Author Topic: Powerpress question about iTunes  (Read 7960 times)

BenTwisted

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Powerpress question about iTunes
« on: August 22, 2008, 09:03:45 am »
My new show was just accepted and added to iTunes, but my name and image are not showing up.

iTunes displays the generic image and the talent name says "Unknown".

Everything is listed in my settings, and I previewed the image to make sure it was a valid link before I had submitted it.

Is there an issue with Powerpress passing the info to iTunes? ...or is this just due to the fact that the podcast is new? (it was just added to the iTunes store yesterday)

angelo

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2008, 10:17:07 am »
Depending on where you view your podcast in iTunes you are either looking at the feed's <itunes:image> or you are looking at the cover art image written into the ID3 tags of your media file.

If you are not using a service that writes ID3 tags to the mp3s such as ours ( Blubrry Publishing with Hosting) or you're not using an application to write ID3 tags before you upload your media then you most likely have no images in your media files which will result in iTunes displaying the "Unknown" message.

Two quick tests you can do
1. Download the media file locally and open it in a media player such as Windows Media Player, Quicktime or WinAmp. Configure your media player to display 'cover art' or 'album art'. If nothing appears, then your media is missing album/cover art.
2. Search for your program in iTunes rather than for an episode. If you see your iTunes image when viewing your program profile, but not when you view specific episodes, then the problem is not with your feed's iTunes image.

You can learn more about ID3 tags on PodcastFAQ.com: http://www.podcastfaq.com/creating-podcast/audio/edit-id3-tags/

BenTwisted

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2008, 11:24:11 am »
It doesn't show in search yet. I'm going to it from the link that iTunes emailed me when they approved it.

I downloaded the episode. There's almost nothing on it. The podcast title and episode. That's it. Artist is blank. Copyright is blank. No cover art. Yet all of this is configured in the Powerpress settings page.

I just can't figure out why that info is not getting thru from my feed to iTunes.

I'm using wordpress 2.6 with the Blubrry Powerpress plugin. All of the information is entered into the powerpress settings in my wordpress admin panel. Is there something else I'm supposed to do? I thought the plugin took care of writing all the necessary tags. Otherwise, well, I can't see why the form fields would be there if I had to write the tags myself.

I'm experienced with Wordpress, but this is my first podcast.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2008, 11:38:09 am by BenTwisted »

BenTwisted

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2008, 11:31:09 am »
Not sure this is necessary (or appropriate) so I'll add it as a seperate reply so you can delete if you want. Not lookin to promote, just for help. Anyway, here's the link so you can see what I'm talking about.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=288918961

Rob Safuto

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2008, 11:50:23 am »
It sounds like Angelo's response is directed at the image attached to your episodes. But when you say, "my name and image are not showing up" I'm thinking that you mean on your podcast listing page. Is that right?

If it's the case then the culprit could be one of two situations.

  • Check your RSS feed to see if the <itunes:image> tag (see the image below that shows other tag examples) is present and has the link to your show image
  • If the image link is present then copy and paste that link into your web browser. You should see a page with only a photo in your browser. If the image doesn't show up then you've got a bad link and need to double check the location of your iTunes show image.


If the <itunes:image> is not present then there may be a problem with PowerPress. It might help to link to a screenshot of your PowerPress settings if that happens to be the problem.



You can find this image and more details at http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html.

BenTwisted

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2008, 12:26:12 pm »
Yeah, none of the info is even leaving the podcast so there's no wonder it's not showing up on the iTunes page. I just downloaded the file directly from the blog and it's the same as the one in iTunes. No cover art, no artist credit, no copyright.

But yes, I'm talking about that page you have there in that image. Nothing but the title and short description are displayed.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2008, 12:58:00 pm by BenTwisted »

angelo

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2008, 12:59:12 pm »
It appears Rob's first thought was correct, the <itunes:image> tag is missing in your primary RSS feed.

Just a quick reminder though, there are two separate images and they are accessed by iTunes in different ways.

1. Your entire program profile in iTunes, which uses the information in your feed.
2. Episode image, which uses data that is written into the ID3 tags in your mp3 file.

Please note that Powerpress plugin does not write ID3 tags to your media files. Your only options are to either write your ID3 tags yourself into your mp3s before you upload them or to switch to a service like ours (Blubrry Publishing) that writes the ID3 tags to the media files for you.

If you want to write your ID3 tags yourself, please refer to the PodcastFAQ.com section for details how to do this with a number of freeware applications: http://www.podcastfaq.com/creating-podcast/audio/edit-id3-tags/

You can subscribe to your feed manually in iTunes. If you do this manually, you can test that it is grabbing your RSS image when you view the root portion of your podcast listed in the iTunes grid subscription screen. If you expand and select a specific episode, it will not use your RSS image, it will use the image that is in your mp3 file, which sounds like does not contain any additional information except podcast title and episode.

