"remove all tags and metadata" - the MP3 format includes a header block which contains details such as track title, album, artist, genre, year of release, cover art image, and many other pieces of data. You need to remove all of those before the phone will recognise the file as usable. I use Softpointer's "Tag&Rename" for this sort of operation, but there are plenty of other tools available -- if you're using Windows, you can right-click on the file to get the Properties screen; the Details tab might allow you to delete enough of the information. You can use MP3s for alarms as well, but: - Unlike previous models of the phone, the S9 imposes a 4-second fade-in on the track. This fade-in cannot be avoided using any controls on the phone (or if it can, the controls are not in an obvious place -- yay Samsung, making life "better" for everyone!), so if (like me) you want the sudden loud track intro to wake you up, you have to add about 4.5 seconds of silence to the start of every track you want to use as an alarm. (I recommend NCH Software's "WavePad" for this sort of thing.) - Put them in the Alarms folder instead of Notifications. Hope that helps.
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