How to recover music disappeared from my iTunes library?

Try Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community.

tt2

Unless you have an ongoing subscription to Apple Music or iTunes Match a new instance of iTunes will only show your unhidden purchase history. You should keep and maintain your own backup of content you rip from CD or obtain from other sources. See Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy - Apple Community for a suggested approach.

tt2

PalsofJoey wrote:

Interesting! Never had any subscription from Apple and my entire library and playlists transferred to a new computers flawlessly.

It is possible to migrate your data from one computer to another in a way that preserves your iTunes library. Perhaps someone else took care of that for you? See Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community for a possible approach.

So you are saying that if I have the appropriate subscription from Apple, I can re-create my library with and re-create play lists by reloading my CD's? Many were bought before the birth of Itunes! Others were purchased because of their unavailability from the Apple store. Though, today they may be available.

You don't need a subscription to move your library, and there's nothing stopping you rebuilding it now from your physical CD collection. The point I was trying to get across is that if you had an expectation that signing into iTunes on a new computer would automatically show the content and playlists from a previous library then you've misunderstood what is going on.

tt2

I've had to read your post several times in order to work out what you're asking.

I've come to the conclusion that "the difficulty" is adding CDs to your iTunes Library, but you don't say why. What happens when you try to add a CD, at which point does the procedure go wrong?

When you insert CD into your CD drive. Does it:

1. 1. show in the IMPORT CD window
   2. play the CD
   3. ask if you wish to import the CD
   4. import the CD without asking?

Alternatively, does the CD icon appear at the top of the iTunes window, but nothing else happens?

Note that when a CD is put into your CD drive, the CD present icon will also appear at the top of the iTunes window, even if you are in the main music library view. You can recognise the Import CD window by the two buttons: 1. CD Info and 2. Import CD.

PalsofJoey wrote:

Struggling with Itunes. Installed new hard drive into my laptop. Lost all music from library. Having difficulty putting CD's back into library. Itunes has become very unfriendly.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

And you've provided no details of what you're issue is.

PalsofJoey wrote:

So, my question is can I reload all my CD's and recreate my library and playlists?

In my previous post I detailed the steps required to add a CD to your iTunes Library, so effectively, as well as explaining how you add a CD, it also asked you what was stopping you from doing so now, but you haven't explained what that might be.

I have many CD's that were purchased before the birth of Itunes.

I have lots of CDs bought before the arrival of iTunes. There is (and has never been) anything to stop you adding those CDs to iTunes. Just follow the steps I have explained previously.

Here's a thing: is your reference to CDs in fact referring to CDs that have previously been ripped (copied) to an iTunes Library, so not actually CDs anymore? Once a CD has been copied into iTunes, it's no longer a CD: both full albums and the tracks on those albums are now digital (music) files, so it would be less confusing if music in digital (i.e. MP3 format or Apple's AAC format [aka m4a]) is referred to as either MP3s, files, music files or something along those lines. Not CDs.