someone11

Q: Switching itunes to new computer without losing the title editing

Im curious if anyone knows a way to switch Itunes songs to a new computer without having a USB port. My old computer i have broken all of them (the reason I got a new computer) and im not sure how to switch my music to the new itunes on the new computer without having to re-edit ALL of my songs. I download all of my music not through I tunes and keep the music in its own folder. Then I just add it to itunes. The issue is I have to edit each song in itunes so the title is correct and only has the song title and not the artist or other stuff in the title. Im worried that if I download Itunes on the new computer and it automatically syncs all my music that ill have to go back and re-edit ALL of the songs. Which took hours to do the first time. I have all my music on the new computer- did it via file sharing across the network. Anyone have any idea on how to do this? I wish I could just hook the ipod up and have them transfer in to itunes so the editing stays.

iPod nano, iOS 8.1

Posted on Apr 3, 2015 9:40 AM

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Q: Switching itunes to new computer without losing the title editing

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  • by hhgttg27,

    hhgttg27 hhgttg27 Apr 3, 2015 9:55 AM in response to someone11
    Level 5 (5,447 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 3, 2015 9:55 AM in response to someone11

    If you can still access the old computer across your network, you should copy the iTunes database (the iTunes Library.itl file) from old to new.  The metadata that you see in iTunes is a combination of information held within that database and the properties/tags embedded within your media files.  iTunes actually works much better with respect to creating/maintaining backups and transferring your library between computers if you configure it to copy music, etc. into the iTunes Media folder and to organize the files & subfolders within it, so that the library (by default in Windows Vista/7/8 C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes) has this structure:

    Well Formed Library.jpg

    I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "The issue is I have to edit each song in itunes so the title is correct and only has the song title and not the artist or other stuff in the title."  Almost all (legitimate) sources - importing from your own CDs, purchases from the iTunes Store, Amazon, etc. - will always have separate metadata elements for Artist, Song Name, Album and Track No. (and in many cases will also have Album Artist, Disc No., Disc Count, and Track Count.  There are cases where changes you make after importing to iTunes may be overridden for iTunes Store purchases and/or if you subscribe to iTunes Match - this behavior can be disabled by ensuring that these options in Edit > Preferences > Advanced are not selected:

    iTunes Store Options2.jpg

    If you change these you will need to restart iTunes for the changes to take effect.

  • by someone11,

    someone11 someone11 Apr 3, 2015 5:16 PM in response to hhgttg27
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 3, 2015 5:16 PM in response to hhgttg27

    So all I have to do is take the ituneslibrary.itl from the old computer and drop it in the \music\itunes folder on the new computer?

     

    And what I mean is i download from "non legitimate" sources. For example youtube, when you convert the youtube video to mp3 the title of the songs stays whatever the title of the youtube video was. So it would be like "artist-song title- lyrics only" as the song title in itunes. I have to go and edit all the stuff out of the title that i dont want in the song title. I want all of that to stay when switching to the itunes on the new computer instead of having to go back and edit each and every song.

  • by hhgttg27,

    hhgttg27 hhgttg27 Apr 3, 2015 5:24 PM in response to someone11
    Level 5 (5,447 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 3, 2015 5:24 PM in response to someone11

    Assuming at the structure of your library on the new computer is the same as that on the old one - specifically that the relationship between the iTunes Library.itl file and the iTunes Media folder is the same, then copying the former should be sufficient.  As described in How to move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Support and in turingtest2's user tip on Make a split library portable the aim in transferring from one computer to another is to bring the library on the old computer into a consistent, self-contained structure and then replicate this to the new computer.

     

    Any discussion or advice specific to non-legitimate media sources is inappropriate to this forum.