Differentiating/Sharing Music Between Mac Accounts

Hey, all!
I am prepping to get a new Mac, and I have a deboccale that I'm trying to figure out.
My fiance and I will have separate accounts on the computer for iCloud and other purposes. However, I have an extensive library of music that I would like to share with her. I understand how to share my library through the preferences as far as keeping it from copying the files, but what happens if she wants to add a CD that I don't want?
This is sort of confusing, but here's my end goal: she can open her account, open her iTunes, and here, she'll be able to see the bands that I have that she's interested in. Then, when she gets a new album, she can add it to that same library without affecting my library or doing something weird with hers.
Any help would be appreciated!

Sorry, BackFromAfrica, but I'm not really knowledgeable in that area. I just tried to do it on my Mac by logging into my extra dummy account. I tried to direct the iTunes on the dummy account to my library, but the folder had a red dot on it and was not accessible.
If it can be done, there are definitely knowledgeable folks in the forum who can tell you how. I suggest you post back with that specific question. I fear that your question here in another thread may not get noticed. Or...you could search in the forum, if you haven't already, and see if you can find an answer.
Diane Wordsmith

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Sharing Music Between Users Accounts on a Single Computer

I know that you can listen to music belonging to another user account on the same computer (as long as that user remains logged in), however, is there a way to COPY (drag and drop) music from one user account to another user account (on the same computer) similar to how it is done between multiple computers with Home Sharing?

iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189

Sharing music between different accounts - is this how it works?

The way iTunes shares music between different users seems a bit poor.
I have two user accounts set up on the same PC, with music files accessed by each from the same folder (as described here: How To Share Music Between Different Accounts On A Single Computer).
My main issues are:
1) I have to manually add new music added by the other user instead of it just appearing in iTunes.
2) iTunes doesn't recognise if a music file is already in the joint library, so we end up with two copies of things (particularly tiresome for podcasts).
Am I doing something wrong - maybe there is an easy way around this?
... or do the people at Apple need to do a bit of work here?
Pentium 4 Windows XP

By default, any new file or folder created is set to be read+write for the creator, and read-only for everyone else. The file creator can grant write access to other users by changing the permissions on a folder and its contents, as Neil suggests. But you'll have to repeat that process every time a new file is added.
Fortunately, there is a way to automatically grant read+write access to all files created or copied to the folder. First go to System Preferences -> Accounts. Click the + button under the users list. Then, make a new group; calling it "sharegroup" or something similar. Add the users you want to the group.
Then put all the files you want to share into a commonly-accessible folder, such as a subfolder in /Users/Shared.
Then log in to an admin account and open Terminal. Paste in the following two lines:
sudo chmod -R +a "sharegroup allow delete,chown,list,search,add_file,\
addsubdirectory,delete_child,file_inherit,directoryinherit" \
Press return, then drag the folder into the Terminal window, and press return again. Enter admin password when prompted and press return. That should do it. Everything there now should be fully writable by all users in sharegroup. New files that are *created in* or *copied to* the folder will be the same way.
Files that you *move in* from a different location on the same hard drive won't be, though. So make sure you copy previously existing files into the sharefolder instead of moving them (hold down option key while dragging to copy) so that they get the custom permissions applied.

Sharing music between different accounts on a single computer

I have read the instructions here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 , but I'm still having a problem.
Scenario: Two Ipods, one PC (WinXP), one big music library, originally created and stored directly in C:\My Music, which is accessible to all users of the PC. From my non-admin account, I add folders and files to my itunes library, modify songs and artwork, no problem. Now my son has an iPod, and I would like to be able to share out portions of the C:\My Music library with him. It kind of works. He adds files and folders to his library, on his account, in his itunes. The music is there, but it is somehow protected. No artwork, in fact I get the "artwork is not modifiable" message. Nor can he modify any info in the songs. In a few cases, the artwork comes with the songs, but mostly not. In either case, no info in the songs are modifiable. Neither of our Windows XP user accounts are admin, but why does my account seem to "own" the songs? He's not going to be happy without any artwork in his library or on his ipod.
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iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189

Sharing music between diff accounts on 1 computer - what am i doing wrong?

Hi,
Can someone please help me out? I've just bought an iPod shuffle for my daughter and already have iTunes set up for myself using my own iPod (using Windows XP). Now I want to make all the music I've previously set up in iTunes available to her account.
So I followed the instructions in "How to share music between different accounts on a single computer" (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195) but when I log on to the other account and start up iTunes, I can't see the music I've copied over. Any ideas why?
I basically copied the "iTunes Music" folder to "C:Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Music\iTunes\ then opened iTunes on the other account and changed the location via the Edit menu, Preferences, Advanced, Change button. When I do this I can see the underlying folders of music, it just doesn't show up in the iTunes Music Library within iTunes. I've also tried copying the iTunes library files in desperation, but that made no difference.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Adam.

