Is music in multiple user account supposed to take up more space?

I have two user accounts on my computer and I transferred all of my iTunes music to the second one so it could be accessible from both. But when I did it the memory space on my computer went down. Is this supposed to take up more space?

Hi Bob,
It will do because you have copied the folder to the other account thus doubling the amount of space your music files occupy; you have 2 copies of each song.
If all you want to do is have access to the same iTunes library from multiple accounts on the same computer, the following Apple KB document will help you:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195
RD

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If you are seeing the "Connect to iTunes" logo, then your device is in Recovery Mode, and you will need to restore it:
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One iMac - Multiple user accounts - Can iTunes music be moved b/t accts?

My family (wife, son, daughter, and me) share an imac but we all have our own user accounts. Our entire itunes music library is in one user account and is getting to the point of being unmanageable.
Can I move some of my itunes library (e.g., my son's music) to another user account on the same iMac?
It's my understanding that an ipod can only be synced with one itunes library at a time, but I thought Apple also restricted the usage of music bought from itunes to a finite number of computers. If this is true, I think I would be able to transfer a group of songs from one user account to another so long as the user accounts were on the same computer.
I think if I place the songs i want to transfer to my son's user account on an ipod, log into my son's account, plug the ipod in, start up itunes, then I should be able to transfer the purchases from one user account to the other.
Will this work?

Thanks, this will work.
One somewhat related follow-up question. After I have dragged the .M4P files into the shared directory, and logged into the other user account, they appear as "protected". After clicking the "more info" button, i can change the access to "read and write" for each m4p file, and then I can drag it into itunes.
How can I make this change (read and write) global so I will not have to unlock and enable each m4p file?

Sharing an iTunes Library across multiple user account and a network.

