How can you add the explicit sign to a song not downloaded from the itunes store?

Answer 1

iTunes does not let you edit the tag itself. In addition, .mp3 files do not support the tag in their metadata, so it is impossible to add the tag to an .mp3 file.

There is, however, a way to add the tag.

**Be aware that you can lose some sound quality and some album art or other metadata in this process. You can add the metadata again after the process.

1) First, convert all your files to .m4a files if they are not already in that format. iTunes can do this. You select all of your music files, right click, and click "Create AAC Version." However, this option converts your music files and moves them to a different folder which you will have to hunt down. I would suggest downloading a different software, such as RealPlayer Converter, which is free, to convert the files to .m4a files. Make sure you convert the files to a separate location from your old music files and make sure you can access the new folder.

2) Next, you will need to download mp3tag, another free software, which is a dedicated music metadata editor.

3) Open mp3tag. In the File menu, click "Add Directory" and choose the folder in which you put the converted music files.

4) You should be able to see a list of all your files in the mp3tag window. Select them all (Ctrl + a) and right click. On the list of options, you should see an option named "Extended Tags." Click on that option.

5) Click the rectangle with the star on it. Type in "ITUNESADVISORY" in the "Field" box in the new window that pops up and "0" in the "Value" box. Click "OK" on both windows.

6) Right click on the column headers. Click "Customize Columns" and click "New." Type in "iTunes Advisory" for "Name" and "" for "Value." Click "OK."

7) There should be a new column labeled "iTunes Advisory" with zeroes for all the files. The column may be all the way to the right, so make sure to check there.

8) Now you can edit the sign for the files. If a song is explicit, type in a "1" in the "iTunes Advisory" column. If a song is clean, type a "2" instead. If the song had no profanity to begin with, leave the column a "0" (or you could leave it blank).*

9) Press Ctrl + a and Ctrl + s to save all the tags.

10) Open iTunes. Your old music files are still there. Select them all and press delete. Drag the new files in. Your explicit songs should now have the "Explicit" tag.

*Tip: In order to select multiple files at the same time, hold down control and click on multiple files to select them. To label all of the selected songs with the same tag, right click, click on "Extended Tags," and type in a "1" or "2" depending on the tag that you want for the value of the tag. Click "OK."