iTunes migration/copy to another Mac

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kahlua021997 Author

Level 1

11 points

iTunes migration/copy to another Mac

I have happily owned my MacBook for a few years now. But, I upgraded to an iMac.

I am looking to copy my iTunes library over to my Mac or move it over to an external hard drive that I will attach to my iMac at the very least.

I seem to be able to listen to iTunes via home sharing off my MacBook. However, if I want to pull that song into, let's say, Final Cut Pro, it doesn't recognize songs from the shared listings.

So, I apparently need a copy directly accessible to FCP.

I was gonna try to do the Migration Assistant using the network, but both Macs need to have apps closed.... and currently, FCP is doing background stuff, which I am not sure what, but don't want to "cancel" the processes (sounds like it'd have to start over vs. pausing it).

So, I thought while that was thinking, I could just copy over to an external drive or try to use AirDrop, but it doesn't seem to allow me to drop those files in. Also, i am not sure which files I need to drag and where they are to make sure I have all the data that goes with it (playlists, ratings, etc.)

Can you please direct me on how to get my iTunes library over to my iMac from my MacBook. I do not have a firewire cable and even if I did, my MB does not have a firewire cable port. I think I have a double ended usb if that would be helpful that I had used for Intellimover for my PC years ago.

Any help would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Sep 27, 2012 2:13 PM

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Answer 1

b noir

Level 9

72,324 points

Sep 27, 2012 4:39 PM in response to kahlua021997

I seem to be able to listen to iTunes via home sharing off my MacBook. However, if I want to pull that song into, let's say, Final Cut Pro, it doesn't recognize songs from the shared listings.

You should also be able to transfer the content via Home Sharing.

Have both computers running and have iTunes open on both computers.

Now, in the iTunes on the computer you want to transfer music to, select the library that you want to transfer music from, as per the following screenshot:

Once the other library loads, go down to the bottom of the screen and in "Show:" select "Items not in my library":

If you want to import all of the songs you can now see, head up to the iTunes menu bar and go "Edit > Select all". Then head down to the bottom of the screen again and click the "Import" button in the bottom-right-hand corner.

If there's a lot of stuff in your original Mac's library, the transfer may take some time.

To get playlist metadata across, see the following instructions:

Re: Moving Playlists

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