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Maximum iTunes Library Size?

Hi all,

I've searched the discussions and have found some info, but wondered it there was anything definitive on whether there is a "maximum size" limit in iTunes.

I've got a ton of music, all managed w/in iTunes. Currently 153GB and growing, over 2800 albums. The G5 has enough muscle to manage it, but it does take a bit longer to launch iTunes than it did a year ago. Sharing the library via AE with iTunes on my wife's PC takes 1-2 minutes to load.

I don't even try and launch iTunes on my Mac anymore if my iPod is attached beforehand... it will just sit there. Detach the iPod and iTunes launches properly, then I attach my iPod. This didn't happen when my library was much smaller, altho this could be a function of upgrading iTunes to v5.0, the June'05 iPod updater or other variables.

Just curious, wondering if I'm approaching some unspoken limit.

Posted on Sep 16, 2005 11:34 AM

19 replies

Nov 28, 2005 12:21 AM in response to Jayson

alright, ive got 11K+ songs, and im wondering what else i can add. ive got full discographies from bands like led zeppelin, rage...etc, totaling probably 20 or so discographies. now im wondering, are there 50K more songs out there? what else is there? that is so much freakin music.

Feb 6, 2006 1:10 PM in response to STEADI-G

Not that I am at hundreds of thousands of songs, running just above 30K, if you use folders to organize your music, it will make iTunes CRAWL. I had tons of folders organizing a lot of playlist and I almost stopped using iTunes as a result, dragging songs to a new playlist took 2 to 3 seconds. Eliminated all the folders, back to normal.

Feb 7, 2006 1:46 PM in response to STEADI-G

I feel normal in this post! Thanks

21K songs here on LaCie 250Gb EHD, and people give me a hard time. They always ask if I even choose the songs or just download everything! I conisder myself very choosy, especially before the EHD.

My hero remains Henry Rollins. Who claimed 500K songs on his Mac in a Home Theater/Audiophile magazine. But then again he's in the biz and you gotta know the competition. 😉

Todd

robcar

Level 1

2 points

Feb 7, 2006 1:55 PM in response to Todd Pfortmiller

I have around 34,000 songs using up 130 or so GB -- imported at default bitrate. And my iTunes library is still growing.

No problems running iTunes, but I store all my music on my internal HD. I am running a LaCie external HD to backup everything in case of disaster (which has already occurred). At some point, I may switch the iTunes library over to the external HD (500 GB) as the internal drive is only 250 GB and also contains work files, photos, and other software.

I would think that using an external HD for the iTunes library might slow things down a little but I've noticed no difference in iTunes performance from when the library was small in size to now. I do not use folders but do use playlists.

Maximum iTunes Library Size?