Archiving part of my music library

Hi all,
My music is filling up my hard drive and I need to archive some of it (all my "holiday" music for instance). How do I do that? I want to move it off my MacBook Pro and onto my external drive.
Thanks for any information.

Easiest way and a great way to back up your entire library, is if the external is larger enough, simply grab the iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder inside it) and drag and drop then entire folder to the external drive and make a full copy.
Once it finishes copying then you can delete stuff out of the internal library to free up space.
Patrick

Similar Messages

Why are podcast being synced as part of my music library?

I think other people are having similar problems, but I can't seem to find a topic that's exactly the same as mine, so apologies if this is a repost:
I have a 20" Intel iMac running OS X 10.4.8 and iTunes 7.0.2. I have a 4GB iPod Mini, and a Music Library consisting of 267 songs (1.6 GB total), and several podcasts that I subscribe to. When I attached my iPod to this particular Music Library and set the synchronization settings, I checked the box under Music for it to sync my entire library (since it was well under my 4 GB limit), told it to sync only the most recent episode of 3 podcasts, and disabled disk use, contacts and iCal.
When I clicked "Apply", I was told that there wasn't enough space on my iPod to sync everything, and did I want to turn off Podcast syncing. It struck me as odd (there was no way that three podcasts were taking up the remaining 2.4 GB of space), but I clicked OK anyway. THEN I was told that there wasn't enough space to synchronize my entire music library, and did I want iTunes to select what songs to copy. Befuddled, I clicked OK, and then saw the progress meter copying 1 of 309 songs. This was VERY strange, since my library window showed only 267 songs and 1.6 GB.
As I watched the progress, I saw it copying episodes of my podcasts! Why is iTunes recognizing my podcasts as part of my music library when they don't show up in my library window? I checked my library folder, and all my podcasts are within the "podcasts" folder, and inside their respective folders on top of that. Is this a bug or a "feature". The only way I was able to get the sync to work correctly was to tell iTunes to only sync my playlists, but that didn't work completely, because there are items in my library which aren't in specific playlists.
Any insight that you could offer would be appreciated. TIA.

Figured it out...make sure your default "smart" playlists are set to ignore "Genre > Contains > Podcast". Otherwise you end up with Podcasts in your playlists that you didn't know were there.

Archiving part of my whole library!

I want to archive off only part of my iPhoto library and leave part of it on my machine.
What is the best procedure for doing this?
(I want to eliminate a couple of earlier years worth...)
I know how to burn a searchable iPhoto disc.
Im just afraid tio delete the archived photos from my system once I have copied them to disc for fear that iPhoto will become "broken."

Thomas
To create a working back-up library based in years:
hold down the option (or alt) key and launch iPhoto. Use the dialogue to create a new library in whatever location you like. Call the first one, say, 1996.
Now, quit iPhoto and hold down the option key and launch iPhoto, this time choose your main library.
Create a smart album: Date is Before 1/01/97
Download iPhoto Library Manager from http://homepage.mac.com/bwebster/iphotolibrarymanager.html. It's a $20 shareware, but well worth the cost. Use it to move the 1996 photos from your main library to the 1996 one. iPLM is great because it moves metadata along with your pics, such as keywords, ratings and comments.
If you want to remove the 1996 pics from your main library, then select them all and go option (or alt) - delete.
This will give you an iPhoto Library for 1996, with a main library that can either include or not the archived pics. You can then burn the 1996 library to a DVD using the Share ->Burn command. This means that when you put a DVD into your machine it will turn up in iPhoto and you'll be able to drag your pics back to the Main library.
Repeat as necessary.
Regards
TD

Loading or transferring PART of my music library to new iPhone 4S

How do I tranfer SOME of my music library to my new ipone 4S? When I hook the phone up to the computer it just starts all the tranfer immediately - ALL videos ALL musci. So I stop it as I just want to tansfer part of my music. I transferred part of my music to my ipad1 Why can I not do the same with my new iphone?

go to your music library in itunes and untick the songs you do not want to copy and then sync the new phone. Make sure that you do a backup first and that you do not sync things that you do not want to and that you do not leave anything out that you want to include

Just bought new PC with windows 8.1 and installed the 64bit tunes as instructed by the new PC. Only a small part of my music library is now showing but can see all the files in the itunes folder on an eternal hard drive linked to my old XP pc.

Problem - changed PC to one with Windows 8.1 ( previous from 2006 with Windos XP). Previously all ITunes stuff on an external harddrive as 80 gigs of music too much for the old PC
When attached Harddrive to new PC was told needed to install the new 64 bit iTunes as 32 bit iTunes not compatable.
Did so but only a very small portion of my music is showning - though rest of Library is still on the external drive in the folder.
Help please
Thanks

