Freeing Thee from “The”

Double-named Playlist forum visitor ryanpaul offered up a puzzler that taught me a little something more about iTunes. He writes:

This is an annoying problem I’m experiencing when I rip CDs using iTunes.

If the artist has a name that begins with the word “The” (The Beastie Boys, The Strokes, The Beatles, etc.), iTunes includes the word “The” in the name of the folder containing my music files.

So when I go looking for the files, I instinctively look under “B” for Beastie Boys… and get frustrated when I discover that they’re filed under “T” for “THE Beastie Boys.”

Is there any way to change my iTunes settings so it doesn’t include “The” in the folder name?

There isn’t, but there is something you can do after the fact.

• Launch iTunes and if its browser isn’t showing, select Show Browser from the Edit menu to make it appear.
• From the Artist column in the Browser pane select the artist whose name you’d like to appear without the “The” and choose Get Info from the File menu to bring up the Multiple Song Information window.
• In this window edit the Artist field to delete the “The” that precedes the artist’s name and click OK.
• Mew in appreciation when you return to the iTunes Music folder to discover that not only does iTunes change the name within the iTunes windows so that “The” no longer appears, but also deletes “The” from the folder name within the iTunes Music folder.