Solved! Why isn't iTunes writing Program to Sort/Episode ID tags to MP3 files (ID3v2) (ID3v3) (ID3v4)?
Hello everyone, I want to share a discovery so nobody else goes crazy trying to batch-edit the "Episode ID" and "Program to Sort" fields in iTunes using MP3 files. After testing extensively with advanced editors like Mp3tag, Kid3, and foobar2000, I have scientifically proven that iTunes NEVER injects these specific tags into the physical MP3 file. While it does write them into AAC (.m4a) containers because they are Apple's native format, for MP3s it stores this data exclusively inside its internal database (iTunes Library.itl). I verified this with two definitive tests: External tag editors cannot read these frames simply because they do not exist inside the file.If you edit those fields in iTunes, make a separate copy of the MP3 file, delete the track from the iTunes library, and then import the file back, the data completely disappears. The actual file was always clean. Stop wasting time looking for a tag editor that can read these fields in an MP3; it is just a visual illusion created by the iTunes internal database!Hope this helps the community save time.