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I want my MacBook Pro and iMac iTunes libraries to be exactly the same without using iTunes Match or the cloud.

I want my MacBook Pro and iMac iTunes libraries to be exactly the same (there are variances in terms of artist name, album artist, compilations, etc.), and I want to do it without using iTunes Match or the cloud. My MacBook is what I use to sync my iPod and therefore is the "definitive" library. I'd like to do it by using Home Sharing, I am just unsure how to go about deleting the library on the iMac to then import the library from the MacBook. Do I need to uninstall, then reinstall iTunes on the iMac? And if so, how do I avoid getting a barrage of duplicates from purchases when it connects to the iTunes store?


Thanks in advance.

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Feb 12, 2016 10:43 PM

Reply
7 replies

Feb 21, 2017 10:38 AM in response to Cybirr

You were complaining Apple does not have that feature in their ecosystem. My response was addressing that. If you ask Apple, "Do you have a method to sync across multiple computers?" they will say, "Yes, Match". If you say it does not do it the way you want it to then the answer is likely, "Sorry, no." If you then complain about that, well you can send feedback to Apple and see if they will dedicate programmers to designing things exactly as you want them:


http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html


I would not hold your breath.


If you are talking about media based services then certain features that are free and local based such as Home Sharing are available. Don't forget you can also simply share a hard drive across a network. If you learn how the iTunes application operates you will see it is not so easy to just have 100% simply syncing. If you change how that works then you lose other features. If you want a media player that is file based rather than working with a database then look at Clementine and set it up to work over a network.

Feb 20, 2017 4:51 PM in response to mtclemons

There are third party applications that do what you are asking. They vary in effectiveness, simplicity and reliability. I have had some success with SuperSync however I am not wholly satisfied with it. Meta data does not always carry across. It seems like this is one of those no-brainer features that ought to be native to the Apple ecosystem.

Feb 21, 2017 9:55 AM in response to Cybirr

It seems like this is one of those no-brainer features that ought to be native to the Apple ecosystem.

It is already -- iTunes Match (which the OP says he/she does not want to use but then that is their decision).


Otherwise it is simple. Buy an external hard drive. Relocate the library to it and move it back and forth as you move between computers.

Feb 21, 2017 10:19 AM in response to Limnos

No, iTunes Match is an annual subscription service not a local process such as what the OP asks for. That is not a local solution but another Apple income center based on cloud services. Files are not located on a local hard drive but a cloud-based server. A native file synchronization process across multiple user-owned devices where the file exists on multiple local drives would be meet the OP's wants. Apple does not provide that service as it conflicts with subscription based cloud services.


Promoting an Apple service that is explicitly not what the OP asks for is not helpful.

Feb 13, 2016 2:56 AM in response to mtclemons

You cannot do it using iTunes Home Sharing, if you want to sync an iPod from the Mac that is accessing the shared library. Song files need to be stored locally on the computer syncing to the iPod.


If you want the two iTunes libraries to be (momentarily) the same, you can use the procedure to backup and restore the iTunes library


Manage and back up your iTunes media library - Apple Support


To do this, one of the iTunes libraries needs to be the master already, meaning you put it as is on the other Mac (replacing that other Mac's iTunes library). This procedure does not "merge" two separate iTunes libraries into one.


To summarize the procedure, the first step (after Find the iTunes Media folder) is to Consolidate your iTunes library data into the iTunes folder. Your iTunes folder is in your user account Music folder. If you are using the default settings in iTunes, all of your iTunes data may already be in your iTunes folder. Then, Back up your library and media files by copying your iTunes folder to an external drive. The last step is to Restore your library from a backup, which in this case is to the other Mac. You are basically replacing the existing iTunes folder on that Mac with the master iTunes folder from the backup.


NOTE: If you can set up File Sharing between the two Macs, you can copy the iTunes folder directly between the two Macs, with no external drive. However, depending on network connection speed and size of your iTunes folder, using an external drive may be a lot faster.


After the transfer completes, when you run iTunes, it uses that master iTunes folder and, at that moment, the iTunes libraries on the two Macs are exactly the same. But they will drift apart over time, unless you have iTunes Match to keep them "in sync."

Feb 13, 2016 5:19 AM in response to mtclemons

You can, as observed, only do it if both computers are using the same library. This will require fastidious updating of the library on each computer to keep it in sync with the other, or use set up file sharing on one machine and use it to serve the library to the other. Even then that has limitations such as the two computer can not have iTunes running at the same time.


Home Sharing only lets you copy media from one computer to another using iTunes as a server, but it does not, for example, serve the library file which is what gives iTunes the track listing when you see when you start the application.

I want my MacBook Pro and iMac iTunes libraries to be exactly the same without using iTunes Match or the cloud.

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