Can I download my entire iTunes Match library to a new computer?

My iTunes library is a mess in short.  It's been switched back and forth over the years from mac to pc and is now currently sitting on an external drive.  I've clearly done a terrible job of this because I now see a different collection of music/videos/tv shows dependant on whichever device I use (currently PC/Macbook/iPad/iPhone).  The upshot is, I want to phase out my PC completely, have my Macbook as my primary device and have a backup of my iTunes library on the external drive once I've been able to format it accordingly (currently NTFS).
Would I be correct in assuming I can use iTunes Match to achieve this, with the added facility of being able to stream my whole collection from any other device as well?

My iTunes library is a mess in short.  It's been switched back and forth over the years from mac to pc and is now currently sitting on an external drive.  I've clearly done a terrible job of this because I now see a different collection of music/videos/tv shows dependant on whichever device I use (currently PC/Macbook/iPad/iPhone).  The upshot is, I want to phase out my PC completely, have my Macbook as my primary device and have a backup of my iTunes library on the external drive once I've been able to format it accordingly (currently NTFS).
Would I be correct in assuming I can use iTunes Match to achieve this, with the added facility of being able to stream my whole collection from any other device as well?

Similar Messages

  • Need guidance - replace entire iTunes Match library with new library

    Been using iTunes as my music manager/player since 2003. Currently have about 5,000 songs which are a mix of selective CD song rips, iTunes purchases and Amazon Mp3 downloads. Lots of missing artwork, incomplete albums, wrong genres, etc. I use iTunes Match to sync across multiple Macs and iOS devices, including 3 Apple TVs. It all works OK, but I recently undertook a major project to re-rip all of my CDs/Box Sets in their entirety – about 20,000 tracks. I performed the new rips on a Mac Mini running Windows 7 in BootCamp using Roxio Creator to get a 'universal' Mp3 (256kbs) format and keep everything separate and apart from my current iTunes/Match libraries. Total library size came out around 80-85GB, saved on an external USB HDD.
    Recently had my iMac 1TB HDD replaced under Apple’s recall program and looked at it as an opportunity to totally rebuild my iTunes library from scratch using the new, complete album rips. I’ve loaded the new 80GB library onto the iMac and am currently using TuneUp Media to ‘clean up’ metadata and album artwork on the new library. I've turned off iTunes Match to isolate the iMac during this stage of the process.
    When cleanup is complete, I would like to totally replace my current iTunes Match library with the new larger library. I think the songs will sync OK, but I’ve put a lot if effort into cleaning up the album artwork and am afraid that, if I don't take some precautions, iTunes Match will overrule and mess up my new artwork when I activate it.
    My plan is to
    From the iMac, first copy (or should I export) the entire rebuilt library to an external drive as a backup, hopefully preserving all of the artwork and metadata corrections in the process (true?).
    On my MacBook Pro, copy my current Match library to a different external drive to ensure preservation of any unique tracks I may have missed in building the new library. Then delete the entire library – both local and Cloud. I should then have an empty iTunes Match library, correct?
    Then, on my iMac, activate iTunes Match and let it upload/match all the new songs/data to create a new Cloud library with all the new albums, descriptors and artwork.
    Do I need to individually deactivate Match and delete local libraries on all my other devices also, or does the total Cloud library delete I perform on my MacBook Pro then transfer to all my other registered iOS and OSX devices that have Match activated?

    Thanks bmw249. I have good news and bad news. Good news: Apple very quickly deauthorized my computers so I was able to drop the lost computer that was taking up a slot and (I suspected) confusing iTunes Match.
    The bad news is that this didn't make any difference. Nearly all the songs in my iTunes library have an iCloud status of "error" and when I turn on iTunes Match, it churns for a while before telling me that I already have 25,000 songs in the cloud and can't add any more. What I expected is for it to recognize that most of the 25K songs are the very same ones sitting in this local iTunes library. It should be substantially fewer than 25K because I also deleted 1000+ classical music pieces that I have sitting in Amazon Cloud, in hopes of freeing up space for my recently purchased and created music to be uploaded to iCloud. But no dice.
    I am now downloading ~800 songs that iTunes thinks I have only on iCloud. I then plan to figure out how to deactivate iCloud and iTunes Match on this PC so that nothing will be deleted locally when I cancel my iCloud account (it runs out in March 2013 but I assume I can cancel and deactivate the account sooner). The "convenience" of this service isn't worth the many dozens of hours of hours I have spent trying to get it to work the way Apple says it works. Amazon Cloud (also costing ~$25 a year) has a limit of something like 20 GB and no specific limit on number of songs. I buy most music there anyway and have already uploaded most of the rest, so this makes the most sense. I really like the way iTunes Match can (in theory) keep all my music sync'd and smoothly stream to my iPhone even over 3G. Amazon Cloud takes a bit more effort but does much the same thing.
    Thanks for listening. I'm assuming this is a "moderated" forum and that this post will soon be removed for my Amazon comments. 

