Why does iTunes create an additional "Music" folder and move some of my music files?

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Level 1

4 points

Why does iTunes create an additional "Music" folder and move some of my music files?

I have a bunch of songs that were supposed to be copied into the default "iTunes Music" folder into each band's directory. I have my preferences set for the "iTunes Music" folder. I noticed some of the songs were missing when I tried to locate them manually. iTunes knows exactly where each song is, but they are not listed correctly in their proper folders. iTunes created a "Music" folder within the "iTunes Music" folder.

Here is an example of what I am experiencing:

I have 4 Al Green songs - 3 are .m4a and 1 is an .mp3. All 4 are labeled in iTunes together as being on the same album, the same artist, the same artwork - everything is labeled together. The 3 m4a files end up being placed properly within the "iTunes Music" folder, while the 1 .mp3 file ends up in the "Music" file within the "iTunes Music" folder, and then placed in an "Al Green" folder - just like the others one directory higher and then the album is named the same and then there is the file. When I move the .mp3 file into the folder with the others and trash the folder it was in, and click play in iTunes, iTunes places the file back into the same "Music" folder and creates a new "Al Green" folder. There are many, many files in the "Music" folder - some music videos, some mp3's , some m4a's. It is annoying - I'd like them all to be within the same folder. Any info on what is happening and/or ideas on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Erik

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2), 8 GB RAM 1333MHz DDR3 2.4 GHz

Posted on May 19, 2012 2:15 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

May 19, 2012 6:18 AM in response to edjgraphix

Here are typical layouts for the iTunes folders:

If you have upgraded from version 8 (or earlier) to iTunes 9 (or later) at some point, then your media folder (everything inside the red outline) may still be called iTunes Music instead of iTunes Media. The extra Music folder inside the media folder is used if you have allowed iTunes to Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization (iTunes 9) or used File > Library > Organize Library > Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (iTunes 10). Depending on your choices for Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library plus a little bug in which one build changed the name of the file storing the choice of layout it is quite easy for some of your files to be organized according to one layout and some the other. (Recent installs of iTunes on a Mac now give the library file the .ill extension)

Assuming you're happy letting iTunes organize your files the following steps should tidy things up (should it be necessary):

1. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" and click OK. Skip if this option is grayed out (already upgraded) or you prefer the older layout.

2. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Consolidate files and click OK. This will bring any files currently organized outside the designated media folder into it. NB This will create duplicate copies of any file that needs to be consolidated, and you will need to manually clean up afterwards.

3. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, uncheck Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK.

4. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, check Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK. This triggers iTunes into reorganizing everything according to your preferences.

5. (Optional, if applicable) Close iTunes, rename the media folder iTunes Music as iTunes Media then restart iTunes. Check under Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab that the location has automatically updated. If you can't access the media for any reason just undo the folder rename.

PS If you really prefer the older layout, but it is already in the new one then edit the hidden file .iTunes Preferences.plist in your media folder and change the integer from 1 to 0 before doing step 3.

tt2

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