Copying ONLY the mp3 songs, not everything else

I have downloaded all my CDs to a 300G drive in AIFF format. I then converted all the songs into mp3 to download them to smaller-capacity devices. As expected, all the mp3's are right next to their .aif counterparts. However, I can't find a way to move ONLY the mp3s (while retaining the directory structure) to a new location. I can't copy the entire disk because it's too big--I just want to copy the MP3s.
If there's a solution to this, also please advise how I can get iTunes to build a new "library" db from the songs from that new target location.
dan
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)
G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Your suggestion is much better than my solution.
However, here's the problem I'm at now:
I copied all but the aif files from the hard drive to the local drive, which included the Library (and library.xml) files. I also reset the location of the iTunes folder (in the preferences dialog) to the new location that has just the mp3 files. However, when I bring up iTunes now, it still lists two copies of all my songs--the mp3 AND the aif--even though only the mp3's are there.
I tried removing the library binary data file and the xml data file, but it had no effect on the above--both aif and mp3 files are still listed. (The doc clearly says that removing these files will cause iTunes to build a new one when it starts up again... but it apparently didn't. How can I force it to?)
The list of songs has a "!" character in the first column for all the aif songs, which presumably means that it couldn't find the actual file associated with it. (This makes sense because the aif files are on the external drive, which is no longer connected.)
NOTE that there is nothing in the doc about what the "!" means.
The real confusing part is that if I play the AIF version of the file in iTunes, the song plays anyway! Where'd it find it? It's nowhere on my system at all, so what's up? Is it playing the mp3 file anyway? (If so, why doesn't the user interface tell me this?) Odder still: when I play the aif version of a song, the "!" character goes away--and yes, both versions of the song are still listed in the iTunes window.
So many questions in this posting.. perhaps someone can bring it all together for me.

Similar Messages

HT1386 i've already synced my itunes on my laptop with my iphone but it's not synching all of the albums/songs. Everything was purchase through itunes so i'm not sure what the issue is.

i've already synced my itunes on my laptop with my iphone but it's not synching all of the albums/songs. Everything was purchase through itunes so i'm not sure what the issue is.

What settings do you have in iTunes? Is it set to sync all music, it is set to sync only checked songs? Is there anything different about the songs that it is not syncing. Is it possible they were they purchased with a different Apple ID?

I received error message that 6 of my songs I purchased on a workout album could not be copied because the file could not be converted. How do I get these 6 songs to download on my ipod shuffle?

I received error message that 6 of my songs that I purchased on a workout album could not be copied because the file could not be converted.
How do I get these 6 songs downloaded to my ipod shuffle?

I can think of only one reason a song would be "converted" while it is being loaded on a shuffle.
Select the iPod in the iTunes sidebar, under DEVICES. Over to the right, depending on iPod model, go to the Summary or Settings tab. There should be a setting there that says Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC (the 128 kbps part may be adjustable). If that checkbox is checked, try unchecking it.
NOTE: This setting may allow more songs to fit on the shuffle, but for any converted song, the sound quality will become inferior. So I don't use it.

I have more than one copy of the same song in my iTunes. Some have the icloud symbol next to them and some do not. I need to clean this up but I am afraid to delete the songs for fear I will lose them.

I have more than one copy of the same song in my iTunes. Some have the icloud symbol next to them and some do not. I need to clean this up but I am afraid to delete the songs for fear I will lose them. Please help! On top of that my Mac keeps telling me my start up disc is full and I am deleting stuff like crazy!

Welcome to the  Discussion Forums
It won't be a problem if you delete your extra copies.
I don't download very much to my tv, I do sometimes if I'm in bed but usually I do it from itunes. However if you have not fully downloaded something to the tv it is possible to start the download from itunes as well, you have likely activated 'check for downloads fin itunes in some way, could be by opening itunes, selecting 'check or downloads' from the advanced menu or that you simply have automatically check for downloads set in your prefs and it has checked coincidentally.

