Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Old iTunes folder to Catalina or Big Sur Music.app

FYI. I have tested how to best import an old iTunes folder to the Music.app on a cleanly installed Big Sur (Catalina was the same but I skipped it). My current "iTunes" folder in Mojave was created 2006 (15 GB folder containing 1800 songs).


With my setup the Music.app could successfully parse the old “iTunes Library.itl” and convert it to the new “Music Library.musiclibrary”.


In that process the Music.app wanted to create a new mainly empty “Music” folder. I want all stuff in the same folder so I manually organised the old iTunes folder to the new Music.app layout:


~/Music/Music/Music Library.musiclibrary

~/Music/Music/Media/Music/[imported and downloaded artists/albums]

~/Music/Music/Media/Automatically Add to Music/ <- created automatically

~/Music/Music/Media/Downloads-Music/ <- created after authorisation (Catalina)


Convert old iTunes folder to the new folder structure:


0. In the old macOS iTunes.app check the song count (View > Show Status Bar) so you can compare it in the new Music.app.


1. Copy the old "iTunes" folder to macOS 11.0 Big Sur ~/Music/ folder and rename it "Music".


2. Option-start macOS 11.0 Big Sur Music.app and choose the old ~/Music/Music/iTunes Library.itl as a library. Music.app prompts to create a new “Music 1” folder. Save it on the Desktop (or where ever because this folder is deleted at step #5).


3. Wait a while for the old library to load (check the song count via View > Show Status Bar).


4. Quit Music.app. Open “Music 1” folder created in step #2 and move "Music Library.musiclibrary" from it to the ~/Music/Music/ folder you renamed in step #1. Delete the temporary “Music 1” folder from the Desktop.


5. Inside ~/Music/Music/ folder create a new "Media" folder, rename the old "iTunes Music" folder to "Music" and move it to "Media" folder you just created.


6. Option-start macOS 11.0 Big Sur Music.app and choose the newly created and moved ~/Music/Music/Music Library.musiclibrary as a library.


7. Open Music.app > Preferences... > Files, click "Reset", "OK" and "Yes" to the alert "Would you like to move and rename the files in your new Media folder to match the "Keep Media folder organized" preference?".


8. Quit Music.app. Inside ~/Music/Music/Media/Music/ folder delete the "Automatically Add to iTunes" and "Automatically Add to Music" folders after verifying they are empty (a new "Automatically Add to Music" was created in step #7 in the upper folder).


9. Now you should have all imported songs available in the new Music.app with the new folder structure.


There are the following old iTunes files that AFAIK serve no purpose anymore and might be deleted. I am not yet sure whether the "Album Artwork" is still needed because the album art is still there even if it is trashed.


iTunes Library Extras.itdb

iTunes Library Genius.itdb

iTunes Library.itl

iTunes Library.xml

iTunes Music Library.xml

Posted on Dec 9, 2020 12:01 PM

Reply
104 replies

Mar 26, 2021 1:18 AM in response to Matti Haveri

Thanks for this Matt, and all the other good people finding their way through this incredible maze. Erm... it just seems weird to me that Apple expects its devotees to go through this extraordinary process. Why the **** doesn't Big Sur just automatically update everything that iTunes did? Me I only have 123Gb of Music on a separate drive... which I've only been collecting for 14 years since my first iPod... seems to me that it's the manufacturer's responsibility to deliver upgrades to its users without threatening the loss of their entire music collection. Why do we put up with this nonsense? I gave up last night and listened to Spotify instead. Isn't there a clever fix out there that someone has created, a piece of code that we can just run? Having recently wrestled with Apple TV, I'm getting the distinct sense that when it comes to entertainment as opposed to straightforward computing, Apple's legendary arrogance is running away with it. Shame on you Apple. Give us a fix, the back of my hand to you.

Mar 26, 2021 1:24 AM in response to Aidwannislard

Oops. Sorry Apple, maybe I spoke out of turn. You just open 'Music' while holding down option and it asks you for the library file you want to use. And hey presto, there it all is. Will it work? Perhaps. Will report back. Certainly my playlists and recent additions seem to be there... It's OK Apple, I still love you. Even if you treat me bad.