Sharing an iTunes Music Library across multiple user accounts.
Hello Everybody!
Firstly, this was designed to be run in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. It will not work with earlier versions of Mac OS X! Sorry.
Here's a handy tip for keeping your hard drive neat and tidy, it also saves space, what in effect will be done is an iTunes music library will be shared amongst multiple users on the same machine. There are advantages and disadvantages to using this method.
• Firstly I think it might be worthwhile to state the advantages and disadvantages to using this approach.
The advantages include:
- Space will be saved, as no duplicate files will occur.
- The administrator will be able to have complete control over the content of the iTunes library, this may be useful for restricting the content of the Library; particularly for example if computer is being used at and education institution, business or any other sort of institution where things such as explicit content would be less favorable.
- The machine will not be slowed by the fact that every user has lots of files.
The disadvantages to this system include.
- The fact that the account storing the music will have to be logged in, and iTunes will have to be active in that account.
- If the account housing the music is not active then nobody can use the iTunes library.
- There is a certain degree of risk present when an administrator account must be continually active.
- Fast User Switching must be enabled.
Overview:
A central account controls all music on the machine/network, this is achieved by storing iTunes files in a public location as opposed to in the user's directory. In effect the system will give all users across the machine/network access to the same music/files without the possibility of files 'doubling up' because two different users like the same types of music. This approach saves valuable disk space in this regard and may therefore prove to be useful in some situations.
This is a hearty process to undertake, so only follow this tutorial if you're willing to go all the way to the end of it.
Process:
Step 1:
Firstly, we need to organize the host library, I tidied mine up, removing excess playlists, random files, things like that. this will make thing a bit easier in the later stages of this process.
Once the library is tidied up, move the entire "iTunes" folder from your Home directory to the "//localhost" directory (The Macintosh HD) and ensure that files are on the same level as the "Applications", "Users", "Library" and "System" directories; this will ensure that the files in the library are available to all users on the machine (this also works for networks)
Optionally you can set the ownership of the folder to the 'administrator' account (the user who will be hosting the library.), you may also like to set the permissions of 'you can' to "Read & Write" (assuming that you are doing this through the user who will host the library); secondly you should set the "Owner" to the administrator who will be hosting the library and set their "access" to "Read & Write" (this will ensure that the administrator has full access to the folder). The final part of this step involves setting access for the "Others" tab to "Read Only" this will ensure that the other users can view but not modify the contents on the folder.
Overview:
So far we have done the following steps:
1. Organized the host library.
2. Placed the iTunes directory into a 'public' directory so that other users may use it. (this step is essential if you plan on sharing the library across multiple accounts on the same machine. NOTE: this step is only necessary if you are wanting to share you library across multiple accounts on the same machine, if you simply want to share the music across a network, use the iTunes sharing facility.
3. set ownership and permissions for the iTunes music folder.
Step 2:
Currently the administrator is the only user who can use this library, however we will address this soon. In this step we will enable iTunes music sharing in the administrator's account, this will enable other users to access the files in the library.
If you are not logged in as the administrator, do so; secondly, open iTunes and select "Preferences" from the "iTunes" menu, now click the "Sharing" tab, if "share my library on my local network" is not checked, the radio buttons below this will now become active, you may choose to share the entire libraries contents, or share only selected content.
Sharing only selected content may be useful if their is explicit content in the library and minors use the network or machine that the library is connected to.
If you have selected "share entire library" go to Step 3, if you have selected share "share selected playlists" read on.
After clicking "share selected playlists" you must then select the playlists that you intend to share across your accounts and network. Once you have finished selecting the playlists, click "OK" to save the settings.
Overview:
In this step we:
1. Enabled iTunes sharing in the administrator's account, now, users on the local network may access the iTunes library, however, users on the same machine may not.
Step 3:
Now we will enable users on the same machine to access the library on the machine. This is achieved by logging in as each user, opening iTunes, opening iTunes preferences, and clicking "look for shared music". now all users on the machine may also access the library that the administrator controls.
This in effect will mean that the user will not need to use their user library, it will be provided to them via a pseudo network connection.
As a secondary measure, I have chosen to write a generic login script that will move any content from the user's "Music/iTunes/iTunes Music" directory to the trash and then empties the user's trash.
This is done through the use of an Automator Application: this application does the following actions.
1. Uses the "Finder" action "Get Specified Finder Items"
1a. The user's "~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music" folder
2. Uses the "Finder" action "Get Folder Contents"
3. Uses the "Finder" action "Move to Trash"
4. Uses the "Automator" action "Run AppleScript"
4a. with the following:
on run {input, parameters}
tell application "Finder"
empty trash
end tell
return input
end run
IMPORTANT: Once the script is adapted to the user account it must be set as a login item. in order to keep the script out of the way i have placed it in the user's "Library" directory, in "Application Support" under "iTunes".
Overview:
Here we:
1. Enabled iTunes sharing in the user accounts on the host machine, in effect allowing all users of the machine to view a single iTunes library.
2. (Optional) I have created a login application that will remove any content that has been added to user iTunes libraries, this in effect stops other users of the machine from adding music and files to iTunes.
Step 4:
If it is not already enabled, open system preferences and enable Fast User Switching in Accounts Options.
Summary:
We have shared a single iTunes library across multiple user account, while still allowing for network sharing. This method is designed to save space on machines, particularly those with smaller hard drives.
I hope that this hint proves to be helpful and I hope everybody will give me feedback on my process.
regards,
Pete.
iBook G4; 60GB Hard Drive, 512MB RAM, Airport Extreme Mac OS X (10.4.6) iWork & iLife '06, Adobe CS2, Final Cut Pro. Anything and Everything!!!

how to share music between different accounts on a single computer

How do I share photos and music between different user accounts on the same macbook

How do I share photos and music between different user accounts on the same Macbook? i.e. I want all to be able to access family photos when logged into their respective accounts. Same goes for the iTunes library. Hope this is possible...
Thanks!

To give other users read-only access to your iTunes library, use the Sharing features of iTunes. Sharing works over the local network as well as on the same computer. See the built-in help for details.
To give others selective access to your iPhoto library, you have the option of using iCloud Photo Sharing, if the privacy implications don't bother you. The images will be stored temporarily on Apple servers.
If you want to give full read/write access to more than one user, see the support articles linked below.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
iPhoto: Sharing libraries among multiple users
There is a way to share the library without moving it to a secondary volume. If you really need to do that, ask for instructions.