Is there a way to see on my iPhone my entire library (more than 2.000 CDs) without having all the files stored? I've noticed that, for mistake, I had some songs of my library in grey (the mp3 was not working)

Is there a way to see on my iPhone my entire library (more than 2.000 CDs) without having all the files stored? I've noticed that, for mistake, I had some songs of my library in grey (the mp3 was not working)

Is there a way to see on my iPhone my entire library (more than 2.000 CDs) without having all the files stored? I've noticed that, for mistake, I had some songs of my library in grey (the mp3 was not working)

HT204150 My Contact from ICloud imports only the name but not every thing else. But that only happens with my own card

My Contact from ICloud imports only the name but not every thing else if I want to import it to Contact on my Mac. But that only happens with my own card.
Before, my V-Card in Contacts on my Mac was ok, but now it disappeared. When I try to import it from ICloud only my name appears.
Can anyone help me? Thanks

The backup of your iPod Touch would include your camera roll photos. Restoring the backup to another iPod Touch or iPhone would recover them. Photos will not be restored by restoring the backup to an iPad.
Note: Apple deletes iCloud backups after 180 days of inactivity so be sure to do this before then.

Purchased a song from iTunes, i tried to transfer it to my itouch, but i received an error "iTunes could not copy because the file could not be converted". how do i convert the song (well, i thought it will automatically be converted)?

purchased a song from iTunes, i tried to transfer it to my itouch, but i received an error "iTunes could not copy because the file could not be converted". how do i convert the song (well, i thought it will automatically be converted)?

Problem Fixed:
Remove the song from your itunes library, then go to the itunes store and try to download it again. It will say something like "this song has already been purchased, would you like to download it again for free?". Click yes, and it will download again. This worked for me, hope it helped

I watched a video on my iphone, and it worked fine. I wanted to watch it on our MacBook for sound and clarity, and every time I accessed it, it locked up. To the point that the only solution was holding down the power button. Everything else worked, and

I watched a video on my iphone, and it worked fine.
I wanted to watch it on our MacBook for sound and clarity, and every time I accessed it, it locked up. To the point that the only solution was holding down the power button.
Everything else worked, and I could freely enter information and open other Facebook entries, but when hitting the "play" button or clicking on the video it immediately bought up the spinning beach ball, and would never clear. Any solutions?

Did you try viewing the video in a different browser? Firefox or Chrome maybe?

I want to copy only the email address from Mail, not the name and email

When I get an email I want to be able to copy ONLY the email address and NOT the name.
Before I would click on an email, click on the email address and paste the email address to a list.
Now I do that and I get the name AND the email address, which makes me edit out the name every time. UGH.
Mavericks 10.9.5

did not make a difference. If I copy from the email (that has a name & email) and paste to text file (Bbedit) the name and email still show. I do not want the name, just the email.

Itunes imports cd; but they are all small files, and incomplete. Itunes plays neither the cd nor the imported songs. Anyone else faced this issue?

itunes imports cd; but they are all small files, and incomplete. Itunes plays neither the cd nor the imported songs. Anyone else faced this issue?

i've had this happen when the cd is extremely dirty. usually only one or two tracks though, not a whole cd.

Home sharing problem - "copy of the file could not be found"

Hi all - I just tried to load about 2700 songs via home sharing from my old laptop to my current one. At the end of the import, it showed that about 1200 songs did not import because "a copy of the file could not be found", something like that. To give some context, I quickly scrolled through the songs that would not import, and all the ones I saw were songs I grabbed off of file sharing networks when i was in college years ago. Thanks for any support - Dan
PS Both are windows OS, the new computer using windows 7 and the old one maybe xp or something.

Normally the cause of this is misplaced or missing files. The iTunes library displayed in iTunes is based on information stored in its library file. One piece of this information is where the actual music file for each song is stored on your system. If the actual music file (*.mp3, *.mp4, etc.) has been moved or deleted manually then iTunes can't find the actual file that contains the music. In iTunes select Get info for these files and see where iTunes thinks they are stored. If the files aren't in that location then that's your problem. If the files have been moved then consolidating your iTunes library may be a good solution. You should read iTunes help on that operation. If the files have been deleted then they are gone and you can delete the song from iTunes. That won't get your music back but it will tidy up your iTunes library.

Export QT slideshow and only the first song plays.

I did not have this problem with the previous version. All songs are from a playlist and are not purchased on iTunes. The slide show plays fine in iPhoto and then when exported only the first song plays in the QT version and after it silence. Can anyone help with this?

