Managing iTunes Library

I need help to re-arrange the order of the songs listed in my iTunes library. Simple as it sounds I have been unsuccessful and do not know how to arrange my entire list of songs in my whole library sorted by the author. I would be so grateful for some help.

hi Kathleen
the order of the display of iTunes library contents is controlled via the heading
- I have mine ordered under "Album", so if I wanted to rearrange the library to be organized under Artist (ie Author?) then I would click that heading.
The small triangle at the RHS of the subject box will alter the direction of the display (ie A to Z; or, Z to A)
I hope this is what you wanted to know - apologies if I've misinterpreted your question and stated something you already knew.
cheers, denis

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Manually Manage iTune Library

I want to Manually Manage iTune Library between 2 Macs. Today I plugged my iPhone and clicked Muanully Manage Music and it asked me that this is synched with another iTunes Lib. and It will delete all ibrary and it won't let me apply.. I can do this with my iPOD Classic.. But I can't do this with my iPhone?? I have too big of a Library and I can't be synching.
I said apply and now all my music and video is gone on my iPhone..
Help!!!

Each device can be managed individually as you desire: manually, selected playlists, or auto-sync.
Typically, an iPhone can be synced with an iTunes library on a single computer only for Music and Photos. You are able to sync contact info, calendar events, and Safari bookmarks on multiple computers.
If you want to sync Music/Photos on multiple PCs then the links below may help. While not an Apple endorsed method, you can see these workarounds (2 examples):
i) One iPhone, Two Computers, Many Solutions
ii) How to sync an iPhone with two (or more) Computers
Generally, a Google search will yield more than enough websites that can assist you should you need more options. They are not too hard to find. Search, Evaluate, then choose one that makes you comfortable.
Best of Luck

Managing itunes library (how to put an audiobook in the audiobook folder)

All of my audiobooks (my personal audiobooks, not ones from itunes)import to my music folder and not into the audiobook folder. Moreover, I can't move the files there after the import either. It "looks" like I can click and drag the file into the audiobooks folder but when I do, nothing happens. The genre is recognized as "books or spoken" but I can't seem to "manage" my library like I thought I would be able to do.

Thank you everyone for all your help. I have one last question in response to the solutions put forth about my audiobook issues.
Is there a way to change multiple file extensions at once? Some audiobooks have a track every three minutes of "book reading time". This allows users to quickly get to the last place they were in an audiobook. The problem though is that this can lead to hours worth of work to change one file extension at a time. Can I change multiple extensions (m4a to m4b) at once or can I take multiple tracks and combine them into "larger" tracks? Like I said, some audiobooks consist of hundreds if not thousands of tracks on some of the larger novels. It would take days to rewrite the file extensions.

TS3716 Connecting iPod nano 3rdGen to ipad air, is this possible as I no longer have a PC to manage iTunes library?

Hello I no longer have access to a PC for iTunes library but have just purchased an ipad air and wondered if it's possible to use the air to manage my iTunes library for my iPod nano 3rd gen ?
Thanks

i noticed this as a bug in iTunes. make sure the correct file is selected in the preferences menus. It does not have to be the default location directiory as Vazandrew stated. your iTunes music library can be anywhere you want it. i have mine on an external cuz i'm a dj and have over 80,000 songs.
once you select/verify the location of your music library, simply drag the folder into the left panel in iTunes from a finder window. iTunes does not automatically add the items like it use to for some reason.

