mtclemons
Level 1 (5 points)
Photos for Mac

Q: I want my MacBook Pro and iMac iTunes libraries to be exactly the same without using iTunes Match or the cloud.

I want my MacBook Pro and iMac iTunes libraries to be exactly the same (there are variances in terms of artist name, album artist, compilations, etc.), and I want to do it without using iTunes Match or the cloud. My MacBook is what I use to sync my iPod and therefore is the "definitive" library. I'd like to do it by using Home Sharing, I am just unsure how to go about deleting the library on the iMac to then import the library from the MacBook. Do I need to uninstall, then reinstall iTunes on the iMac? And if so, how do I avoid getting a barrage of duplicates from purchases when it connects to the iTunes store?

 

Thanks in advance.

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Feb 12, 2016 10:43 PM

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mtclemons

Q: I want my MacBook Pro and iMac iTunes libraries to be exactly the same without using iTunes Match or the cloud.

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  • by Kenichi Watanabe,

    Kenichi Watanabe Kenichi Watanabe Feb 13, 2016 2:56 AM in response to mtclemons
    Level 8 (38,823 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 13, 2016 2:56 AM in response to mtclemons

    You cannot do it using iTunes Home Sharing, if you want to sync an iPod from the Mac that is accessing the shared library.  Song files need to be stored locally on the computer syncing to the iPod.

     

    If you want the two iTunes libraries to be (momentarily) the same, you can use the procedure to backup and restore the iTunes library

     

    Manage and back up your iTunes media library - Apple Support

     

    To do this, one of the iTunes libraries needs to be the master already, meaning you put it as is on the other Mac (replacing that other Mac's iTunes library).  This procedure does not "merge" two separate iTunes libraries into one.

     

    To summarize the procedure, the first step (after Find the iTunes Media folder) is to Consolidate your iTunes library data into the iTunes folder.  Your iTunes folder is in your user account Music folder.  If you are using the default settings in iTunes, all of your iTunes data may already be in your iTunes folder.  Then, Back up your library and media files by copying your iTunes folder to an external drive.  The last step is to Restore your library from a backup, which in this case is to the other Mac.  You are basically replacing the existing iTunes folder on that Mac with the master iTunes folder from the backup.

     

    NOTE:  If you can set up File Sharing between the two Macs, you can copy the iTunes folder directly between the two Macs, with no external drive.  However, depending on network connection speed and size of your iTunes folder, using an external drive may be a lot faster.

     

    After the transfer completes, when you run iTunes, it uses that master iTunes folder and, at that moment, the iTunes libraries on the two Macs are exactly the same.  But they will drift apart over time, unless you have iTunes Match to keep them "in sync."

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Feb 13, 2016 5:19 AM in response to mtclemons
    Level 9 (53,971 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 13, 2016 5:19 AM in response to mtclemons

    You can, as observed, only do it if both computers are using the same library.  This will require fastidious updating of the library on each computer to keep it in sync with the other, or use set up file sharing on one machine and use it to serve the library to the other. Even then that has limitations such as the two computer can not have iTunes running at the same time.

     

    Home Sharing only lets you copy media from one computer to another using iTunes as a server, but it does not, for example, serve the library file which is what gives iTunes the track listing when you see when you start the application.