iTunes Match: new PC and new NAS - how to download all albums and playlists?

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iTunes Match: new PC and new NAS - how to download all albums and playlists?

Dear sir/madame

After more than 10 years my old PC (Toshiba) and my old NAS (LaCie) were to be replaced simultaneously. So I invested in a new PC (HP) and a new NAS (Synology). My iTunes library is stored in the cloud using iTunes Match.

In order to get my complete music library on the new NAS I understood using iTunes Match as transfer mechanism was the easiest way. However, I also need a physical copy of the entire music library on my new NAS as my Sonos requires a music folder to read.

After browsing a series of conversations on the community I installed the newest iTunes (64bit) on my new PC and created the following folders in the root of my new NAS: iTunes\iTunes Media\ with subfolders Movies, Books and Music. In iTunes on the new PC I changed (via Preferences) the iTunes Media Folder Location to \\xxx.xxx.x.x\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music. Then I logged in with my AppleID and authorized my new PC. After a few seconds my entire cloud library was visible and playable. The media folder on the new NAS remains empty. So far so good.

Now I need to get all albums & playlists from iTunes Match saved on the new NAS in \\xxx.xxx.x.x\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music where it will also serve as library for my Sonos. What do I need to do next to download all albums (approx 500) at once, without having to download manually every single album? Same question for the playlists (approx 150). Am I overlooking any settings?

All help is welcome!!

Posted on Sep 14, 2019 7:27 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

274,862 points

Sep 15, 2019 8:31 AM in response to wgardin

There is a bug in recent builds of iTunes for Windows which means it forgets the path to the media folder. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community and put your library in a shape that isn't affected by the issue, and is easier to backup and move around in future. I would suggest you keep the primary copy of the library on an external drive, and use the NAS for backup.

tt2

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Answer 2

wgardin Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 14, 2019 10:20 PM in response to wgardin

To make the challenge/issue more complete,

a) I need a split library setup, i.e. the library files are to be stored on the PC (C:\Users\MyName\Music\iTunes) and the albums are to be saved on the NAS in the Media Folder (\\xxx.xxx.x.x\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music). This desired setup on the new PC and new NAS is identical to the current setup with old PC and old NAS and works flawlessly.

b) I managed to download one album (-as a test-) from iTunes Match but it not stored where I expected but 1 level deeper under (\\xxx.xxx.x.x\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\Music)

c) iTunes keep changing my requested Media Folder Location to C:\Users\MyName\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media while it changed it to point to the NAS. I did use the Shift-Start iTunes procedure and selected the itl file on C:\Users\MyName\Music\iTunes. BTW there are no library files on the new NAS, so it is impossible to select the wrong library file.

What was supposed to be an easy walk (install iTunes on new PC and dowload all albums & playlists from iTunes Match) is turning out far more complex and (very) frustrating. I spent days browsing loads of community posts, double-checked all the settings (enabled "Keep iTunes folder organized", enabled "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library"). Sadly without the expected result: what worked well for >10 years on a (now worn-out) PC and NAS does not work on brand new equipment.

All help is welcome!!

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iTunes Match: new PC and new NAS - how to download all albums and playlists?

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