Again many thanks. I have tried to tidy up the folders as per your idiot guide- which term is appropriate for me
Under iTunes Media though I do not have folders for Books,iPod Games, Mobile Applications, Movies, TV Shows so I only have Auto Add to iTunes, Music, Downloads and Podcasts - My question here is is this OK.
Next - Library files that you mention are there but do not end .itdb
Next - in the main iTunes folder followingon from Artwork and Media folders there is some other iTunes database stuff like Library Extras, Library Genius, Library and Music Library(xml) all dated 10/02/12 plus MimiPlayer .dll dated 21/02/14 and Set Up Short Cut dated22/03/14
AND there is also a Programme Files folder with a sub folder holding file folders called CD Configuration,iTunes Resources, iTunes Help Resources, iTunes Mini Player Resources and Mozilla Plugins all dated 24/03/14 ( when I downloaded the new iTunes) and then a lot of application extension stuff from 2011
To recap I unistalled the old 32 bit iTunes and installed the new 11.1.5 (64 bit) version over the weekend SO is any of the old stuff listed above required.
Outcome right now is that as previously I can only call up the Downloaded music not Podcats or CD copies.
Regards
David Pugh

Only part of my music library appears when syncing my iPhone 4

My iPhone 4 was restored by iTunes and now it will not allow me to properly and/or completely sync my phone with my iTunes. How do I solve this problem? Any help would be great as I only can play approx. 20 songs of my 2100 + library.

maybe you set it to sync custom or to sync a playlist
each ios device connected to itunes get their own sync settings
i sync iphone, ipod and ipad each sync different stuff so likely the same holds true for your old iphone and your new one

Accidental music library trash - what to do ?

Hey there,
Accidentally trashed part of iTunes music library.
I think I can use a utility to recover the files but that will have to wait.
What iTunes files should I back up so I can tell what has been lost ?
If I recover the files will it be possible to replace them back into the library so the playlists etc... are still good?
thanks,
t

The iTunes Library file and the .xml file are what iTunes uses to keep track of the data base.
The question - is how did you delete the files - from within iTunes or from the Finder?
If you deleted the tunes from within iTunes then iTunes has already update the data base and there is nothing you can do about the lost information from your data base. You can only add the tunes back to the library.
If you deleted the tunes via the Finder then you would have ! next to the tunes that iTunes cannot find. Once you recover the tunes and they are back in the same place as before then you would retain the info including the PL that the tunes are associated with.
MJ

How to copy only part of the music media folder and library to another Mac

Dear friends,
I run iTunes in Mac OS. The iTunes music media folder is now located in an external HD because it´s quite large (2T). The problem is that I´got a second Mac and I´d like to copy -in this second Mac, only part of my music using only its internal HD (300 Mb) . How can I do this copy while preserving art and play-lists?
Thanks in advance

tcynk00 wrote:
how I can transfer only selected pieces of music (all library will not fit anyway)
that's what playlists are for.
and how to maintain transfer process in future when I want to change the music on my nano.
add/delete track to/from the playlist you sync to your device.
JGG

How can I put part od the iTunes music library of iTunes music on an external drive in order to free up disk space?

How can I put part od the iTunes music library of iTunes music on an external drive in order to free up disk space?

see this
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
Peace, Clyde

How do I retrieve my music library after a complete computer crash. I have a backup on a flash drive and I can access my Itunes account but my play lists and music are gone.

How do you retrieve downloaded music and playlists after a complete computer crash. I can log into my Itunes account and make purchases but my music library is gone. I have an external backup on a flash drive but for some reason the music does not show up there either. It's like I have a brand new account and have to start all over. Itunes must have an archive I can access to get my music back, right?
Maya

Playlists should be part of your backup copy.
You can redownload some purchases in some countries:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

How do I stop iTunes from automatically importing songs I listen to from my external hard drive into the music library?

How do I stop iTunes from automatically importing songs I listen to from my external hard drive into the music library?

Mac OS X: Double-Clicking a File Opens the Wrong Application - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2291
-= Changing the application used to open all files of a certain kind (written with reference to OSX 10.4 but may not have changed) =-
1) In a Finder window highlight a file of the kind you want to change the application to open that kind of file.
2) While that file is highlighted, select File > Get Info or press command (apple or propeller icon) + i to get a file information window.
3) In the lower part of the info window there is an "open with" menu with a list of applications.
4) If your application is already in the box then it is the default application for opening that kind of file and you don't need to do anything more. Close the get info window.
5) If the application showing in the menu is not the one with which you wish to open the file then select a new application. If your application does not appear there then select the "other..." and track down the application (usually in the Applications folder at the main level of the computer).
6) If you wish to change all files of this type to open with this application in future, make sure the "change all" button is selected.
7) Close the get info window.

Added albums to iTunes, but they do not show up in the Music Library view.

I imported some albums and the albums do not show up in the Music Library view, however I created a playlist containing all songs added today and they show right up. Is there a fix for this?

They don't show up at all or they don't show up where you expect them to?
The iTunes Library is divided into a number of sources, Music, Podcasts, Books etc. Each file added ends up in just one of these sources depending on its *Media Kind* plus any playlists for which it has matching criteria.
Settings such as *Part of a Compilation, Sort Artist* or *Sort Album Artist* can make albums appear in an unexpected location within Music.
See http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/grouping.asp for more on organising things in iTunes.
tt2

How to move iTunes Music Library from an external HD to another?