File sharing across multiple user accounts on the same machine

Hello,
I try to figure out how multiple users (my wife and I) on the same mac can have equal access to files on the local drive without granting that access to all users on that machine or even the rest of the world.
My research sofar hasn't come up with a satisfying solution. Here are the solutions that I am looking at:
1. Enable a permission system that ensures access to both users in all cases (file/directory creation, copy and move).
I only found a suitable solution for creating and copying files/directories but not for moving them.
See the following articles for reference:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/20787617#20787617 Setting up a shared structure that works e.g. for iPhoto Library but not for moving files to and from
https://discussions.apple.com/message/4005647#4005647 Helpful information on POSIX Permissions, ACL's an Permission inheritance
This would be my first choice if I can get around the problem of moving files...
2. Disk Image
Create a disk image which ignores persmissions and set permissions for the file that contains the image instead.
Read this article to get further details: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1198
This solution will work but has a few disadvatages:
There's no mutual access from multiple user accounts since an image may only be mounted by one user at a time.
One has to create a startup script that mounts the image upon login which would create a first come first serve for access to the image content.
3. Using a file sharing protocol (e.g. afp or smb) locally.
The idea behind it is to have a server providing the files mutually to multiple users one the same machine. At them moment this seems to be the most promising approach to me.
Unfortunately I can get acces from another machine but not from the same machine. Has anyone ever tried to access the file sharing (afp or smb) from the same machine on which the server is located?
Has anyone got some helpful hints for me?
Thanks in advance.

Sorry, but you didn't specify details, and it was worth checking whether or not you had overlooked this approach.
The problem you're having (as I suppose you already know) is that any new disk item inherits the permissions of the folder it is originally created in in. These permissions (sensibly enough) need owner or administrator permission to change once they've been established; that will happen when you copy a file to a new location (because that's essentially creating a new file) but not when you move it. any of the following would work:
changing the permissions on newly created files for both users so that they all explicitly give r/w access to a particular group.
writing a droplet that would change the permissions of files dropped on it and move them programmatically to the shared folder
set up a folder action or launchd job that would watch the shared folder and automatically convert permissions on files placed in it.
The last would be the approach I would take, but... which appeals to you?

Streaming from multiple user accounts......problem

With my initial set up I had no problem. I have a large iTunes Library. 48k songs. Over 270 GB of files. I synced a few photos and some music for the AppleTV slide shows but everything else I was going to stream. Streaming is working wonderfully from MY user account but if I try and stream a similar sized library from another user account on the same computer it is "NO JOY". I get the "loading library" dialog with the little circle of dashes going round and round but it eventually gives up and does not load. I have tried this with iTunes running on my user account and with iTunes turned off on my user account and either way the library from the other user account will NOT load. I am at a loss here. The set up for the second user went smoothly. I clicked add a library and got a key code on my TV screen. AppleTV showed up in the devices column in iTunes of the second user account and accepted the key code but like I said earlier the library will just not load for streaming. Streaming from my first user account is still working well. I have not found any discussion topics dealing with streaming from multiple user accounts. Hopefully someone who is doing this will chime in and help me out if possible.

The only way I have been able to get this to work is to quit the iTunes that I am currently streaming from. Switch (on the computer) users to the library I want to stream from. Start iTunes on that user. If I follow this I can get AppleTV to load the library of the second user. If I do NOT quit iTunes from the first user it will not load the second user's library. If I have iTunes from the second user running at the same time I quit the first user's iTunes it will NOT load the second users library. I guess it is a bug and will need to be fixed with the next software release. I would like to be able to switch among user libraries at will and independent of which user is currently using the computer.

IPad / iOS - Multiple User Accounts

I (and countless others) would love it, if the iPad could set up multiple user accounts, just like the Mac OS; multiple user and guest accounts in iOS, is such an obvious need.
The iPad is so meant for multiple users in a household, guests etc. I don't want to hand someone, a friend or anyone my iPad with access to all my email, pictures, bank info, game scores, etc., etc. when they just want to surf the web or DJ some music from my music library on the home network.
Please, please Apple, add multiple user accounts to the iPad, just like the native Mac OS.
While you're at it, add this to the iPhone—sometimes I want to let a friend or relative play games or whatever on a roadtrip, withouth them digging through my personal info, a guest account with specified app access and premissions would resolve this.
Apple, I know you're trying to sell devices, but look back to see why you implemented this in the Mac OS to discover why you'd do it for portable devices too, it's a no-brainier.
Thanks!!

