Downsize new iTunes Library from existing big one

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Downsize new iTunes Library from existing big one

Hi,

I have a big iTunes Library (about 280 GB) on an external hard drive (1TB) and I "Choose" it from whatever computer I use. However, I'd like to create a smaller version of this iTunes Library (maybe 175 GB) so I can copy it permanently on one of the computers so I won't need the hard drive for music.

I first made a backup copy of the original big one onto the same 1TB hd, then from iTunes I deleted all the play lists (and moved files to trash) in an attempt to downsize it. When I was done, it stayed at the same size (280GB). From iTunes, I then went on File/Library/Organize Library with gave me two options: Consolidate Files and Reorganize files. I tried the Consolidate option. Surprise, I ended up with a "small" iTunes Library which now had over 400GB! I also suspect that whatever I did somehow affected my original large iTunes Library (e.g., when I deleted songs from the small library to reduce size, I set Genre to "Delete" so I could easily move all files to the Trash when I deleted them. Now in the original big library, some of the songs had also the "Delete" genre label. A mess.)

Any suggestions for how to go about this in a better way? I probably don't understand what "Consolidate Files" did or was supposed to do.

Bertram

P. S. I have a MacBook Pro 13-in (2016), run it with OS 10.12.2 Sierra and everything is updated.

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.2), LaCie 1TB hard drive

Posted on Jan 1, 2017 1:48 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

turingtest2

Level 10

272,743 points

Jan 5, 2017 4:03 AM in response to bploog

In the Make a split library portable user tip I describe not only the standard shape for the library, but also the steps that can be used to transform a working non-standard library into the standard shape. The usual way to switch from the old layout to the new one is to use the menu option File > Library > Organize Library > Rearrange Files and let iTunes take care of moving everything around. If I recall correctly (and it is a long time since I tested it) if you've made the change manually then you can (when iTunes is closed) change the integer value of Layout Version in the hidden preferences file .iTunes Preferences.plist which is in your selected media folder from 0 to 1.

Ideally the library folder will be at the root of the drive as <Volume>/iTunes, with the media folder inside it as <Volume>/iTunes/iTunes Media. If you've set things out like this, and the preferences file has the correct layout version, then iTunes may well be able to repair all the broken links if you fix one of them. Alternatively if you undo the last few changes you made so you're back to a working library and let me know where the various components are I should be able to suggest the right way to move forward.

tt2

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Answer 2

bploog Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 17, 2017 7:14 PM in response to turingtest2

Dear tt2 and others who helped,

I arrived at the point where I have a clean iTunes Library that works properly on my new computer, has a reasonable size, and I can back it up on a hard drive.

I have not been successful to find a way to filter out duplicates of the various nested (and possibly corrupted) libraries that I accumulated over the years. One problem is that I can't even get to open iTunes with the various different Artists folders because I don't know what or where the iTunes Library.itl files are. I think I will have to go through these by hand and pull out at least the few albums that I do not have in my new, clean iTunes library. Tedious but probably doable, and I have a clean starting point now.

In any case, I wanted to thank you for your help. Obviously, I couldn't have done it without you!

Bertram

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

272,743 points

Jan 2, 2017 1:15 PM in response to bploog

See Make a split library portable for some background on the layout of the iTunes folders. iTunes Music is the old name for the iTunes Media folder. You shouldn't move things around by hand unless you're performing one of the permissible actions shown in that user tip. Ideally you would end up with two portable libraries that you can switch between at will.

Embedded artwork has an overhead of about 1-2% and isn't generally significant.

tt2

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Answer 4

ed2345

Level 9

62,486 points

Jan 1, 2017 2:17 PM in response to bploog

From iTunes, I then went on File/Library/Organize Library with gave me two options: Consolidate Files and Reorganize files. I tried the Consolidate option. Surprise, I ended up with a "small" iTunes Library which now had over 400GB!

Are you sure? Go to your main music list, make sure you have done View > Show Status Bar, and let us know the size of your library in GB, as displayed in the Status Bar at the bottom of the list.

