Import iTunes library into clean installation of Catalina

I have a large iTunes folder on my external drive. So it there now a simple way to migrate it into Catalina on my new MacBookPro, and keep all the playlists etc.?

Surely there must be a straightforward solution to this. Please?

Hey! This is amazing! Thank you. I’m stuck however. Could you please tell me what you mean by “where your actual audio files are”?

right now I have everything from my old library and it looks like my new downloaded stuff in the new folder. The only thing that is missing is newly created playlists.

thanks so much for your help and answer!! I was on the phone with Apple for a while, she couldn’t figure it out and then we were disconnected. So frustrating!

Yes Yes! Finally I found someone with the same issue as me.. (Probably same as you) I have been using für 10+ years now and have put a lot of effort into organizing my music library which I cannot access anymore. This is heavily disappointing and I hope that Apple will deliver a solution soon!

Thanks for starting this thread, will definitely watch closely!

iTunes Music is the old name for iTunes Media, suggesting your library might originate from iTunes 8 or earlier. Ideally at some point along the way you would have simply renamed the folder and iTunes would have worked it all out, leaving your library in better shape for the next migration/upgrade. It is possible that the Music import routine assumes that the media folder should be iTunes Media, and simply ignores everything it cannot find. Mobile Applications in the library folder also points to an older layout which again, I guess, could potentially cause problems. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community for some background. If nothing else works you might need to get access to an computer running Mojave so you can rearrange the library into the standard shape before bringing it over to Catalina.

tt2

See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Mac - Apple Community to make sure Music is allowed to read the file.

Otherwise see Empty/corrupt iTunes/Music library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community to try repairing the library with a copy from the Previous iTunes Libraries folder. I'd suggest copying, pasting, and renaming as if you were going to open iTunes with rather than simply accessing the file in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder.

tt2

You can import all of the media files that you have, that isn't a problem. Importing the playlists won't work if the tracks aren't where the playlists record them as being. This isn't anything unique to Music, iTunes, or any other software. When you move content from one computer to another, and there are any kind of internal references, then you need to make sure that you're being sympathetic to the way the software works. For iTunes libraries this is discussed in detail in Make a split library portable - Apple Community. Music may be able to import the .itl database of a portable iTunes Library when it has been moved, although I don't think I've tested that scenario as yet. The XML file import would definitely fail however.

tt2

you are an absolute giant!! this solved it for me! thanks!!

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It perfectly worked for me as well !!! Thanks A LOT !!!

nvm

Thank you so much Snowdog212! This worked for me!

YES! You are the saving grace of 2020!