Managing iTunes library size on my MacBook Air

I'm trying to figure out an efficient way to manage a copy of my iTunes library using iTunes Match & am hoping somebody can help.
I have a 20000 song library that lives on my iMac (which has a 2TB hard drive). That library is backed up regularly and is the main home of my music. I also have a MacBook Air. Thanks to iTunes Match, if I'm somewhere with my Air and I want to listen to something, I can download it out of iTunes Match and have a local copy on the Air. This is great, since obviously my Air can't hold all that music.
But, over time, the local copies of songs on the Air start to take up a significant chunk of space. I'm trying to figure out how to remove music from the Air (but NOT iTunes Match, of course!) in a methodical way to manage that. I made a smart playlist of songs I haven't listened to in the last six months on the Air, and selected all the songs that were local, but I can't seem to remove them from the Air from that smart playlist. My thought was I could do that periodically so that I'd have things I'm listening to lately on the Air but other stuff could be removed (& of course I could grab it out of iTunes Match again if I needed to).
This would be super useful since I spend a lot of weekends in a rural area where my Internet connection is slow and volume-capped - I have my Air with me then and can easily stream music to a stereo via an Airport Express.
Any suggestions? I realize I could just delete all local songs in one fell swoop from the main Songs listing, and then redownload some playlists while I'm in the city with my better network connection, but that seems like a bit of a pain.
Thanks!

Hightlight the songs you wish to delete and type Option+Delete on the keyboard.

IBook G4 & Managing iTunes library (Storage space)

My G4 has a 30 GB hard drive and I never dreamed I would run out of space, but that was before iTunes.
Can I upgrade to a larger hard drive without going to external devices? If so, how do I find these? When I did a search in the Apple store only externals came up.
My iTunes library is the thing hogging all the room. Can I move it to my iDisk? Will it work the same if I do? Is there another way to store my iTunes library?
Since this is a laptop I don't want another device to carry around with me.
Any advice would be greatly appriciated.
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) I'm as good on Windows as I am on a Mac, but Windows is not as good as a Mac

Cindy,
Welcome to Apple Discussions
You can bring your iBook to an Apple Reseller (Most popular CompUSA), where they can put one in for you. I am pretty sure they will put one in for you, but I am not too sure about Apple. Either way it is going to be pretty expensive. I know you don't want a external hard drive that much, but I just thought for informational purposes I should give you my view.
The reasons why an external hard drive is a great choice:
Lets say a 40 or 60Gb hard drive costs $120. Then you are going to have to pay for labor, which is going to be probably around $100 an hour. That is a lot of money, especially when they are very slow. If you were to buy a external hard drive, you can get a more spacious hard drive for less. For an example, you can get the SmartDisk FireLite Portable Hard Drive that has 100Gb for only $229. It's pretty small, only 3 1/4" x 5".
I bought a 160Gb SmartDisk CrossFire for $165 and I use it only to put my photos from iPhoto on them. My computer runs faster, smoother, and I have more room for other things. I have thousands of photos (over 4000) that take up a ton of room, but with the external I didn't have to pay a lot of money (you can do the same with iTunes).
You can put your version of OS X on the hard drive so that you don't have to carry around the Install/Repair discs incase of a problem. This only works with FireWire drives (and I believe some rare USB 2.0).
Just to keep it semi short, you can back up all your files on to it. I recommend people back up their files just incase something happens. I know a kid who had bought 1,000 songs from iTunes (I think) and had his 10 page paper on his iBook G3, and then someone kicked a soccer ball right into it. Random things happen all the time, its better to be safe then sorry.
Jon
PS If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask!
G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz iBook, Macintosh 128K, eMate... Mac OS X (10.4.3) Airport EX, Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

Managing iTune Library

I set up Itunes preferences to store the library on an external drive. I assume it is all there. How do I check to see if I am not storing my library twice - on the internal drive on the iMac and the external drive? How do I know where all my stuff is? Podcasts, TV shows,, apps. etc. How do I check for duplicates and consolidate it all on the external drive?

With the iTunes library set to be located on the external drive, choose Consolidate Library from the Advanced menu or the Library section of the File menu.
(35844)

Manage iTunes library - move audio files

Hi,
the audio files of my itunes library are stored on two drives. The internal driver and one external music-drive. Since my internal drive is becoming full, I'd like to move some of my files from the internal disk to the external drive. Is there a smart process or tool which supports keeping the link of the moved files?