  • Hello, my iTunes dates are crashed on my mac, how can I download all my itunes match songs and save on my mac?

    Hello, my iTunes dates are crashed on my mac, how can I download all my itunes match songs and save on my mac?

    Hi mrmoo13!
    You have a couple of options for transferring your music library from one computer to another. First, you can download all of your music that is stored in the cloud on iTunes Match by following the instructions on this page:
    iTunes 11 for Mac: Access all your music anytime, anywhere with iTunes Match
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12284
    You can follow steps listed in the section right here:
    Play or download songs from iCloud
    You can play songs directly from iCloud, or you can download songs so you can play them when you’re not connected to the Internet.
    If a song is available in iCloud, it has a Download button next to it.
    To play the song, double-click it.
    To download the song, click the Download button.
    After you download a song to a computer, it remains in the computer’s iTunes library, even if you turn off iTunes Match.
    To only display downloaded songs in your iTunes library, choose View > Hide Music in the Cloud. This also hides any previous iTunes Store purchases you haven’t downloaded.
    For information about downloading and playing songs on an iOS device, see the documentation for the device.
    In order to make it easier to download all of your music, you can highlight all of the songs in your iTunes Match section and then click download, as mentioned in these instructions.
    You can also choose to transfer the music from your old computer to the new one by following the steps in this article, whcih will give you some other options for doing this transfer:
    iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4527
    Take care, and thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.
    -Braden

  • Error can t Download the Music iTunes Match

    Error can t Download the Music iTunes Match

    Is it giving you a specific error number? And what kind of network connection do you have?
    One thing you might try is a reset: Simultaneously hold down the Home and On buttons until the iPad shuts down. Ignore the off slider if it appears. Once shut down is complete, if it doesn't restart on it own, turn the iPad back on using the On button. In some cases it also helps to double click the Home button and close all apps from the tray before doing the reset. Not sure it would help, but it will not hurt.

  • HT4914 can you download songs from itunes match from the cloud to your iPhone ie for times when you dont have internet connection

    can you download songs from itunes match from the cloud to your iPhone ie for times when you dont have internet connection?

    Unless you have an Internet connection you cannot access iCloud. You can download your music from iCloud to store permanently on your iPhone, but only when you have an Internet connection to do so.

  • How do I download my existing itunes music library to my new iphone 4S

    How do I download my existing itunes music library to my new iphone 4S?

    Open itunes, connect iphone, select what you want to sync, sync.
    iPhone User Guide (For iOS 5.1 Software)

  • How do I transfer my itunes music library to my new computer

    How do I transfer my itunes music library to my new computer (not a mac owner)?

    These are two possible approaches that will normally work to move an existing library to a new computer.
    Method 1
    Backup the library with this User Tip.
    Deauthorize the old computer if you no longer want to access protected content on it.
    Restore the backup to your new computer using the same tool used to back it up.
    Keep your backup up-to-date in future.
    Method 2
    Connect the two computers to the same network. Share your <User's Music> folder from the old computer and copy the entire iTunes library folder into the <User's Music> folder on the new one. Again, deauthorize the old computer if no longer required.
    Both methods should give the new computer a working clone of the library that was on the old one. As far as iTunes is concerned this is still the "home" library for your devices so you shouldn't have any issues with iTunes wanting to erase and reload.
    I'd recommend method 1 since it establishes an ongoing backup for your library.
    If you have an iOS device that syncs with contact & calendar data on your computer you should migrate this information too. If that isn't possible create a dummy entry of each type in your new profile and iTunes should offer to merge the existing data from the device into the computer, otherwise the danger is that it will wipe the information from the device.
    If your media folder has been split out from the main iTunes folder you may need to do some preparatory work to make it easier to move. See make a split library portable.
    Should you be in the unfortunate position where you are no longer able to access your original library, or a backup of it, then see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device for advice on how to set up your devices with a new library with the maximum preservation of data.
    tt2

  • Download entire itunes match library?

    I am unable to download my entire itunes library from iTunes Match. How is it done? I have the latest iTunes on 10.8.
    I enabled iTunes Match and let it upload my entire library. This worked fine.
    About a week later the external hard drive that I store my itunes library on died, as did the hard drive where I keep my backups.
    I bought a new external hard drive and set up iTunes to use that by creating a new library on it.
    I then signed into iTunes and then into iTunes Match.
    I then looked at the iTunes match option and shift-clicked all the files with the cloud icon.
    I then right-clicked the cloud icon and chose Download.
    iTunes subsequently downloaded about half my library before iTunes crashed. I subsequently lost internet for about a week, and now that I have it back I want to download the rest of my library.
    I launched iTunes today and it told me that an iTunes Match problem has occurred and that I need to sign out and then sign back in.
    I have signed out, and signed back in. After doing so, iTunes required me to set up iTunes Match again, so I clicked the button that enables iTunes Match.
    iTunes subsequently has scanned my library and matched the songs to apple and found that all the songs in my current computer are all up there on Match. It seems to believe that it's work is done.
    However, I do not see the files that are already on Match but not on my computer. I can not download these files to this computer. They show up fine on my iPad and my AppleTV.
    Hence my question: How can I get iTunes Match to download my entire library that is stored online?

