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The standard for sorting is numbers before letters.  What Apple has done is incorrect and at the very least it should be configurable.

Posted by Qrobur on July 1, 2007 at 6:21 PM (CDT)

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@Qrobur: I agree that in most applications you would find numbers before letters. I’ve just noticed that my 5.5-Gen and my Nano 2nd-Gen now list the numbers at the bottom, but not my Apple TV. At this stage, the iPods are much better at sorting and obey iTunes’ mandate, but the Apple TV doesn’t.

It’s confusing to have the numbers at the bottom now. I guess Apple thought they were confusing or unsightly. If you can think of numbers as alpha words rather than numerals, you can dictate where they appear in the sort order by converting the numbers to words, e.g., for the band 67 Special, the Sort Artist would be “Sixty Seven Special”. It all depends on whether you can visualise the name as words.

Posted by Japester on July 2, 2007 at 10:43 AM (CDT)

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One thing I noticed after installing 7.3 was that applications that use the iTunes scripting interface (like gdTunes for Google Desktop’s sidebar) stopped working.

The gdTunes website has a simple fix: Exit iTunes, then run “iTunes.exe /regserver” from Start / Run.

Posted by DingoJunior on July 4, 2007 at 10:33 PM (CDT)

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I’m also getting the -50 error. Until Apple releases a fix (it’s been nearly a week now) there’s no point adding any new music to my library, which is irritating to say the least.

Posted by Slimecat on July 4, 2007 at 10:38 PM (CDT)

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I just can’t stand looking at my library sorted by artist and see 3 Doors Down at the end
It’s driving me nuts!!!!!
IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEA OF HOW TO SHOW NUMBERS BEFORE LETTERS WHEN SORTING BY ARTIST PLEASE COMMENT BELOW…...IM DESPERATE

Posted by Pyrkavlos on July 19, 2007 at 12:00 PM (CDT)

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@Pyrkavios: You could try changing the Sort Artist to something like “aaa3 Doors Down”. Experiment to get it to the top of the list.

Posted by Japester on August 5, 2007 at 8:47 AM (CDT)

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Pyrkavios, unfortunately Japester is correct.  I’m not sure why Apple decided to run counter to a recognized, fully-established standard (symbols, numeric, alpha) without giving us the option to use the old method, but the only way to force iTunes (that I’ve found thus far) to sort properly, is to set up a lead code before the artist name in the “Sort Artist” field.  And apparently, you need to use alpha-numeric characters to do it, as iTunes ignores leading symbols.  Which sucks, since I had my compilations and soundtracks nicely segregated from my regular albums, without having to do a genre sort.

Posted by Damean on August 23, 2007 at 11:49 PM (CDT)

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I am on the same line as those pulling their hair over the new apple sort order! I hate it and don’t see why I have to change the “NORM” to suit Apple’s convoluted thinking. I agree that in the least Apple should have provided a list option. After all it would require only a few lines of code/script.
Tell you what I did, after a reformat and reinstall of my system due to a bunch of corrupted files thanks to my son and a frisky virus. ;) What I decided to do is go back to Itunes version 7.0.0.70. Tell you all what, I prefer the older version’s view of listing the albums to the new. Not to mention that “MY” iPod looks and “Lists” the way “I” want it to be..

Posted by Michael J. Dybus on April 1, 2008 at 4:29 AM (CDT)