This is a crude proof of concept that works as a Windows vbs script:
Set FSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set iTunesApp = CreateObject("iTunes.Application.1")
Set Tracks = iTunesApp.SelectedTracks
For I = 1 to Tracks.Count
Set Track = Tracks.Item(I)
If Track.Kind = 1 Then
Name = Track.Name
Artist = Track.Artist
Album = Track.Album
TrackPath = Track.Location
Ext=Right(TrackPath,4)
NewPath=Left(TrackPath,Len(TrackPath)-4)
NewPath = InputBox("Edit path/filename for:" & nl & nl & _
"Artist : " & Artist & nl & _
"Album : " & Album & nl & _
"Track : " & Name,"Move Track",NewPath) & Ext
Set F = FSO.GetFile(TrackPath)
F.Move(NewPath)
Track.Location = NewPath
End If
Next
There's no error checking, it processes the currently selected tracks and it needs a new location for each file in turn. It could easliy be changed to work with, for example, the current playlist, and programmed to search for a segment of the path to be replaced with a new value. The basic principle is that you read a track's existing location, create a new one either by text input or by manipulating the value of the current path, move the file to the new location, then update iTunes so that it looks in the correct place. As the track object is never removed from the library all playlist references and other volatile metadata such as playcounts should remain intact.
tt2

Help managing iTunes library on external hard drive

I moved my iTunes library to a WD Mybook Live in order to free up disk space on my main computer. But in the process of transferring the library to the external hard drive, I accidentally made duplicates of each song. I want to delete the extra songs, but the "Show Duplicate Items" command isn't working when I try to use it on the library on my external hard drive. (That command works fine for songs stored on the local hard drive of the computer, but the command is "dimmed" and not clickable when I try to use it for the library on the external hard hard drive.) Also, I notice that I cannot use iTunes to delete songs on the external hard drive. (However, I *can* delete songs on the external hard drive manually by using Windows Explorer.) So I'm puzzled. How can I use the "Show Duplicate Items" command to help me delete thousands of duplicate songs on my external hard drive? Does iTunes disallow certain kinds of access to shared libraries? Why would iTunes not let me delete these songs when I can go into Windows Explorer and delete them. Help! Thanks. (I'm running iTunes 11.1)

As long as you don't have an existing library that is synced with a device or holds oodles of carefully crafted playlists, ratings etc. then...
Hold down shift as you start iTunes. You should get an option to choose or create a library. Click create, browse to root of the external drive and click save so that your library is say X:\iTunes where X: is the letter of your external drive. All new content downloaded to the library will stay on the external drive.
See this user tip for a backup strategy.
tt2

Two users on the same Mac - jointly manage iTunes library

Well,
Myself and my wife share the same Mac at home. I would like to have the same music library on both accounts that either of us can administor. I know I can just turn on file sharing but that can be slow to load if there is a large library, it means both accounts having to be logged in and and one of the account will just have listening priviliges. I do not want to duplicate the librarys which i know is one way around it. So is there any easy way to do this?...Any assistance or suggestions would be appreciated.
I do hope you understand the question...
Thanks

I there, the same here. this is the way I did.
I put all the library under the shared folder, say Music. Then for every month like October 2006 I have created a folder and we keep adding music. Our iTunes points both to shared/music.
Both work on the same library / month. Once a while, one of us re-import only the latest month and will have the latest changes. Once the month is over, we create a new dir Nov 2006 and start working on that. The other months are backup and ready. Any refresh would be only the latest month. For privileges settings, have a applescript that applies automatically rights to any file in a month-music folder (does not matter who adds the file).
Hope this help. iTunes needs two features badly (like iPhoto):
1) a mechanism that automatically detect new files in the library
2) a mechanism that automatically detects changes in metadata and synch
Strange they have it between iTunes and iPod, they should have it between iTunes and Finder

Bonjour sleep proxy not working; Mountain Lion (10.8.1, 10.8.2) not waking up for remote management, itunes library