    Highlight all the tracks you want to download, right-click and choose "download." However, if you have a backup on an external HDD that will be a much better way to transfer your music to a new computer.

  • I have 3 computers with 3 different iTunes libraries can I download all to itunes match and have one library?

    I have 3 computers with 3 different iTunes libraries, can i set up iTunes Match download each library and have all of my music in one place in the cloud?

    Yes.  By enabling iTunes Match on each computer, each library will be scanned and the Songs will be Matched or Uploaded to the cloud.
    Do look carefully at the User Tips area of this forum to help you with the neatest route to success.

  • Delete entire itunes match library

    I have a maxed out the itunes match icloud storage limits.....many, many songs are truncated at the end of songs when syned to ipods and iphones.
    Based upon reading other posts, I seemingly need to remove my entire library and re-match to the cloud.  How can this be done simply ?  I'm nervous about possibly deleting my entire library on the NAS drive I have.
    GMB

    I think the easiest way to do this is to create a new, empty library and delete the tracks from there.
    1. Launch iTunes while holding down the Option key and choose "new library."
    2. Enable iTunes Match on this library and let it do it's thing.
    Once it is done you can delete the tracks from the cloud but not worry about deleting the actual files. You will probably be able to only delete about 1000 tracks at a time, but keep updating iTunes Match and this will accomplish what you want to do.
    After this is finished you can then switch back to your original iTunes library and add albums or artists at your leisure.

  • How can i download songs from iTunes match to my iPhone and Mac- so i can listen to music without wifi/3G?

         I am constantly having issues with my itunes... trying to improve my music organization, and just making it worse. I just got itunes match and i like it so far, but I know that as soon as I am out of wifi/cellular conection, I won't be able to listen to my music. How can I download the music to my device, so I don't have to rely on a wireless connection. (I do lots of traveling.) This is concerning my Mac but more importantly my IPhone 5C.

    On the iPhone tap the download button next to a song to download it. Or while viewing an Album or Playlist tap "download all."

  • How can I download songs from iTunes match to my iMac

    How can I down load my music from iTunes match and play it on my iMac without having g3 or wifi?

    Hi tkattan,
    iTunes Match is ran strictly off of Wi-Fi or a Cellular connection. Devices with iTunes Match turned off can have both the computer and device without any connection to the internet to download music via USB. However, iTunes Match is ran off of iCloud—a Wi-Fi/Cellular based product.
    If you would like to download a song on your device connected to the internet:
    Make sure your device is connected to Wi-Fi or a Cellular Network.
    Make sure your device is running iOS 5.0 or higher (only iDevices can run iTunes Match).
    Go to "Music" and you will see music able to be downloaded from the cloud. (If you do not see your music, make sure you have General > Music > Show All Music "ON".)
    Click the cloud symbol next to the songs you would like to stream them on your phone and without a Wi-Fi/Cellular connection.
    Hope this helps!
    - Ronni

  • Can't download files from itunes match

    i have files in the genre audiobook. these are not present on my machine due to a drive failure. they say they are available in icloud. the entire row is greyed out in itunes, but has the cloud icon. clicking the cloud icon in itunes does nothing. hitting play does nothing. there are no messages, warnings, or other reasons being shown.

    Generally speaking audiobooks are not supported by iTunes Match, so I'm not sure just what you're seeing. From your description it sounds like the tracks were incompletely processed and are not really in the cloud so you'll need to find the the "tracks" in the iTunes library and delete them from the cloud.

  • Can't download songs from itunes match

    Hi,
    I have activated itunes match and since then all my problems started.
    I have purchased the 2nd law from itunes and am trying to download the album to my iphone. Somehow only 3 songs have downloaded and have ben trying over and over to download the remaining ones. When i try the normal way clicking the download icon next to the album, the download signs appear next to the songs but they remain empty as if nothing is happening and it slows down the whole iphone. Coincidently the remaining songs to download are uploaded not matched in the library in itunes.I have tried playing the songs but it doesn't seem to help. Anybody has any hints on how to sort this out?
    I might not be the biggest expert but i have to say that am a bit nostalgic of mobile me.

    did you find a solution to this? because i'm having the same problem.

  • Can't download songs from iTunes Match - have no rights

    iTunes Match works fine on all of my devices and on my iMac.
    On my MacBook Air however, I cannot download a song at all. It jumps from song to song without getting played. When I click on the download from iCloud button it shows me an exlamation mark infront of the title and when clicking on it it says:
    http://cl.ly/0d0U1w0G1U1i0N423c47
    What have I done wrong? I'd like to listen to my music on my MacBook Air, too.
    Please advice
    Thank you very much
    Artur

    did you find a solution to this? because i'm having the same problem.

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