Shaken, not stirred

Batch Copy Album Art to MP3 Player

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Version 2.1 updated 8/10/08  
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Many MP3 players display the album cover of the currently playing song if a file with that image is in the album folder on the player. This utility compares the album folders on your computer with the album folders on your player and identifies the matching folders. After you approve the matches, it copies the album art files from the computer to the matching folders on the player.  The entire process takes a couple of minutes, instead of having to manually copy each album art file to the appropriate folder on the player.

You shouldn't need this program if your MP3 player syncs correctly with Windows Media Player or other synchronization program, because that should also copy the album art for the synced songs. Unfortunately some players (such as my phone) mishandle album art files in various ways: failing to copy any art, missing just some folders, or not updating the album art when you replace it on your PC.

With many players, an alternative to copying the album art file to the player is embedding  it in the music file. That's what I now do with my MP3 player, using the freeware Mp3tag instead of this part of my own program.

The Copy Album Art utility in Shaken, not stirred version 2 is the same as it was in version 1, aside from cosmetic interface changes.

Album Art Copy Requirements:
Your MP3 player must have an option to connect to the computer in "UMS" or "MSC" mode, i.e. so you can see it as a drive letter in My Computer. (With cell phones that can't connect as a drive, if your music is stored on a memory card, you can eject it and connect it with a card reader to your PC as a drive.) The program also assumes the music files on your computer are stored in Artist\Album subfolders. This folder arrangement is automatically created on your computer by most CD ripping programs, and on your player by most sync programs, including Windows Media Player.
Note: These requirements apply only to the album art copy function. You do not need them for the Jukebox Shuffle function.

The illustration on the right shows the main window where you select the music folders and album art file names on your computer and player. Detailed instructions are in Shaken, not stirred's Help.

After clicking the "Find ..." button in the main window, the program compares the folders on your PC and player, and then displays the window below showing the matching folders it found on computer and player. You select the album art files you want copied to your player (normally all that aren't already on the player) and click OK.