Q: Need help with organizing music
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Aug 21, 2016 12:42 PMby irina_w,Hello Thepecher,
It sounds like you are looking for a way to have the same iTunes library available for two different computers. I can certainly understand the convenience of this and am confident I can help you out.
The best solution would be to use iTunes Match. iTunes Match stores all your music in iCloud and allows you to access it from all your devices, including PC's. iTunes Match would accomplish all the items included in your list of things you want to be able to do. If you add music to iTunes on one computer, it will show up on the other computer automatically. Complete information is available here:
Find out how to subscribe to iTunes Match here:
For even greater flexibility you may want to combine iTunes Match with an Apple Music subscription. This would allow you access to millions of songs and would sync your playlists between devices. Information about Apple Music is available here:
Have a great day!
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Aug 21, 2016 2:45 PMby jameson.h,Hi Thepecher,
There is another option to making sure that the libraries on both computers remain the same.
iTunes actually consists of the iTunes Library.itl file and the iTunes Media folder. The iTunes Library.itl file is a database of the songs and playlists in your library. You can find details about the itl file by following this link:
You could keep everything in sync by consolidating iTunes, backing up the library and the itl file each time a change is made on one of the computers, and then restoring the library and the itl file to the other computer. Follow this link for instructions:
Manage and back up your iTunes media library
Once you have consolidated and backed up the iTunes library, use the instructions on that page to restore it to the new computer.
This will keep the iTunes library on both computers in sync.
Have a great day!
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Aug 23, 2016 4:35 AMby Thepecher,Would it work if i have a ITunes media folder on my hard drive and every time i open Itunes i open it with shift+open and choose to open that media folder?
The thing is, imagine if i added songs to itunes when my HDD wasn't connected. Then i connect the HDD. Would the Shift+open itunes, choose the media folder on the HDD, consolidate, add the new songs to the media folder on the HDD?
This would be a kind of system where the up-to-date version of my library is on the HDD and everytime i change something i consolidate to add the new ones.
How would that work out with the playlists?
Thanks a bunch btw!
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Aug 23, 2016 9:23 AMby sarah_s1,Hey Thepecher,
If you added songs to iTunes while the hard drive was not attached, it would create another itunes library and not add them to your "main" library on the external drive. Unfortunately it would not consolidate the music.
Once you attached the hard drive, you could consolidate the music under the Consolidate your iTunes library here:
Manage and back up your iTunes media library
As long as the external hard drive was the location of the iTunes Media folder location designated under the Find the iTunes Media folder section, it would then move the new music to the external hard drive iTunes Media folder.
As for the playlists, you would need to test it to see if it moves playlists also.
Hope this helps!
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Aug 25, 2016 9:19 PMby turingtest2,See also Make a split library portable and Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy. One library you can take everywhere and use everywhere, and a secure up to date backup in case you need it. In my case I run three copies, one at home, one at work, and a portable drive that I use to keep the two in sync with each other.
tt2