Since updating to 10.8.1 (I'm currently on 10.8.2), my Mac Mini no longer wakes for network access.
That is, when I attempt to connect remotely to the computer (i.e., mac mini is at home, I am at work), the computer never wakes up.
I have an Airport Extreme 2011, I believe; I updated it to the latest firmware a week or two ago. (Now that I think about it, maybe it was after this firmware update that the Bonjour sleep prox stopped working?)
Ideas?
My system:
Mac Mini (2011) with 8gb RAM
[added 2nd hard drive -- SSD]
Mountain Lion 10.8.2
Connected via ethernet cable to an Airport Exreme (2011)

Since upgrading to 10.8.2 I have had this issue.
I have 'Wake for Network Access' enabled but I am unable to wake my Mac Pro from my AppleTV2 using Home Sharing.
If I reset the PRAM, WOL works the first time the Mac goes to sleep but after that it wont work.
The Mac Pro still periodically wakes up (as in the fans and HDDs spin up, no GUI) to keep the network address alive but nothing can actually wake it, (except once on the first sleep after PRAM reset).
This was not an issue prior to 10.8.2.
I have also noticed since upgrading to 10.8.2 that after waking the Mac, it takes approximately 10-15 seconds for the network to re-connect. This is via a wired ethernet connection.
This also was not an issue prior to 10.8.2.
I really hope this is fixed with 10.8.3.

How can I manage 1 iTunes library with 2 computers (not on same network)?

I have 1 very large iTunes library in which I am always adding/deleting/editing songs and 2 computers (1 home, 1 laptop). I would like to be able to manage my library with my laptop when I am away from home but also be able to see any changes I made next time I open iTunes on my home computer. I tried home sharing but this seems to be more for computers on the same network. My library is much too big for iCloud. Someone suggested I hold shift when I open iTunes to select a library but even though I can select the library file I want, it doesn't populate iTunes with my changes (or any music for that matter). I'm running XP with the latest version of iTunes (10.7.0.21). Thanks

This describes a work/home scenario. For home/away use, edit the library directly on the portable backup when away, then sync libraries on your return.
Sync iPod/iPad/iPhone with two computers
Although it isn't possible to sync an Apple device with two different libraries it is possible to sync with the same logical library from multiple computers. Each library has an internal ID and when iTunes connects to your iPod/iPad/iPhone it compares the local ID with the one the device normally syncs with. If they are the same you can go ahead and sync...
I have my library cloned to a small 1Tb USB drive which I can take between home & work. At either location I use SyncToy 2.1 to update the local copy with the external drive. Mac users should be able to find similar tools. I can open either of the local libraries or the one on the external drive and update the media content of my iPhone. The slight exception is Photos which normally connects to a specific folder on a specific machine, although that can easily be remapped to the current library if you create a "Photos" folder inside the iTunes Media folder so that syncing the iTunes folders keeps this up to date as well. I periodically sweep my library for new files & orphans with iTunes Folder Watch just in case I make changes at one location but then overwrite the library with a newer copy from the other. Again Mac users should be able to find similar tools.
As long as your media is organized within an iTunes Music or Tunes Media folder, in turn held inside the main iTunes folder that has your library files (whether or not you let iTunes keep the media folder organized) each library can access items at the same relative path from the library folder so the library can be at different drives/paths on different machines. This solution ensures I always have adequate backups of my library and I can update my devices whenever I can connect to the same build of iTunes.
When working with an iPhone earlier builds of iTunes would remove any file not physically present in the local library, even if there was an entry for it, making manual management practically redundant on the iPhone. This behavior has been changed but it will still only permit manual management with a library that has the correct internal ID. If you don't want to sync your library between machines on a regular basis just copy the iTunes Library.itl file from the current "home" machine to any other you want to use, then clean out the library entries and import the local content you have on that box.
tt2

PC died and in turn my main iTunes library. iPhone was synced to it. Now when I try to connect to another library it tells me the phone must be wiped clean before I can manage music with new library. Any way around that? Don't want to lose music.

