Saving changes to my Music library after changing it

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GoldMiner Author

Level 1

22 points

Saving changes to my Music library after changing it

Hello and thank you for reading this.

MBP 15” 2019 macOS Monterey Version 12.1

Music app Version 1.2.1.40

Working on the Music library.

When I started making changes to the library (deleting playlists and so) after some minutes I quit the app, went to the Finder, created a duplicate of the “name.musiclibrary” file, called it “name V1.musiclibrary” and wanted to go on doing the same from time to time. (Create V2, V3 and so on). (That’s the way I do with other apps- Excel, etc).

But I realized that if something goes wrong and I try to go from V3 to the original “name.musiclibrary”, the changes I’ve made are all reflected in the original. If by mistake I deleted playlist(s) in V3, going back to the original, those playlists are missing too.

I do not have any Apple Music media. Only media existing physically in my Finder folder.

Does anyone know of a way I can achieve this? (Maybe saving/backing up to an external HD or any other way?)

I usually backup my MBP incrementally with CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner).

Help will be greatly appreciated!

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Dec 19, 2021 3:31 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

turingtest2

Level 10

274,442 points

Dec 20, 2021 8:44 AM in response to GoldMiner

Are the different versions of the library each in a separate folder or sitting in the same ~/Music/Music folder, not that it should really matter? Is Home Sharing enabled? Perhaps Music isn't fully closing down on exit? Try rebooting your computer, then check that you're really accessing different libraries after rebooting. I make a playlist folder along the lines of ! <Library Description> so I can look at the same place in the sidebar to confirm which library is active.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,442 points

Dec 20, 2021 10:47 AM in response to GoldMiner

Playlist folders get sorted above smart playlists and regular playlists. A folder that begins ! will sort above everything else. This is my iCloud Music Library (initially iTunes Match, but now Apple Music). I have a main library with about six times as many songs, and then various test libraries that I create when trying to help people solve problems with iTunes/Music. Looking at that first folder name below Music Playlists ensures I always know which library is active. This is iTunes for Windows, but it works just the same in Music.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

274,442 points

Dec 20, 2021 7:17 AM in response to GoldMiner

How are you switching between library files? If you double-click a .musiclibrary file Music will open the last library it successfully opened, not necessarily the file that you clicked on. To switch libraries press and hold down option as you launch Music and keep holding until asked to choose or create a library.

tt2

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Answer 4

GoldMiner Author

Level 1

22 points

Dec 20, 2021 8:28 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for your reply.

"To switch libraries press and hold down option as you launch Music and keep holding until asked to choose or create a library."

That's the way I did and that's why I wrote here (I don't understand how that happens)

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Answer 5

GoldMiner Author

Level 1

22 points

Dec 20, 2021 10:19 AM in response to turingtest2

Well... I have no idea how but... "it solved itself!"

I had this problem for days and nothing helped. Tried EVERYTHING (rebooting, deleting, creating new, I even tried resetting SMC, to no avail)

I had a copy in the same folder and another in a different folder and if I changed 1, the changes carried to the others.

Now even the backup/copy in the same folder stays the same when I change the "mother file"!

Home Sharing was enabled before and was now...

So... I guess the correspondence with you solved the problem!!! 😊

Just one more thing (risking to sound dumb but...) could you please explain to me (or show me in a screen shot) what you meant by "I make a playlist folder along the lines of ! <Library Description> so I can look at the same place in the sidebar to confirm which library is active."?

Thanks in advance.

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