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Answer 5

bploog Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 1, 2017 8:49 PM in response to ed2345

Hi ed2345,

I checked as you told me and you are right, the size shows up as much smaller. The original large iTunes folder is something like 121 GB (instead of the 280 GB) and the new, downsized iTunes folder on the hard drive is maybe only 115 GB. I don't understand.

When I try to copy over the entire iTune folder to my new computer, it tells me that there is not enough space even though I have about 250GB, so the either one should fit on there. When I do cmd-I for each iTunes folder, it tells me 280 GB and 400 GB for the "large" and for the "small", respectively. Maybe my hard drive is faulty in some way and thus it stores the incorrect size for the folders on the hard drive and then prevent me from copying it over to the computer?

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Answer 6

ed2345

Level 9

62,486 points

Jan 2, 2017 7:44 AM in response to bploog

Bertram,

When iTunes runs Consolidate, it finds any library entry that does not have its file in the designated iTunes Media folder, and puts a copy there. So it is easy to end up with multiple copies.

I suspect from your description that your iTunes folder now has multiple iTunes Media folders within it. After making a full backup, figure out which is the "real" iTunes Media folder. It will be the one that was used for the recent Consolidate (you can see it on the Advanced tab of Preferences), and is the one to which the 115 GB applies. Delete the others.

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Answer 7

bploog Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 2, 2017 9:26 AM in response to ed2345

Hi ed2345,

Thank you for continuing to help me with this.

On my external hard drive, I have iTunes (Small), for example, which already is a copy of my original big one. So, I think it's safe to play with this one now, to figure out what's going on. For now, I'll leave the original one untouched.

Within the iTunes (Small) folder, there are many folders with artists' names and within those, there are folders with album names. Within those, there are the m4a for each song on the album. The iTunes (Small) folder is also the one I select when I open iTunes with Option key to select Library and it's also the one that shows up under the Preference Advance tab. So all this seems straight forward. But then, within the iTunes (Small) folder, I not only have the artists' folders but also a folder iTunes Music, which again has many artist folders. But then, when I compare the two artist folders, they do not include exactly the same albums and songs. Some seem to be in one but not in the other, so it's not a simple matter of duplicates, I don't think.

Ultimately, I would like to have one iTunes folder on my new computer, which contains all. So once I clean up the mess on the external hard drive, will it be OK to then just drag (and copy) the entire iTunes folder from the hard drive into the Music folder on the new computer?

Bertram

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Answer 8

ed2345

Level 9

62,486 points

Jan 2, 2017 12:04 PM in response to bploog

So once I clean up the mess on the external hard drive, will it be OK to then just drag (and copy) the entire iTunes folder from the hard drive into the Music folder on the new computer?

Bertram

Bertram,

Yes, that is exactly how it is done. (I recently moved my iTunes library from Windows to Mac by that method, and it came up with the same content, playlists, Date Added, etc as on the old machine.)

It sounds like you have been through a few generations of different iTunes Media folders and subsets of stuff getting copied/duplicated. So clean-up before the move would be the best option. There is really no risk here; if you delete something you wanted, you can retrieve it from the backup.

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Answer 9

bploog Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 2, 2017 12:33 PM in response to ed2345

Hi ed2345,

Yes, I have been through many different iTunes versions etc. over the years. I have kept my iTunes library for probably over 10 years by now and always built onto it, so I have one complete one ... It is confusing though:

On the original old version of iTunes Folder (on hard drive), I have the following folders and files:

All artists' folders

iTunes Library Extras.itdb [file]

iTunes Library Genius.itdb [file]

iTunes Library.itl [file]

iTunes Library.xml [file]

iTunes Music Library.xml [file]

iTunes Temp [file]

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Answer 10

bploog Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 2, 2017 12:44 PM in response to bploog

(oops, sent it prematurely by accident before)

Hi ed2345,

Yes, I have been through many different iTunes versions etc. over the years. I have kept my iTunes library for probably over 10 years by now and always built onto it, so I have one complete one ... It is confusing though:

In the original old version of iTunes Folder (on hard drive), I have the following folders and files:

All artists' folders

iTunes Library Extras.itdb [file]

iTunes Library Genius.itdb [file]

iTunes Library.itl [file]

iTunes Library.xml [file]

iTunes Music Library.xml [file]

iTunes Temp [file]

iTunes Music [which seems to contain a bunch of artists' folders again]. This must be the old version of the current "iTunes Media" folder, see below.

