Music Folder and Media Folder - How do I combine?

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Jive is having some issues at the moment with invisible posts. Posting a dummy one like the full stop above is one way of revealing them. 😮

If you click the Change button you can create and select Volumes\iTunes\iTunes\iTunes Media as your media folder. When you click to complete the selection of the nw location iTunes should offer to consolidate to the new location. Let it do so. Once done everything in the old iTunes Music folder should be unwanted copies.

tt2

Great. But there shouldn't be Automatically Add to iTunes or Mobile Applications in that image. Delete those and you're done...

tt2

Hello - I've read your posts about iTunes dupes but I'm still confused about the "Copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library." I too am having trouble with iTunes adding dupes; it places them in the iTunes Media/Music folder on the external drive where I keep my music and sometimes in the itunes library itself. I typically add music three ways, by CD, from the itunes store, or from Amazon, using the "Add folder to library" function in itunes. If I uncheck the "Copy files..." option, will itunes still put the music where it is supposed to be, or will I need to do something to move it so that is is usable? And will unchecking that option fix the duplicate problem? BTW, I use Copytrans/iLibs, if that makes a difference. Thank you.

Hi.

If you have a folder located anywhere on your computer outside the designated media folder, and have the option "Copy file..." enabled then iTunes creates new copies of each file found in the source folder. If you add some more files to that source folder at a later date and add to the library again iTunes will add new duplicates of all files that were already there as well as adding the new files.

If you have a folder located anywhere on your computer outside the designated media folder, and have the option "Copy file..." disabled then iTunes creates links to each file found in the source folder. If you add some more files to that source folder at a later date and add to the library again iTunes will recognize the files that it already knows about and only add the links to the new files.

If you have a folder located anywhere inside the designated media folder then the add folder command will cause iTunes to create links to any tracks it doesn't already know about.

When adding files from CD check that you haven't previously added that album to your library. iTunes may recognize if you rerip a CD it had imported earlier, but not if the library has been moved between computers or rebuilt in some fashion.

When purchasing from the iTunes or Amazon stores double check that you haven't already got the same content in your library. They should not let you purchase the same album twice from the same store but neither knows about your purchases from other stores or your CD rips and bonus/extended versions of the same album may not be taken as the same thing, even when they only differ by one or two tracks.

iTunes will manage purchases properly, however I would direct the Amazon downloader to place its downloads inside <Media Folder>\Automatically Add to iTunes so that the tracks are added to the iTunes library in a way that avoids the creation of duplicates. You can also move media that you want to add to your library into this folder rather than using File > Add Folder to Library as a way to be certain of what has and has not been added.

I don't use Copytrans or iLibs, but if you are using these to extract content from your devices then consider what you extract and where you extract it to so that you can avoid creating duplicates and keep down your housekeeping.

tt2

Thank you for your quick response. I think I understand what you wrote, (or maybe not), and at the risk of being tedious and appearing completely dense, if I have the "Copy files..." option unchecked, and add new music via CD, iTunes store, or Amazon, will it be added automatically or will I need to do it manually?

Also, I should have been more clear about Copytrans and iLibs. If I use the option to add a library under a different name, do you know if that would have any effect on adding duplicates?

Thanks again.

It all boils down to where the files are with respect to the media folder and what options are in force. If you have multiple libraries involved that just adds to the complexity. Tracks you rip from CD or purchase with iTunes are automatically placed in the media folder of the active library. If you switch libraries then the new library doesn't know about the added tracks. IIRC the Amazon downloader has an option that lets it add downloaded tracks to iTunes or you can tell it to download the tracks to a folder that iTunes monitors (Automatically Add to iTunes). Using the first option generally leads to unintended duplication, or you end up with content scattered around in all sorts of different places which makes migrating the library to a new drive or computer complicated.

Ideally you want a single iTunes library folder, that contains an iTunes Media folder, that in turns contains all your media. The iTunes folder should be backed up to an alternate drive or network share for security.

tt2

Got it. Thank you.

You're welcome. 🙂

tt2

Hi-
I am in the same situation as Thomas was. I followed directions in the thread above (thanks!), but just want to make sure I did everything correct. I have music in this folder: Volumes/iTunes/iTunes/iTunes Media.

I also have 2 other folders of music on an external HD. Pretty sure they are original copies, and I've had a couple of different computers and external HDs over the years where I've had to transfer files.

I checked off, then back on, "keep itunes media folder organized." "copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library" is/was checked.

Then I did "organize library" and "consolidate files". "Reorganize files" is greyed out.

Can I now delete the 2 music folders on my external drive? They seem to add up to the total size of my iTunes media folder and I'm not seeing missing files in iTunes (as far as I know).

thanks, Lisa

Rename the "other" folders and check nothing is broken before deleting. Ideally you would take a second copy of the library on another drive.

tt2

Thanks for your quick response!

I did that and can't see anything broken. Is there a specific way to check if something is broken other than playing a few songs?

Lisa

If you consolidated then iTunes should no longer be linked to anything outside the media folder.

tt2

This has been a totally helpful discussion .... thank you 'turingtest2' for your input ...

I am pretty sure that you pass the Turing test: I don't think you're a robot / AI machine.

😉

tt2