am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/10 "2026-05-23T06:02:35Z")
Thank you for the example file. The file contains an empty `©alb` MP4 atom (the data structure that holds the album name internally).
Mp3tag currently doesn't pick up such empty atoms. While they're not invalid per se, they're simply ignored when parsing the MP4 structure.
If you enter an album name in Mp3tag a second `©alb` is created, which is unfortunately not picked up by iTunes. iTunes is confused by the first and empty `©alb` and stops reading there.
I'm not yet sure on how to handle this, but wanted to give a quick update.
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2026, 6:52am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/11 "2026-05-23T06:52:51Z")
> [@Florian](#):
>
> I'm not yet sure on how to handle this
The question would be also whether MP3tag should handle this - as apparently some process before MP3tag creates that empty atom.
I would (also) check on the user's side why and how the converter creates these strange fields - and whether a different one would be better.
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/12 "2026-05-27T18:05:07Z")
It's Apple's GarageBand that's producing the empty `©alb` MP4 atom, so the circle is closing.
Thanks @deeperroots, for the extra info!
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2026, 11:49am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/13 "2026-05-30T11:49:41Z")
This should be working now with [Mp3tag v3.35-beta.2](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/455).
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### Author:  [@deeperroots](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/deeperroots)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2026, 12:14pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/14 "2026-05-30T12:14:51Z")
Thanks Florian for taking this on!
Dave
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2026, 12:15pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/m4a-tag-missing-between-mp3tag-and-itunes/71325/15 "2026-06-06T12:15:17Z")
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