When I create a new iTunes Folder on the new computer it creates automatically:

Album Artwork [folder]

iTunes Library Extras.itdb [file]

iTunes Library Genius.itdb [file]

iTunes Library.itl [file]

iTunes Media [folder which contains artists' folder and other folders, including Download and iCloud stuff]

It also creates other files and folders like Mobile Applications and Tones.

I plan to move all artists' folders into the iTunes Media folder. Is this correct?

One other issue which seems relevant: For many of my CDs that I imported, I scanned the album cover (rare or Indie CDs) if it was not available on-line. I imagine that storing the .jpgs takes up a lot of storage. In the status bar, as you suggested, does it only show the storage space for the music or also includes the space for album covers?

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Answer 11

ed2345

Level 9

62,486 points

Jan 2, 2017 1:56 PM in response to bploog

I plan to move all artists' folders into the iTunes Media folder. Is this correct?

Bertram, You can give that a try if you enjoy fussing around, but it will be much cleaner to get your library into shape and copy the entire iTunes folder across to the new machine. The iTunes Media folder that was designated the last time you ran Consolidate is the best one.

One other issue which seems relevant: For many of my CDs that I imported, I scanned the album cover (rare or Indie CDs) if it was not available on-line. I imagine that storing the .jpgs takes up a lot of storage. In the status bar, as you suggested, does it only show the storage space for the music or also includes the space for album covers?

As noted by tt2, that is rarely an issue. For example, consider an 80 kB JPEG in an 8 MB audio file: 1%. Depending how you scanned and saved, yours may be bigger than that, but unlikely to matter in the scheme of things.

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Answer 12

bploog Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 4, 2017 7:16 PM in response to ed2345

Dear ed2345 and turingtest2,

Sorry for delay, I wasn't ignoring your suggestions. I truly appreciate your help. I have been successful partially but still struggle with some issues:

First the success: I went over the complete backup copy and cleaned it up. It was odd because in the top-level iTunes folder, I had all the artists folders PLUS an iTunesMusic folder, which also contained a whole bunch of artists' folders even though not an exact copy of the other. But when I sorted through this and merged when appropriate (by hand), I ended up with a much small iTunes folder (about half as before, so 140GB instead of 280GB, which makes it unnecessary to even have a reduced iTunes library. I have enough space for the complete one.

I then created a iTunes folder according to the "new" layout. That worked fine, too. But then I ran into trouble: When I then copied this new layout iTunes folder (with iTunes Media/Music/Artists) to my computer, and then tried to open it with iTunes from my computer, the links were broken and songs couldn't be found. This had happened before so I reset and organized the library in Preferences/Advanced. But this time it didn't fix the problems and the songs still couldn't be found. I then also went to File/Library/Organize Library ... I also tried to consolidate the library on my computer. Somewhere in the process it put a whole bunch of artists' folders back right into the iTunes folder at the same level as iTunes Media folder (which continued to hold, under Music, all artists' folders that I had put in there initially).

I must be doing something ignorant. Perhaps I do not understand what files are necessary to copy over and which ones are not (or shouldn't!). I also do not understand why my iTunes (12.5.4.42) always seems to want to go back to the "old" layout and won't accept the "new" layout, which I created by hand. Maybe I shouldn't have but let my computer create one and then only copy over the Music file within iTunes Media?

I have everything backed up so I can start over again at any step, if I knew what to do next.

If you still have the patience, I'd appreciate any help with this.

