No album cover for bought music

Questions
1
  • Device model Macbook Pro 2021 M1pro:
  • Version of operating system (e.g. macOS 14.7):
  • Version of djay last:
  • Hardware/controllers used Hercules DJ Inpulse 500:

After using streaming (apple music) for a while i started to buy music i want to own.
I buy songs from itunes.
My Problem is, all tracks in my streaming playlists show the album cover, but none of the tracks i bought does this when i load them into a playlist in my collection.
I can read the title but sometimes it is faster to look for the artwork while scrolling.

Is there a way to show the album cover? I already tried to load them in the apple music media library

2

Hey @GitGuy,

I also buy music via iTunes and have encountered the same issue. Here’s what usually works for me:

  1. Open iTunes and locate the track with the missing album cover.
  2. Right-click on the track and select ‘Show Info.’
  3. In the info window, go to the ‘Artwork’ tab.
  4. Delete the existing cover art (in the small upper box), then re-add it by pasting the artwork again.
  5. Save the changes by clicking ‘OK.’
  6. Finally, reload the track in Djay, and the cover art should now display correctly.

(By the way, you could also change something else in the metadata—this usually works just as well.)

Hope this helps!

1 Like
3

By default, purchased Apple Music files do not contain the cover art; the cover art is downloaded to a separate database. This process can delay the cover art showing up in djay Pro.

A solution is to embed the cover art in the audio file; then the cover art will show up immediately in day Pro. You can do this manually or use the script below.

Re-Embed Artwork (macOS) from Doug’s AppleScripts.
Copies/embeds Apple Music cover art into audio files. Runs in Apple Music as a script in the menu bar. Free for use on individual files, but there’s a fee for use on multiple files.
https://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=mxreembedartwork

6

Yeah the problem with this is that cue points are lost and half the time it thinks it’s a new track cause it’s loaded with the number of the album in front of it… find this very frustrating for building sets.

7

NOTE: Please use the search function above before posting to avoid creating duplicate topics.

  • Device model (e.g. 2020 iPad Air 4th Gen): Apple M1 Max
  • Version of operating system (e.g. macOS 14.4.1): 15.6.1
  • Version of djay (e.g. 5.1.2): 5.4.2
  • Hardware/controllers used (e.g. Reloop Mixon 8 Pro): FLX4
    Screenshot 2025-08-27 at 3.39.38 PM
    Screenshot 2025-08-27 at 3.39.38 PM1920×876 104 KB

Your question:

Hello! Daily user of djay - love it to bits.
Have had this issue since the beginning - wondering if anyone else encounters…

When importing local Apple Music files that were purchased through “iTunes” - since the album art is not exactly stored with the file, they show up blank when imported into a Collection Playlist. I’ve tried using “Doug’s Script” to re-embed album art but then ran into an issue where everything went blank in a playlist and I had to re-do manually… not fun.

Just curious if this will ever be fixed or if anyone has found a workaround/method - such that I can continue keeping my library synced across devices in Apple Music.

Thanks,
Matthew

8

Hi @orangeoctopusjim, I’ve merged your new topic with this existing one. Please see above for potential work arounds. Thanks!

9

Oh that’s embarrassing - I’ve commented on this in a previous thread… minor lapse of memory my mistake. Swear I searched!

Doug’s script works well but it broke iCloud sync on a playlist and caused a lot of album art loss (not the scripts fault - just finicky iCloud) so I would caution when batch replacing art for files that are wound into the iCloud system.

All good! A lot of this game is finding creative workarounds. Thanks!

10

You’re welcome @orangeoctopusjim. Thanks for the follow up.