On Dec 2, 2007, at 1:29 AM, Giles Bowkett wrote:

>> it steps on itself during the transfer, or files that are not the
>> native iTunes format might not contain the track info internally.
>
> I can definitely contradict this. I pulled an .mp3 off one of my iPods
> and although it had an iPod filename it knew what the song was called.
> mp3s have a system for metadata, I think they're called ID3 tags but
> don't quote me on that. I think Apple's proprietary format also uses
> this same system for metadata. so when you pull in songs from an iPod
> it just goes to the metadata in most cases. of course it's possible to
> create mp3s without metadata, which is very likely what you're seeing
> if it goes to the weird filename rather than the name of the song,
> especially if you're only seeing it on mp3s but not AACs.
>
> Anyway, seems like a nifty project, announce if you release it, sounds
> like it'd be fun to play with.
>
> --  
> Giles Bowkett
No contradiction there, I said "might not contain track info  
internally" ...
Some mp3 files (most really) have id3 tags properly filled in.
Other formats handled by iTunes might only have their metadata in the  
iTunes library xml files.
For example aif or aiff files. These were some of my suspects.
I don't know how iTunes checks audio files, but you can bet it  
doesn't care much about the file name.
Oddly enough though, it seems that the file name tweaking occurs  
during the transfer to iPods, a little obfuscation to slow down  
hacking the things.