When I was using iTunes, it was possible to simply drag and drop folders (albums of mp3s and cover art) into iTunes from my download folder. They went onto the hard drive, because I had designated it as the source location of my iTunes library, sorted automatically into the correct location (by artist name) and then I could delete them from the downloads folder en masse.
With Music, if I do the same thing then try to play the album in Music, Music will look for the file in the downloads folder, since that is where the file came from. If I delete the file, it appears in Music but doesn't exist on the computer anymore. I found that I was able to open the external HD, drag the folders to the location where all my other music files are stored, and drop them in. Music sorts them automatically, but doesn't add them to the Music library, so then I have to go locate each folder individually and drag it to the Music icon.
In Music Preferences under Files I have the Music library location set to: /Macintosh HD/Users/fogyeti/Music/Music/Media
This is a remnant of the iTunes organization system, on the same external hard drive. I have the "Keep Music Media organized" box checked, but the next option, "Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library" unchecked. I'm assuming that the latter would copy the files into a folder on my Mac HD, which is what I want to avoid. My goal is to have all the music files on the external HD without having to take multiple steps to add new albums.
Thanks,
Yarrow
