Unable to Migrate iTunes (itl) to Monterey Music app

Here is what just worked for me on Monterey with a library containing 41,000 tracks:

1. Find a friend who is still using Big Sur.
2. Send friend the "iTunes Library.itl" file and these instructions.
   1. Save "iTunes Library.itl" file to Downloads.
   2. Open Music whilst holding down Option key.
   3. Select "Choose Library…" and navigate to the "iTunes Library.itl" file in Downloads
   4. Save the file as "Music" in Downloads.
   5. After the playlists appear and Music stops processing, quit Music.
   6. Send new "Music.musiclibrary" (probably displaying as "Music" in a "Music" folder) back to you and not the other folders.
3. Place new "Music.musiclibrary" in the same directory as your "iTunes Library.itl" file
4. Open Music whilst holding down Option key and select the new "Music" file.
5. Bask in the satisfaction and relief of recovering your library while Music loads the artwork that was stored in the track or library file. (almost all of mine.)
6. Back up your library and all files.

Hello,

I just went through the same thing. The support doc (Switch libraries with the Apple Music app in macOS - Apple Support

) should work but it doesn't. I called Apple support and after 10 days of trying, I realized that most of them are... ahem .. less than helpful. From "Apple music doesn't play local files" to "you must have apple music", the answers were terrible. But in the midst of that mess, one senior tech mentioned that it would only work using migration assistant. I did not want to use MA, but I thought of this workaround, hopefully, it will help:

My conditions to be able to use Migration Assistance:

1. I already had copied my music folder to my new mac. Including my music. This is where the steps delineated above should work but they do not.
2. I have access to my old mac, hopefully, you do too. But this method should work with a time machine backup.

My very complicated steps to minimize file copying time.

1. I created a new user on the OLD mac. In it, I copied just the library itl file. I did the OPTION+click and open my library on the new user in the OLD mac. It won't be able to find the media, but don't worry about it. You'll see all your playlists, that's what matters.
2. I started Migration assistant on both computers. I made sure to only transfer the new user from the OLD mac. I did not transferred anything else. The NEW machine will ask if you want to delete your current profile on the NEW mac, be careful, but it will let you import the new user and keep your current profile.
3. In this case, Migration assistance will convert the library, and when you log in to the account of the new user on the NEW mac, you'll see the updated library (again you won't see the media, but that is OK). Copy the new itl file from Apple Music to a shared folder or thumb drive so you can transfer it to your current user on the NEW mac.
4. On your current profile, replace the old library with the new one. Now make sure your media is organized in the new style structure. That is easy though, just place all your actual music in the ..usr/Music/Music/Media/Music folder.
5. In my case, because I kept the original name of the ITL file, when I opened the music app, it was able to pick up the updated library and show everything working. If it has another name, choose it using the OPTION+click method from above.

Good luck, it is a pity no one at Apple seems to know a better shortcut. Let me know how it goes, I'll try to help if I can.

EDIT: I still have to figure out how to make Apple Music "scan" the media so it loads its album covers and other info, but one problem at a time!

The method should be to hold down option as you launch Music, click Choose, then browse to and open your .itl. You should then get prompted to choose a location to save the converted .musiclibrary database.

tt2

Edit: I should make explicit - there were zero music files on the Big Sur machine I used for the library conversion (as I was using a shared work machine with individual user accounts). The first attempt (resulting in complete library data but no artwork) I pointed Music to iTunes/iTunesLibrary.itl on an external drive with no additional files within External/iTunes/iTunes Media on that same drive. The second attempt (resulting in complete library data plus artwork) I had all music files within External/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music when pointing Music to External/iTunes/iTunesLibrary.itl. "Loading artwork" took about 1-1.5 hrs / 150 GB music / 2 GB album art.

Were you asking it to save the converted database on the internal or external drive? If it was the external drive try Repair security permissions for iTunes/Music for Mac - Apple Community in case it needs write permissions that it doesn't have.

tt2

Did you create a new empty folder for the converted library? E.g. Music 1?

tt2

In another similar thread recently the OP was able to find an alternate copy of their .itl file which worked. Perhaps if you have access to Time Machine backups of the .itl file you would have a number to choose from.

tt2

I used @JRN-__ 's method as well. Without actual music files present, Big Sur converted my .itl quickly and without fuss to the .musiclibrary format. All information was present, but without actual media files located in iTunes/iTunes Media, no embedded artwork could be scraped to fill in album artwork.

I re-made my library yesterday on the same machine, but this time had all my media files available at iTunes/iTunes Media during the conversion. At this point, "loading artwork" appeared, and it took quite some time for all embedded artwork to be scraped. But, I could watch as album covers appeared gradually in the new library.

I wonder - is it possible that there was media available on the Big Sur machine (not part of your own library) that the conversion was attempting to access when "loading artwork"? Perhaps it was getting confused that it was a partial match and hanging at conversion ... and when you quit, it aborted creating the new library.

It is a crazy system. Even when I managed to bring the library, none of the album art showed up. According to a senior agent at Apple, Apple Music changed how it reads/lists the artwork favoring its online system. So it wouldn’t load the artwork embedded in the metadata. One script from Dougscripts would re-embed the artwork from the file into Apple Music but only one album at a time.

I guess the solution is to give up on artwork or not import our libraries. At this point, I’m about to follow the recommendation from the Apple rep and use Plex for music instead. He basically said Apple Music is much more focused on its online service rather than local libraries. Given this experience, I believe it.

What happens when you select the .itl? Prompt for folder, or nothing?

tt2

I hadn’t considered retroactive but I’m with you and might try plex or other local music player. Especially since, apparently, we have to give up current libraries anyway. I was looking into an open source project called JellyFin. Seems to be like Plex, but I need to read more about it.