My PC died and in turn so did my main iTunes library. My iPhone was synced to the library that is gone. Now when I try to connect to another library, it tells me the phone must be wiped clean before I can manage music with new library. Any way around that? I don't want to lose the music that is on my phone. I am looking for a way to tell the phone to "forget" the old library and let me start working with a new library.

It has always been very basic to always maintain a backup copy of your computer for just such an occasion.
Use your backup copy of your computer to put everything on the new one.
It sounds like you have failed to do this, which is not good at all.
You will have to transfer your itunes purchases from your iphone. Authorize your computer for your itunes account
About iTunes Store authorization and deauthorization
Open itunes, plug in iphone, do NOT sync, click File>Transfer Purchases
When you do sync you will lose your pics ( photo library - synced from your old computer), your itunes content ( music, apps, videos,etc) , your contacts and your calendars. So do NOT sync yet. This is why a backup copy is so important.
Enter one unique contact and calendar entry on your computer.
When you first sync, you should get the option to merger the data. Choose it.
If you want your pics, then you will need to e-mail them to yourself before you sync. They will not be of the original quality as they are reduced when synced to iphone.
When all is as goos as it can be, then backup your computer, and always maintain the backup.

ITunes 10 and iTunes Library Manager 5.3

Is there any kind soul out there on a Mac who uses Doug's iTunes Library Manager 5.3 and has upgraded from iTunes 9 to iTunes 10? Does iTunes Library Manager 5.3 work with version 10?
I am NOT looking for people telling me to use iTunes' own multiple library feature; I already have a complex multi-library/multi-preference/multi-hard drive set up and will only update to iTunes 10 if it works with Doug's iTunes Library Manager 5.3 (or if Doug updates; no mention of iTunes 10 on his website).
I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone who's actually upgraded to iTunes 10 and is using iTunes Library Manager 5.3.
Thanks in advance.

Paris Jake wrote:
I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone who's actually upgraded to iTunes 10 and is using iTunes Library Manager 5.3.
if you don't get any feedback, send Doug an email and obtain feedback from the horse's mouth
JGG

Managing sole iTunes library with multiple machines on-the-go with database&media on external drive?

Hi fellows. Trying to organize & revamp my iTunes library & wish to achieve a configuration but lack the expertise to achieve it. My objectives are:
Objectives
+1. for my multimedia content to be stored/accessed from an external hard disk+
+2. to keep the entire iTunes multimedia & all necessary operating files as self-contained as possible,+
+3. Allow multiple machines to manage import of new content into library, i.e. download new episodes of podcasts, rip new music & movies into the library, sync-ing of iPod even when said machine is nowhere near my external hard disk (this is the tricky one)+
_Justification for my objectives_
For objective #3, it's not that I'm trying to be funny. My use case is I've 1 laptop (main machine & always at home) & 1 netbook (brought to school daily). Most of my iTunes usage will be via the stay-at-home laptop; but I may wish to add/manage new content onto my iTunes library/iPod while I'm outside (hence, decoupled from my external hard disk at home).
I'm not trying to be funny for objective #1 either. I wish to have a streamlined process of retaining & re-instating my iTunes library meta-data across system re-format, i.e. where the iTunes library db files' location may be changed (most obvious being the new "My Music" folder path in Win7 from WinXP)
_What I'm well aware of_
I understand that storing/re-locating multimedia on external hard disk is no-kick to iTunes veteran. I also understand that after a new installation of iTunes, I can move the fresh copy of "iTunes_library.itl" & "iTunes_library.xml" files to my external volume & point iTunes to their new address from the 2nd launch onwards. I also understand any new machines I introduce into my environment can be directed to that exact copy of iTunes library database files when I install iTunes & pressing "Shift" key upon their launch. Lastly, I also understand that I will have no access to my multimedia files (for playback) while I'm outside, but I can still add new content, & download new podcasts & remove old content from my library/iPod
_The question_
However, what I have difficulty achieving, is launching iTunes on my on-the-go machine(s), without a local copy of the iTunes library database files. I doubt iTunes will be able to launch at all, & if I create a new library (just to launch iTunes), it will not possess content from my main media collection & likely to wipe out my iPod.
_My novice attempt & its inadequacies_
My 1st instinct, is to have the iTunes library database files stored in the cloud. More specifically, I can store them files in my DropBox folder/account, & have every machine update to a single latest version of iTunes library database files upon Internet connection. However, this method depends on:
+* the DropBox application to exist forever,+
+* assumed the installation path of DropBox (or any applications for that matter) to persist/remain unchanged across future versions of operating systems,+
+* Will corrupt any un-sync-ed version of my iTunes library database files when I launched iTunes without 1st updating the local cached copy of them database files (suppose I manage my iPod playlists via iTunes on a plane)+
_Open for recommendations_
So here I'm, all ears to any fine recommendations you iTunes veterans have to offer. Thanx in advance.