Yesterday I tried to move all my music from an external HD to a new bigger one.
Well, I encountered various problems, the most important one is that the “iTunes Music Library” file messed up.
I transferred all files and both “iTunes Music Library.xml” and the “iTunes Library” file in the new HD. I have to say that I didn't know so much about those two files and I thought that it was enough to move them in the new location; I discovered that those files included the information about where the music is located (among other infos), so it still redirects to the older HD.
However, now I’m trying to recreate the previous situation on the older HD, and I’m trying to “rebuild” the iTunes Library (I have a back-up of the xml file, even if it is not the running one).
This operation is very important for me because about two years ago I used (for a long time )an earlier version of iTunes that had a bug: even if wrote all the tag infos on an a mp3, the “artist name” and “album name” tags didn’t remained. But I still can see all the informations through the iTunes browser (thanks to the iTunes Music Library DB). So, I cannot recreate it from zero. I absolutely need to export the existing “iTunes Music Library” to the new HD, or at least to use the existing “iTunes Music Library”, leaving it where it already is and moving only the “iTunes Music folder” (even if I don’t want to use two external HDs, the older one holding the existing “iTunes Music Library” e “iTunes Library” files and the newer one holding the “itunes Music” folder I moved!).
As far as you know how can I move safely “iTunes Music Library” e “iTunes Library” files on the new HD applying them to the new “iTunes Music” folder??
I really need your help!
This article http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307074 didn’t help.
Stefano

Sorry, I wasn't responding to you, just the original poster. I didn't look at the date on that posting and didn't realize that you'd added a post that wasn't quite the same problem. In future, you'll find you get better answers if you start your own thread. You're issue really is a bit more complicated.
If iTunes currently recognizes all the music on both internal and the external drives, it should work. You have to make sure that both drives (old and new) are mounted. Make sure you have both "Keep iTunes music organized" (you probably already do) and "Copy files to iTunes..." (you probably don't) checked.
If not all of the music is currently in your iTunes library, perform the procedure with the music that is a part of the library and add the other stuff afterwards.
Best of luck.

Can I split my itunes music library between and internal and external hard drive?

Is it possible to have music on the two different drives and still be able to make playlists from both drives to put on my ipod? Here's my situation: I'm using a Dell 32 bit computer running Vista Home Premium SP2 which I share with other users. I have a large itunes library (40g+ of music only) that's starting to hog the hard disk space from other users. If possible, I would like to split off part of my itunes library to an external hard drive while still having access to the entire library for my ipod. Ideally I would like to have all my downloaded songs on both the internal and external drives so I'll have backups in case a drive fails, while putting all the music I have hard copies of solely on the external drive. Any help on how this can be done would be appreciated.

If you manually manage your itues library, you can store parts of it on an external drive, or on an internal drive. Just keep in mind that in iTunes that you must set a default location for iTunes to manage it's files, and that will be the default location for iTunes to store anything it downloads. You would need to manuay manage moving things from there if tht is not where you want them stored.
Perhaps a "better" solution would be for you to invest a little mone into 2 external drives. One to hold your entire iTunes library, and the second to be your off-line backup of the first. This is the method I have gone with and I like how it works for me. My entire iTunes library is on an external (portable) 320GB drive. Then, when iTunes is not running, I will clone my external drive onto a second drive I happen to have, this way if I have any failure of my primary drive, I lose at most about a weeks worth of content. For me, I purchase little content during a week, but I do move a fairly large volume of podcasts. With the entire library being on the external drive, if I ever have to swap to using my backup drive iTunes wil just think that it hasn't run and downloaded anything for a week, and all the "lost" content will be re-downloaded automatically. This won't work for apps or purchased content, but for subscribed podcasts, it is great.

I'm trying to use iTunes Remote to share my music library across my network to various devices; it works with some caveats; I thought I'd be able to see and play back to the device (iPhone or iPad) just like I can to my apple tv or airport. I can't..

My question is whether my IOS devices should appear on the Airplay device list in the Remote application... right now Apple TV, Airport Express, even my Samsung Note 3 appear as devices I can stream my iTunes library to... I can't seem to find a way to add the iPad or iPhone to that airplay list... I can use either the iPad or iPhone to direct playback to any of the listed devices... that works great... but, they don't seem to allow me to direct playback back to the device I am using as the remote. I'm trying to figure out if this is by intent or just not working right.
As a point of context, I am able to use my Samsung Note 3 to do exactly what I am trying to do with the iPad and iPhone... it works great.
And I understand that Apple intended me to use the Music app to play my shared library to my device... however, I have a BIG music library and when I ask the Music app to load up my shared library the little red circle gets about half full and hangs up... it never get there. The Remote app is great... I can see the whole library instantly and play any song I want to the listed Airplay devices... that part is sweet... but I can't (and maybe there is no way to) add my IOS devices to the airplay playback device list.
I've burned a lot of time trying to figure this out... any help, including somebody telling me that it just isn't supposed to work that way, would be appreciated.

You have to swipe in a left to right motion. If the airplay icon isn't showing up it's likely something within your network that is blocking it. You can also try rebooting devices and router.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5209
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4215

Archiving part of my music library

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for