lucidife

Q: Why is all my music gone in iTunes?

I'm organizing my mac, and so when I got to my music I put everything into my music folder, and got rid of my iTunes media folder.

 

I thought that iTunes media folder only existed if you have the keep iTunes organized checked in the prefrences, well idk why but everything is gone, and I think that had something to do with it. All my playlists, and all my music that I didn't buy through iTunes is gone, but I still have it in my music folder, and in traktor it is still there also.

 

What can I do?

Posted on Jun 21, 2015 2:02 PM

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Q: Why is all my music gone in iTunes?

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  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jun 21, 2015 2:20 PM in response to lucidife
    Level 9 (53,936 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 21, 2015 2:20 PM in response to lucidife

    Restore from the backup you made before undertaking such a risky task.

     

    Read these so you know more about how iTunes works, how it functions through the interplay of multiple files and folders which are expected to be in specific locations.  Yes, it is possible to mange media manually (I have done so since before iTunes existed as iTunes and was Soundjam) but you have to know all about the working of iTunes.

     

    About iTunes library files - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201610 - Does not mention that a complete working library also includes other files and folders also in the iTunes folder.

     

    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management

     

    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html

     

    Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

     

    iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702

     

    Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.

     

    If your media still exist but are not listed in the iTunes library then likely you did something to create a new iTunes library file which automatically populates with iTunes Store purchases.

  • by lucidife,

    lucidife lucidife Jun 21, 2015 5:11 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 21, 2015 5:11 PM in response to Limnos

    Do you know how to do a back up? Thanks for the articles! I'll read em for sure!

  • by lucidife,

    lucidife lucidife Jun 21, 2015 5:59 PM in response to lucidife
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 21, 2015 5:59 PM in response to lucidife

    I backed up my previous library music xml file, but it didn't put any of the playlists back in. **** it I'll just start over.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jun 21, 2015 6:47 PM in response to lucidife
    Level 9 (53,936 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 21, 2015 6:47 PM in response to lucidife

    Do you see no listing for the music at all or do you see broken links ( ! )  ?

  • by lucidife,

    lucidife lucidife Jun 21, 2015 7:31 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 21, 2015 7:31 PM in response to Limnos

    I see no music in the playlists. What I did was go to file, and library then import playlist.I imported the music library xml, and the library xml just to be sure. I got some music but not all. I went to import the rest of my music but now it's doubling all the music, and I'm getting warnings that my hd can't hold all the songs.

     

    meh

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jun 21, 2015 8:35 PM in response to lucidife
    Level 9 (53,936 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 21, 2015 8:35 PM in response to lucidife

    It seems you somehow created a new library file and are now importing various generations of .xml, some of which will point to the same file. The file iTunes uses is the .itl version. It makes the .xml for other applications to use. You can use the .xml to reconstruct a .itl but since you apparently seems to be importing several .xmls I suspect one of them at least is an older copy. There is only one which corresponds to your current .itl.

     

    Frankly it sounds to me like you have really made a mess of the whole library and I don't have enough sequential detail to help unravel it.  Unless you really understand how iTunes works you should not do anything yourself inside the iTunes folder. Likewise you should leave the default preferences selected unless you have good reason to want to manage media manually, and know how to do it.  What I can recommend is unless you have a backup you made before doing all this rearranging is you rebuild a library from scratch using the media you have.  Start iTunes with the option key held won and create a new library.  Go to preferences and make sure the defaults are selected which will also generate a media folder path in the new iTunes folder.  Take your old media and drag it to the Automatically Add To iTunes folder in the new iTunes folder which will move the media files to their correct location in that folder.

  • by lucidife,

    lucidife lucidife Jun 21, 2015 8:45 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 21, 2015 8:45 PM in response to Limnos

    The reason is I use outside applications that also use my manage my music like mixed in key, and traktor, and they both state to have keep iTunes organized selection off. I do seem to be making a mess of this, haha of course I would!

     

    Well, I guess the only thing to do now, is start from scratch, and read up. I seemed to have made a mess of my traktor software also, but that's another thread on another website.

     

    Do you know if I'm able to go to apple for help on this, or am I on my own?

     

    Thanks again for the articles, and for the help.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jun 21, 2015 8:56 PM in response to lucidife
    Level 9 (53,936 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 21, 2015 8:56 PM in response to lucidife

    I believe if you have Applecare it may cover this, though perhaps only to the extent that I have suggested making a new library.  They may extend it some to try to meet your specific needs but they will not answer questions about third party software.  If you do not have Applecare there will be a fee for assistance (this support forum is free and I think we are also more willing to work with people on non by-the-book solutions since we are not Apple).

     

    By the way, I suspect when you moved your media to your music folder you also somehow deleted the .itl file which is what iTunes uses to tell it what is in the library, your playlists, and where the files are located that it should play when you click on a track. Did you see any kind of message from iTunes saying it could not find the library file?  That is the only explanation I can think of for you having a blank library.  iTunes will repopulate a blank library with Store purchases by downloading from iCloud so you will see those, but otherwise everything else will be new.

  • by lucidife,

    lucidife lucidife Jun 21, 2015 10:17 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 21, 2015 10:17 PM in response to Limnos

    I do have an itl file, when I look at the date opened it says it's from yesterday, but then again it's 1 am, and I've been messing with iTunes for hours now.  I now have 2 iTunes folders the new one, and the old one. When I went through all of this I deleted everything, cause well I was in the heat of the moment. So I think the itl file was created again through me messing around with iTunes more after, but I'm not sure.

     

    I didn't get any message from iTunes saying this. I do have all my purchases through iTunes, and now have all the music from my old iTunes library, since I had iTunes copy all my music files. If I can use the itl file to recreate my old iTunes app, I will, but not sure how to go about doing it, or if I even should since I don't know how old it is.

     

    I have a back up from many many months ago I found I can use, but I'm wondering if I should because of how old it is, and I don't want to mess anything up, haha!

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jun 22, 2015 1:11 AM in response to lucidife
    Level 9 (53,936 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 22, 2015 1:11 AM in response to lucidife

    In theory what you did should have worked except something didn't. If you uncheck the "keep organized" and "copy to" preferences iTunes should be able to follow you moving your media about in Finder (or at least that is how it works with my iTunes 7.5).  Clearly something did not go right and you got an empty library file as a result, with no backup as an emergency recovery.  That is the only way for a library file to get the way your did unless you deliberately go in and tell iTunes to delete every track entry and every playlist one by one.  You could try using the .itl file but it may be from when you were trying to rescue things later or it may not have kept track of the file moves and will just show a pile of broken links.  That's why I think you need to create a new one.  You can uncheck the preferences mentioned earlier and iTunes will leave the media wherever you have it now.

  • by lucidife,

    lucidife lucidife Jun 22, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 22, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Limnos

    I'm just gonna keep this new one, and keep backing up, and saving. It's like a game I realize. If you don't back up every often you risk losing all your progress.