In case anyone is interested in these sorta thing:
UPDATE #4: Unfortunately, if you discover you tagged something wrong after importing the songs, even when you correct the tags, iTunes will not re-organize the folder hierarchy, as long as “Keep iTunes Music folder organized“ is UNchecked, even if the songs were imported via the “Automatically add to iTunes folder” channel.
Example: I imported a folder of Andy Lau songs into my library, unbeknownst to me, some of the songs had their “Artist” tagged as “Andy Lau“, while some had theirs tagged as “Liu De Hua“. Naturally, the 1st time round I imported them, 2 separate folders were instantiated as to iTunes, those were names of 2 distinct artists (this is expected, & acceptable behaviour). The downside is, even if I re-tagged all those songs with “Andy Lau” as the artist, iTunes will no longer re-organize & consolidate all them songs into a single “Andy Lau” artist folder (because I’d “Keep iTunes Music folder organized” UNchecked remember?)
Well, you may suggest that I check that option when managing my future library & uncheck it right before launching/using my main, current library. The thing is, iTunes preferences persist across libraries, & one day I will forget to uncheck that option, launch my main library & lose all my current music folder structure to iTunes’ re-organization (which I don;t want, as of yet). Which brings me to another update:
UPDATE #5: My future iTunes library has “I:/iTunes_Media” as iTunes’s “Home” folder. This setting persists even when I switch back to my main, current library. Which means, if I’d my external volume connected while launching/using my main, current library, all new content will end up in that folder on the external volume! Which messes up the whole scheme of things! Arghz!
UPDATE #6: Here’re some updates with regards to ID3 tags:
* the “Album Artist” in Windows (7) Explorer = the “Album Artist” field in iTunes 9
* Modifying a ID3 tag field using Windows (7) Explorer will update BOTH the v1 & v2.3 version of the ID3 tags on the song (if the song has both versions of tags embedded & if the field exists in both tag versions). If you update the tags via iTunes, only the v2.3 tags get updated. This is surprising.
* the “Contributing Artist” field in Windows (7) Explorer = the “Artist” field in iTunes 9 & the “Artist” field in ID3v1 tags (changes in tany of the 3 fields will affect the other 2 respectively)
o However, iTunes Media folder organization will only adhere to the value saved in the “Album Artist” field [if you change the value of "Contributing Artist" in Windows (7) Explorer, the "Artist" field in iTunes or the "Artist" field in a song's ID3v1 tags, no folder re-organization will occur]
UPDATE #7: Some updates with regards to workflow:
Decided to retain all non-music content within a sub-folder named “non-music” beneath the main album folder (& take strict precautions to import songs only). The exception is “m3u” playlist files. Have read elsewhere if you import a folder of songs & there’s an “m3u” playlist inside, your library may have duplicates and/or the tags of those songs you just imported could be screwed, etc.

Managing iTunes Library

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