Nobody from Apple here. Just other users like yourself.
You are not the first person to ask for this and I'm sure you will not be the last. But, if you really want to get the message across... Try here.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

How Can I Login To Multiple User Accounts Simultaneously

I am using an Intel iMac (2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) with 1GB of memory and 10.4.11. I have Fast User Switching enabled. I restart the Mac every morning. Then I login to a second user account. While at work, I access these accounts via VNC.
Sometimes I forget to login to the second user account. I do it from work via VNC, which sometimes causes complications.
Does OSX support simultaneous multiple user account login? If not, is there a work-around solution such as an AppleScript? This would provide a time savings to me, as well as a convenience if I forgot to login to the second user account before leaving home.
Thank you.
Kurt R. Todoroff

Seems to me, in another discussion, the simple Fast User Switching does not
do much really fast or automatically; there are a few faster steps than having
to log into each and every account change (even when FUS is enabled) so
this later development sounds a little more automatic, esp over a distance.
Is there a third party app or valid script that an do the multiple logins automatic
after the first-run; so passwords need not be re-entered, and the screen can just
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{And not just a keyboard shortcut to save a few little steps, overall.}
Whichever way the road turns...
Good luck & happy computing!
{edited}

Transfer music from one user account to another on the SAME mac?

My family (wife, son, daughter, and me) share an imac but we all have our own user accounts. Our entire itunes music library is in one user account and is getting to the point of being unmanageable.
Can I move some of my itunes library (e.g., my son's music) to another user account on the same iMac? Some songs were imported from CD and others were purchased from my Apple ID number.
It's my understanding that an ipod can only be synced with one itunes library at a time, but I thought Apple also restricted the usage of music bought from itunes to a finite number of computers. If this is true, I think I would be able to transfer a group of songs from one user account to another so long as the user accounts were on the same computer.
I was told that I could just drag the songs into a shared folder and then log into his account and drop them in iTunes.
Some specific questions:
1) Can I move all music files (CD and purchased) to the shared folder for dropping into his account?
2)The purchased ones were purchased under MY apple ID which I do not want to give him access to. Should I create one for him or just have him use mine and wait for my password. I would like to put an allowance on his new ID number and keep it separate from mine. Would that make a difference in the future if I wanted to use one of his songs on my iPod or in an iMovie project?
I just reinstalled my Lepoard OS X and put all my data back. I did not deauthorize anything before I did this. Did I need to? Or is even a clean install on the SAME machine ok and seen as the same authorization?
Thanks in advance!!

You can give him copies of song files, either by using a shared folder, or by putting the copies on a USB flash drive from which he can copy them to his own iTunes library.
Any DRM-protected tracks that you have purchased from Apple can only be played if the user has authorization to the account(s) from which the tracks were purchased. Authorization requires physical access to the computer and knowledge of the password, and you can figure it from there!
Message was edited by: ed2345

Problem with iTunes and multiple user accounts in Windows

I am running iTunes on a PC (Windows XP) and have multiple user accounts. When I switch between user accounts and try to open iTunes, I get a message that tells me I can't open the program because another user is using it. Is it really true that I can only have iTunes open in one user account at a time on a PC with multiple user accounts ?!? If not, what am I doing wrong?

You are right, can only have one open. You have to log out of a user before logging in to another user to use iTunes. Do not use the fast user switching ability of Windows.

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can you set up multiple user accounts on one laptop?

Of course.
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For v10.8 Mountain Lion > OS X Mountain Lion: Create a new user account
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1 Apple TV 2nd Gen, Windows 7 Computer with multiple user accounts

The issue that I am having is I have 1 Apple TV 2nd Gen and Windows 7 Computer with multiple user accounts.
When I log onto my Windows user account, open up Itunes and turn on home sharing my Apple TV work perfect but if another family member switches to their Windows user account without logging me out, the home share shows up on Apple TV but it just says "Loading ... Library" and never loads.
If we switch back to my user account, restart iTunes, everything is fine. Is there a way to keep my home share active in ATV2 across multiple user accounts? All of my video is under my account.

You can home-share multiple libraries but only use one account at a time.

Is music in multiple user account supposed to take up more space?

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