Hi Dave,
This seems to be a new bug introduced after one of the updates.
Only one song exporting with Slideshows
Right now, this seems to be a know problem/bug. There have been some work-arounds. Don't know if the problem is with iPhoto, Quicktime or a combo of both.
-From Bob Worthington: re-ripping the cuts I wanted as background music for the DVD as a single cut in iTunes. I then made a playlist containing the one extended cut of music.
-Old Toad: share to Quicktime from iPhoto and then import the resulting movie into iMovie you can extract and delete the audio from the video and add the two songs to the video and save.
Quicktime Pro-open the movie and bring up the Movie Properties menu window. In the top window select the audio track and delete it.
If you want more than one song you'll have to join them together with iMovie or some other application. Then open that joined file with QT Player. Then do a select all and copy. Now go to the QT window of the movie and select the Edit->Add to Movie menu option. You don't want to scale it because it will change the play speed of the audio unless it's time is exactly the same as the movie.
You could go the other way, open the movie, select all and copy, and then past with scaling to the audio. That will change the speed of the movie and transitions to fit the audio track. In this case the resulting video file will have the name of the audio track file that you started with.
You may have to play with it a bit to get exactly what you want. Be sure to work with copies of all the media files for the project.
-Peter Burtwistle: I opened the Qt movie that iPhoto makes when you export to iDVD and removed the sound track.
Then made a new soundtrack by opening all three songs in QT, then cutting and pasting them together.
Finally use QT Pro's 'Add to Movie" option to add the soundtrack to the original movie.
This worked well and was fast to do too.
-Joe Lombardo: I ended up having to extend the songs by 20 seconds so I brought them all into GarageBand and made some edits. Then I exported them all to iTunes as a single track and used that for the slideshow
Lori

I have transferd music from my ipod to my new computer and some of the files are not coming over, i have noticed the m4a files come across but the mp3 do not, any ideas how i can resolve this? thanks

I have just bought a new computer and i am transfering my music from my ipod onto my new computer, I have put the files from the music option from my ipod onto my computer. alot of the songs have come across, however there is alot of songs that havent. I have noticed that the m4a files come across but the mp3 does not. the new computer has windows 8 on it, which is very new to me. when i try and play the mp3 files, it will open them up in a different programme and will not open in itunes. does anyone know what i can do?!?!!?!?!
THANKS

Have you looked at the previous discussions listed on the right side of this page under the heading "More Like This"?
BTW this is the iPod touch forum

I have a 3rd gen iPod touch and I downloaded the most recent itunes, ever since I did, only the first song syncs to the ipod. As soon as it gets to the second, it xtill says its syncing. However, nothing happens. How do I fix this?

I have a 3rd gen iPod touch and I downloaded the most recent itunes, ever since I did, only the first song syncs to the ipod. As soon as it gets to the second, it still says its syncing. However, nothing happens. How do I fix this? I have restored and updated the ipod. I have the new iTunes. I have restarted my computer checked the connection and everything.

Try:
- Reset the iOS device. Nothing will be lost
Reset iOS device: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Unsync all music and resync
- Reset all settings
Go to Settings > General > Reset and tap Reset All Settings.
All your preferences and settings are reset. Information (such as contacts and calendars) and media (such as songs and videos) aren’t affected.
- Restore from backup. See:
iOS: How to back up
- Restore to factory settings/new iOS device.

My PC Windows 7 harddrive crashed. I have a new harddrive. But i lost all my CD's that i had burned onto iTunes. They are all still on my iPhone 4s, but when i sync, only the purchased songs will import. Is there anyway to retrieve them

My PC Windows 7 hard drive crashed. I have a new hard drive. But i lost all my CD's that i had burned onto iTunes. They are all still on my iPhone 4s, but when i sync, only the purchased songs will import. Is there anyway to retrieve them? Thanks!

Restore your library from your most recent backup (you do keep regular backups, I hope). If the hard drive is in any way salvageable it may be possible to mount it in an external enclosure, connect it to your PC, and retrieve data from it even if it is not functioning as a primary OS drive (if you don't have the kit necessary to do this, your local PC repair shop may be able to help). Failing that, you can always recreate your library by re-importing your CDs.

Copying ONLY the mp3 songs, not everything else

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for