Managing iTunes Match and Sonos

Hi,

iTunes Match does not do anything to your files other than match or upload to the cloud.

Match needs to scan your iTunes library that is on your external drive. Once the match process is complete, what you play from the iTunes library will be the tracks in your library on external drive. You can still play this music from your iTunes library as before.

Alternatively, You can create an alternative library on your computer. Hold option key whilst opening iTunes and select create new library. This library will be blank and you can turn on match and select add this computer. Once process is complete, you will see all your music that has been matched, uploaded or purchased. This music can be streamed.

Ps you can only use one Apple ID for iTunes Match.

Jim

Hi,

I tunes purchases are usually downloaded automatically so you will have copy to save to your NAS drive.

Jim

I have the exact same configuration. After many lengthy discussions with sonos and apple customer service and in-store staff, if you want to use a mac 'ecosystem' and sonos, the only way to do it is with a NAS.

We bought our Sonos in 2009 and put all our music on a network-access hard drive (NAS), which just died. We figured that by now there would be a better solution than this, but alas, we were forced to buy another NAS to keep running our Sonos. The apple store people kept trying to get me to switch to AirPlay, which is essentially the apple version of Sonos, but after dropping several thousand dollars on Sonos amps we didn't want to have to scrap our system!

So having iTunes match is basically useless for Sonos users. Our configuration, which works fine, is as follows:

-iMac with iTunes on it, with cloud access, but all music is stored on our Apple Time Machine NAS (used as storage device, not for backup)

-Sonos reads our music directly off the NAS

BUT:

-iTunes can only write the iTunes Library File to your hard drive, even if you tell it to store music on the NAS. Follow these steps to keep Sonos working off the most updated Library file:

1. Every time you download new songs or make a new playlist, copy the Library File from the hard drive (located in appleid iTunes folder in Finder) and paste a copy into iTunes folder on the NAS

2. In Sonos, go to Manage Libary -> Update Library Now

3. Sonos can then see all your new songs and playlists

It's a pain in the butt, but it works.

You haven't meantioned if you and your wife are using iPhones or iPads. I mention this because if you were of course the new Sonos app allows you to play music to the Sonos system directly from the music stored on your iPad or iPhone. Essentially AirPlay but to Sonos instead.

Would allow you to avoid storing the files on your iMac at all, just store them on your respective devices and play your music directly. Of course, the downside is if you want to be able to play music from each others music collection with this setup. Then your back to shared libraries or NAS storage of the tracks.

Good luck!

Funny that you assumed I was a guy... I AM the wife 🙂

True that we can play music off our iphones directly to Sonos, but that limits us to what music we can fit on those devices, which isn't our whole library.

Thanks for the tip, though!