Bertram

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Answer 13

bploog Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 8, 2017 2:40 PM in response to turingtest2

Hi,

Still no progress. Whenever I organize the library, it puts copies of the artist folders (and Tones, Downloads, and Automatically add to iTunes) right back at the same level as iTunes Media which continues to hold folders Automatically Add to iTunes, Downloads, Tones, and Music. Music, within the iTunes Media, then also contains the same Artists Folders again. It seems that it always reverts back to the old iTunes structure, and won't accept the new one (for iTunes 9 and up).

I also noticed that when I go to Preferences/Advanced and go to iTunes Media folder location, reset and then specify iTunes, it'll go to the iTunes Media folder automatically where all the duplicate Artists folders seem to reside.

I have no idea how to access .iTunes Preferences.plist to see if setting the parameter from 0 to 1 might make any difference.

I'll be happy to try, I do have backup copies of the original complete and working iTunes folder (but it's unorganized, uses double the space and has artists folders at two levels).

I appreciate if you are still willing to try to help me with this. Obviously, it's over my head. I am using Mac also, not as seems to be implied in some of the documentation PC.

Bertram

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Answer 14

turingtest2

Level 10

272,743 points

Jan 8, 2017 3:07 PM in response to bploog

See http://ianlunn.co.uk/articles/quickly-showhide-hidden-files-mac-os-x-mavericks/ for a way to reveal hidden files on a Mac. The images in my user tip come from a Windows box, but I've confirmed my observations apply equally well in OS X.

The folder your .itl file is in, and indeed the name of the .itl file itself are open to being changed, but if you only have one library then the ideal location, if you're not using the default one, is <volume>/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl. The media folder should be a subfolder of the library folder, in other words ideally at <volume>/iTunes/iTunes Media. That should be folder you'll see if you click Reset, after which you shouldn't be changing it.

Apple only provide a way to change from the old layout to the new one, which you do via File > Library > Organize Library > Rearrange Files. Tweaking the file is only necessary for those that are set on the older layout (not recommended).

What is the exact path to your .itl file? What is the exact path to the media folder under iTunes > Preferences > Advanced?

tt2

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Answer 15

bploog Author

Level 1

6 points

Jan 8, 2017 7:09 PM in response to turingtest2

Hi tt2 and ed2345,

Thanks again for your help. I think I don't need the hidden file route after all. I traced down where I had added the most recent songs to my library. It turned out to be totally messed up. Here's the structure I found:

iTunes

Artist folders 1 ... m

...

iTunes Music

Artist folders 1 ... n

...

Music

Artist folders 1 ... o

Music

Artist folders 1 ... p

In other words there were several Music folders (either "Music" or "iTunes Music") and Artist folders at all different levels. I have no idea how this may have happened but it could be the result of 10+ years using iTunes and always adding or naively transferring to new computers. I only became aware of the problem because the Library became so ridiculously large.

I found the Music folder with Artist folders 1 ... p was the most recent one where my last CD was added. So I deleted all of the others (actually put them in a Temp folder just in case) and it seems to be working OK now, no broken links, except that when I first ran it again, it created yet another iTunes Media folder under library folder but it was empty (but the name was indicative of the "new" structure, I thought. Then I just moved all artists folders from the Music/Artist 1 ... p into the new iTunes Media folder and now it all seems to be working fine.

Not sure where the Album Artwork, Automatically Add to iTunes, Downloads, and Tones should go but I will just model this after the help file you sent early on which compares the old (up to iT 8) and the new iTunes (iT 9+) structure and put it accordingly to the new structure as I am running the newest version of iTunes.

I hope that the iTunes Media now contains all complete Artist folders but there is a chance that over the years I have not only duplicates in it (I guess from Consolidate actions) but perhaps some that I do not have in the active iTunes Media folder now. But I'll keep the original "messed-up" backup copy and if I find out one is missing I'll figure out a way to import it from the one Music folder to the current iTunes Media folder.

I'll play with this for a few days to see if all is fine now. I'll post "Discussion closed" when I had a chance to verify. In the meanwhile, thank you to both of you who were kind enough to help me on this and remained patient!

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