media fred
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: Is there a way to backup just playlists for easy re-importing?

I have a hard drive full of music that I copied to a Mac and I made playlists on the Mac. I don't need to backup the music since I already have it backed up on the external drive. I'd like to be able to backup the playlists so if the Mac ever crashed I could re-import the playlists and copy the music back over.

 

1. Where can I simply backup the playlists?

2. If the computer crashed, is there a way to easily figure out which songs need to be copied back over based on the playlists, or would I need to drag over everything and somehow sort through the tracks?

 

Thanks.

Posted on Jun 9, 2014 2:46 PM

Close
media fred

Q: Is there a way to backup just playlists for easy re-importing?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Tracy Reynolds,Helpful

    Tracy Reynolds Tracy Reynolds Jun 9, 2014 3:08 PM in response to media fred
    Level 3 (594 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 9, 2014 3:08 PM in response to media fred

    Don't know which iTunes you have.  The exact directions change for each version.  You can export your main music playlist and each individual playlist.  Just click on each playlist and try right-clicking and look for the export command.  And I think File//Library/Export Library will copy everything (all playlists) in one file.

  • by media fred,

    media fred media fred Jun 9, 2014 7:30 PM in response to Tracy Reynolds
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jun 9, 2014 7:30 PM in response to Tracy Reynolds

    I'm using 11.1.4 (62)

     

    What about suggestions for getting my music back in if my Mac crashes? Is the only way to just back up the entire iTunes folder? I was just trying to avoid this because of storage requirements.

     

    Thanks.

  • by Tracy Reynolds,Helpful

    Tracy Reynolds Tracy Reynolds Jun 9, 2014 7:48 PM in response to media fred
    Level 3 (594 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 9, 2014 7:48 PM in response to media fred

    When you add new music, do you also copy it to the external hard drive.  When you update or correct info on songs, what do you do about the backed up copies on the external hard drive.

     

    Keeping two copies of the music files complicates things.  Determine which will be the "original" or "master" location and which will be the "backup" location.  With a data backup progam you can compare the files and determine what needs to be copied.  Only the changed files will be copied.

     

    If your Mac crashes (whiich in my case is never) you would copy everything from the back up, replacing existing files if they still exist, if you are able to reuse the crashed hard drive.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jun 9, 2014 8:18 PM in response to media fred
    Level 9 (54,353 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 9, 2014 8:18 PM in response to media fred

    The vast bulk of an iTunes folder is the media files. The library files are next to nothing by comparison and even the artwork folder isn't all that large.  You really are better off doing as TracyReynolds suggests and consolidating it all into a daily use iTunes folder on your computer and then a backup on an external drive.  There are various backup tools whereby only updated content is edited and you don't have to copy it all each time.

     

    Saving playlists saves only the file location listing as text.  It doesn't save the media files and it certainly doesn't save them as neat parcels.  You really are better off developing a whole library strategy.

  • by Tracy Reynolds,

    Tracy Reynolds Tracy Reynolds Jun 9, 2014 10:19 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 3 (594 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 9, 2014 10:19 PM in response to Limnos

    Right.  All the playlists are something like a table of contents for a book.  The music files only exist once.

  • by media fred,

    media fred media fred Jun 10, 2014 11:38 AM in response to Tracy Reynolds
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jun 10, 2014 11:38 AM in response to Tracy Reynolds

    When I add new music I copy it to the external drive first, since this is considered my master music drive. I then copy the individual tracks I may want to the Macbook Pro from there via a usb drive. The Macbook Pro is now about 7-yrs old, so that is why I’m concerned about the long-term health of the hard drive.

     

    1. What type of data backup program are you suggesting that can compare files to find duplicates, etc.?

     

    2. Can you please suggest a “whole library strategy?” I’m not sure what you mean by this? I could just use Time Machine, though I will need to dedicate an entire drive just to backup my music and playlists, and I already have the music backed up on the main music drive and I actually have an exact copy of the music drive that I use for backup in case anything happens to the main music drive.

     

    Thanks again.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jun 10, 2014 11:42 AM in response to media fred
    Level 9 (54,353 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 10, 2014 11:42 AM in response to media fred

    Do you have enough room on your internal drive to keep all your iTunes files?  Is that more or less how you are doing it now except for this cumbersome adding files one place then another?  If you do then you need to consolidate all your files onto the internal drive and periodically back up the entire iTunes folder to the external drive.

     

    As for backup, Time Machine is one possibility.  I don't use it because it won't run on my computer.  I use CarbonCopyCloner.

     

    Read these to understand how iTunes is structured and works:

     

    What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660

     

    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management

     

    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html

     

    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

     

    iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847

     

    Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/message/13025536 and https://discussions.apple.com/message/17457605