I just took a look at your main RSS2 feed, it does not appear to have any iTunes settings in it. Feed: http://www.bigfuggin.com/podcast/feed/ Is this the feed you submitted to iTunes? My guess is that you configured the Powerpress feed settings to only apply to the special podcast feed (http://www.bigfuggin.com/podcast/feed/podcast/, note the additional "podcast/" in the URL) but you submitted the regular site feed to iTunes (http://www.bigfuggin.com/podcast/feed/). I think if you change the "Apply Settings  To" settings under the feed section to include the Main RSS2 Feed you'll be all set.

Once you get the settings to appear in the feed you submitted to iTunes, use the option in the settings to send a test ping to iTunes. This will tell iTunes to pull your feed right away. You will need to enter your iTunes URL that you submitted above in your settings for the ping to work.

angelo

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2008, 01:00:06 pm »
Oh, and upgrade to Powerpress 0.2.0. You're currently using version 0.1.1 which does not include the iTunes ping option.

BenTwisted

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2008, 01:30:28 pm »
Interesting. The version I was using had the iTunes ping tick box, but said 1.1 at the bottom. I deactivated and deleted the plugin, uploaded the new one, activated it, and I have the exact same page. It still has the ping iTunes tick, still says 1.1 at the bottom and has all of my settings exactly as they were.

I even deleted my temp files to make sure it was showing the page correctly and not a cache version. The plugin says it's 2.0. Not sure about the first one I had. I didn't really look before I deleted it. But I had downloaded it from Blubrry just a couple days ago. Seems to be exactly the same. ...as though I changed absolutely nothing.

Not too concerned with the media file at this point. Really just testing, so no biggie there. I just want iTunes to show my image, credit me as the artist, display my description, and I'm not even sure if my keywords are going to be there for search in the iTunes store.

Frustrating.


« Last Edit: August 22, 2008, 01:33:25 pm by BenTwisted »

BenTwisted

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2008, 01:37:35 pm »
...and the plugin is set to "All RSS2 Feeds", but yes, the main feed was the one submitted. At first, that was the only one it was configured for. I changed it to all feeds hoping for a quick fix.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2008, 02:00:45 pm by BenTwisted »

angelo

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2008, 02:51:55 pm »
I just did a test with iTunes and can confirm that for what ever reason the image from the RSS feed is not instantly appearing in iTunes. I can't explain why, perhaps iTunes caches the images every so often.

After downloading my test episode, the image embedded into the id3 tags of the mp3 now appears in my iTunes. If you create a new episode and add your 300x300 iTunes image to it with an id3 editor (you may want to enter other tags as well), it should then appear in iTunes.

Instructions how to add ID3 tags to your media: http://www.podcastfaq.com/creating-podcast/audio/edit-id3-tags/

Again, Please don't confuse the Feed settings with the ID3 tags that are in the physical media file. Powerpress does not add tags to your media files, this is a step you will need to do yourself.

BenTwisted

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2008, 03:59:09 pm »
Not worried about an image in the media file. Not yet. My concern is the image for the podcast itself ... which shows the generic image and doesn't include the information in my powerpress settings.

Just checked and it looks like everything but the image has updated. Maybe the uninstall/reinstall? I dunno. But it's closer. That's a plus.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2008, 04:04:25 pm by BenTwisted »

BenTwisted

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2008, 04:53:29 pm »
Ok, I'm back. Had to get up and get away for a bit.

I really do appreciate the help guys, despite the fact that I feel like a reheated turd sandwich today and probably came across as a ____ (fill in with word of choice). Sorry.

After seeing the changes happening, I tagged and uploaded the mp3, sent another ping ... and hopefully all will be well.

Thanks for the help. Really ... thanks.

The image still hasn't come thru, but I just found the podcast in search. Still says "unknown" under the title in search. But I'll wait and see if that fixes itself when the image shows up. I don't wanna fight it right now. Time to relax, drink a beer and hope like h*ll that it all falls into place.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2008, 05:17:30 pm by BenTwisted »

angelo

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Re: Powerpress question about iTunes
« Reply #13 on: August 27, 2008, 09:32:24 am »
Hey BenTwisted,

I just now tested to see if your listing now appears correctly in iTunes and it does, kind of. When searching for "the great bigfuggin podcast", the show listing appears but with the unknown icon. When I click 'See All' in the top right corner of the Podcasts search results, I can then see your iTunes image.

I can now see your iTunes image when I click the subscription link you posted above. I don't work for iTunes so I can't explain why the logo is not appearing in initial search results. Other than that, it looks like you're all set.