Mar 26, 2021 2:15 AM in response to Matti Haveri

Many thanks again for posting this methodology... I'm back at it, after having consolidated my library. Note that I am doing all this in Big Sur. After Step 5 my Music library looks great in Music. Everything seems to be in order. But...


My music library / music files reside in the legacy file "iTunes Media" not the "iTunes Music" folder, and therefore a Question:


In my case is the intention of step 5 to rename the old "iTunes Media" folder - where all my music and relevant folders reside - to simply "Media"?


Everything seems to work perfectly before Step 7, which seems incorrect based on the location of my song files. I don't want to reset the folder location - to Music/Music/Media - but rather to keep it as it was, by default, which is Music/Music/iTunes Media. That is, if I don't change the name of the iTunes Media folder.


So should I

1) rename "iTunes Media" to "Media" (Step 5)

2) combine that with the old duplicate "iTunes Music" folders (Step 5), then

3) reset the library to point to Music/Music/Media (Step 7) etc


I appreciate your thoughts. Thank you!

Mar 26, 2021 9:28 AM in response to rdf san francisco

> In my case is the intention of step 5 to rename the old "iTunes Media" folder - where all my music and relevant folders reside - to simply "Media"?

> So should I


I am sorry but my cookbook refers to my success in converting my old iTunes folder structure to the new Music.app default folder structure. Other people's folders might be named somewhat differently if they have used different iTunes versions in there past. I tried several iterations before really committing that workflow with my setup in Big Sur. I guess other people's setups might wildly differ from my old simple oldish but smallish iTunes folder.


I have never used Migration Assistant so I don't know how well that might convert old iTunes folders to the new Music.app. I just wanted to imitate the new default folder structure and carry on from that. This might be overkill for most people.


So run some tests with your backup files and report how it works for you. :-)



Mar 28, 2021 11:26 AM in response to Matti Haveri

Thanks Matti, this looked quite good. I tried it two times now and I thought it worked. My music is playing and all my playlists are there, so far so good. But the original files that I copied into the "Media" folder aren't used even though I tried to change the preferences a few times back and forth. The complete library refers to the old disc location when I check the files using CMD & Shift & R.


If someone has a recommendation how to fix this I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks!

Apr 15, 2021 10:24 PM in response to John_the_Swede

> I never get asked to choose a library


Hejsan! When you Option-start macOS 11 Big Sur Music.app (i.e. press the Option-key while clicking Music.app in the Dock, for example) you should be prompted to navigate to and choose a library file i.e. either the old "iTunes Library.itl" or then the new converted "Music Library.musiclibrary" that should then carry on the info about the library. After that it is up to you if you want to modify the old folder structure to imitate the new Music.app folder defaults.

Jun 20, 2021 2:03 PM in response to Matti Haveri

Hello. Thank you for this step-by-step guide.

My old Mac recently died (hard drive dead), and I managed to transfer everything from my old Mojave set-up to the new Big Sur iMac.

Music came through. All good. Until I noticed that all my music was in the cloud, and nothing was linked to my local files.


That's when I started searching and found your guide. I followed this step-by-step about 5 times by now. Even deleted all iTunes and Music preferences one time, and then started fresh. But – whatever I do – I still end up with my library not noticing my local files, but referring to the matched Apple Music ones only. It does download my original MP3 and purchased iTunes files when forced... but I thought there was an easier way just to see the local files again. Anything I might be doing wrong?


thanks,


Stefan.

Jul 6, 2021 7:06 AM in response to yankee119

> step 1 here, but if you rename your old iTunes folder Music while in the ~/Music folder, the computer tells you that you obviously can't have two identically named folders in the same path


Obviously you have an empty new Big Sur "Music" folder at ~/Music. So you can delete it if it really is empty and contains nothing important. Or rename it to "Music_old" before renaming the "iTunes" folder to "Music".

Oct 4, 2021 10:24 AM in response to Matti Haveri

Hi Matti — I had already started the process in a slightly different way by copying my 33,173 item, 132.6 day, 193.43 GB iTunes folder created in Mojave from a backup drive into my fancy new Mac Air running Catalina but got stumped about how to get 25 playlist folders (each containing multiple playlists) and another 200+ playlists to make the journey. You provided invaluable pieces of the puzzle and put a smile on my face. Gratefully yours, Fels

Old iTunes folder to Catalina or Big Sur Music.app

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.