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Level 1

64 points

iTunes slow / temporarily unresponsive

With every audio file related action iTunes becomes temorarily unresponsive for up to 10 seconds, sometimes possibly longer (spinning beach ball). This happens when creating/deleting playlists, editing playlist names, adding tracks to playlists, editing ID3 tags, etc.

My iTunes Library.xml file is 105,3 MB, and it looks like the whole file being updated every time I make the least ID3 change.

Any suggestions how to solve this problem other than by not using iTunes?

(I'm using iTunes 12.2.1.16 / OS X 10.10.4 on a MacBook Pro 2,8 GHz Intel Core i7 with an SSD drive. All dead tracks have been removed from the iTunes library.)

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Aug 10, 2015 2:39 AM

18 replies

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Aug 11, 2015 9:43 AM in response to t.kyhn

Please don't post any more log extracts unless requested.

You moved the existing library aside and created a new one. At that point, iTunes was working well. You then put the library back and rebuilt it. Now iTunes is working badly, and it still works badly when not connected to the Internet. If that summary of what you've done is accurate, then I suggest you create a completely new library with the tracks from the old one. Move the library aside again and create a new one. Inside the iTunes folder there will be a subfolder named "iTunes Media," and inside that, one named "Automatically Add to iTunes". Drag all your music files into that folder.

t.kyhn Author

Level 1

64 points

Aug 11, 2015 10:52 AM in response to Linc Davis

I prefer to manage my audio files myself, rather than let iTunes decide how to organize them. And setting up a new iTunes library with playlists, playlist folders, etc., would take days – and may not make any difference.

Instead I tried something else. I made a backup of the iTunes library files, then deleted all the music from my iTunes library, keeping the structure – playlists and playlist folders. I then tried editing a playlist in the otherwise empty library, and it's still slow, though not quite as slow as before. Then, as another experiment, I created a new, completely empty library and added all my audio files, though without creating any playlists or playlist folders – and now it's fast, and there's no unresponsiveness at all. So it appears it's the large number playlists and playlist folders that's causing the problem.

Aug 11, 2015 12:04 PM in response to t.kyhn

I'm having the same problem for the past week, and my pizza is spinning as we speak - music is still playing as I work, but I can't control it.. I attribute it to the betas yosemite 10.10.5 and iTunes 12.2.1.16 i'm running. Since it appears that building a new library will eliminate the problem I am resigning myself to to doing this... it appears that a tera byte of data slows the iTunes beast. Rebooting iTunes is a minor inconvenience...?

iTunes slow / temporarily unresponsive