Sharing iTunes with new user account

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Level 1

23 points

Sharing iTunes with new user account

Most of my music has been ripped from CDs I own (hence Family Sharing won't answer this question) to my iMac. Using Match, I can also access it on my Macbook Air and iPad. I have also been able to download some of it to my wife's iPad via iTunes (actual download/sync, not via Match).

Now my wife wants an Air, and an iPhone.

How can we set up the home iMac so she can have a Match account and an Apple ID, but we can still share all the music in iTunes?

If I move it to a Shared folder and create a new user profile on the iMac, can we BOTH access it? Then what with regard to further access on other devices? Will it work with a second Air with a different Apple ID. Help please!

VIN,iMac (21.5-inch Late 2009), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), 3.06 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 12GB

Posted on Jan 29, 2016 10:37 AM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

411,121 points

Jan 29, 2016 10:51 AM in response to PeterS

This is getting too complex for me to grasp. 🙂 There are just so many possibilities and you will have to tailor them to meet just what you want. Just some thoughts:

Do you have any iTunes Store purchases? You can share some with Family Sharing.

If you are using Match each user will have to have a library to Match.

Multiple iTunes libraries on a single computer can share media with some limitations (you had better agree before you rename, delete, or add any tracks) to save drive space. Multiple user situations and libraries is a large topic unto itself.

Home Sharing between multiple computers.

Sharing is a lot easier for home CD rips than Store purchases where transfer is somewhat controlled by belonging to an AppleID.

Share your iTunes library over your home network - Apple Support - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201779 - about Music Sharing and Home Sharing

Home Sharing Support page - http://www.apple.com/support/homesharing/

iTunes 12 for Mac: Use Home Sharing to import items from another iTunes library - https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19614

iTunes: Setting up Home Sharing on your computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4620

Understanding Home Sharing - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3819

Family Sharing - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT201060 - "Family Sharing makes it easy for up to six people in your family to share each other’s iTunes, iBooks, and App Store purchases without sharing accounts. Pay for family purchases with the same credit card and approve kids’ spending right from a parent’s device. And share photos, a family calendar, and more to help keep everyone connected."

Sharing purchased content with Family Sharing - http://support.apple.com/HT201085 - "With Family Sharing, family members get immediate access to each others’ music, movies, TV shows, books, and apps, and can download them to their own devices any time they like.*" "* Not all content and content types are available in all countries. All family members must use the same iTunes Store country or region. Music, movies, TV shows, and books can be downloaded on up to 10 devices per account, five of which can be computers. Apps can be downloaded to any devices the family member owns or controls.

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Answer 2

PeterS Author

Level 1

23 points

Jan 29, 2016 10:59 AM in response to Limnos

Limos, this is all very helpful. Thank you.

So, if I move the iTunes media to a shared folder, it is possible to have two separate iTunes setups, one in each user account. They just access the same core media right? And if I take this a stage further, each user can then use their own Apple ID and Match set up.

If that all works, then naively it seems to me everything else we want to achieve will work!

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Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

411,121 points

Jan 29, 2016 11:07 AM in response to PeterS

Yes, it should work except you do not mention if you have any iTunes Store purchases. Since they are associated with an AppleID I do not know how they behave in a match situation if you use one from a different AppleID (I have no iTunes Store purchases). That's when cross sharing with Family Sharing my become necessary.

You can put media into a shared folder and then set up the rest of the library to be in separate user accounts. Users set the shared folder as their media folder in preferences and things will get added to the location. One thing to remember is if one person ads a file the other library won't know about it and the other user will have to add it so their library knows about it. The "library" is really a database file with media file locations and it does not actively inventory the media folder.

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