If you copied these files to her iTunes directory, you certainly should have seen music in her library when opening iTunes. I suspect that even if you copied these files, when you launched iTunes it was using a different copy of these. Where did you put them? By default, they would be in her ..\My Music\iTunes folder. You can put them anywhere you want, but you have to tell iTunes which one to open. Try this:
1- Re-copy your files to a known folder that is accessible from her account.
2- Log into her account, press and hold the Shift key while you start iTunes.
3- At the "Choose Library or Create Library" prompt, select "Choose Library".
4- Navigate to where you put the "iTunes Library.itl" file from step #1.
This forces her iTunes to use the specific iTunes Library.itl file and should now display the same library that you see in your own iTunes.

Sharing Music between User Accounts

Hello,
I've been trying to share a single itunes music folder between two accounts on the same computer. I've read dozens of threads on this topic in these forums, and still can't seem to get this to work.
Right now, I'm going back to basics and simply trying to put the iTunes music folder in a Public folder, which can be accessible by both user accounts. I've followed the instructions documented in the following article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195
When I do this, I have a problem with permissions. If I move or copy the music folder on one user account to a public folder - when I switch over to the other user account, and access that public folder, some of the individual music folders within the itunes music folder are accessible, and then on others, I am denied permission. There does not seem to be anything unique about the folders that I don't have permissions on, compared to those that I do.
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ML
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Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
I did a copy paste of the iTunes Music folder into a new iTunes Music folder under Users/Shared. When I switch over to the other user account, I get the same results. Some folders are accessible and some folders I have no access. It's strange as about 25% of the music folders are No Access, and the others are readable.
Any further thoughts? Thanks,
ML

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I have 2 accounts on my Windows XP Pro machine, both of which can see and utilise iTunes (though unfortunately, not at the same time - though this is another problem entirely). Both of these users iTunes accounts have been set so that they utilise the same 'shared' music folder. To do this, I have switched both users iTunes Music Folder Location to be:-
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Music\iTunes Music
I do not seem to be able to add music that already exist as mp3's to this folder using one account and then have them visible on the other users iTunes account. To do this I have to import the mp3's again for this User.
However, importing music from Audio cd's do not seem to suffer the same problem.
This surely can't be right. Has anyone got a workaround for this?
Additional info - I do not use the facility to copy imported tracks into the iTunes Music Folder - purely for space saving reasons, and do not want to use this functionality.
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If you copied these files to her iTunes directory, you certainly should have seen music in her library when opening iTunes. I suspect that even if you copied these files, when you launched iTunes it was using a different copy of these. Where did you put them? By default, they would be in her ..\My Music\iTunes folder. You can put them anywhere you want, but you have to tell iTunes which one to open. Try this:
1- Re-copy your files to a known folder that is accessible from her account.
2- Log into her account, press and hold the Shift key while you start iTunes.
3- At the "Choose Library or Create Library" prompt, select "Choose Library".
4- Navigate to where you put the "iTunes Library.itl" file from step #1.
This forces her iTunes to use the specific iTunes Library.itl file and should now display the same library that you see in your own iTunes.

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I tried to configure 2 windows users accounts using a single library per the instructions in HT1203. My iTunes library is on an external drive. I cannot get this to work. Any suggestions?

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.
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iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
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HT1203 i have tried this 6+ times to "How to share music between different accounts on a single computer" on my wifes mac and can not get it to work!! On my PC no problem but on the MAC it will not work, follow the instructions to the T but no go????

i have tried this 6+ times to "How to share music between different accounts on a single computer" on my wifes mac and can not get it to work!! On my PC no problem but on the MAC it will not work, follow the instructions to the T but no go????

It is almost as if the program does not exist on my computer. If I search for it, the only thing that comes up is the installer. I cannot find it anywhere despite the fact I have installed it numerous times, uninstalled it and conducted a fresh install, and the Adobe website checks says that it is installed.

How do I share music between two accounts on the same i-mac

How do I share music between two accounts on the same i-mac

iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189

Sharing Music between two Itunes accounts

I bought my father a nano for Xmas and want to load music from my I tunes account on his nano. But he has his own Itunes account. How can he keep the music I loaded and sync his own Itunes with his nano without deleteing songs? We both have PC with XP.

This article describes two methods:
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
If you want only one library, use the second method.
There are some disadvantages:
If one of the users deletes a song, the other can't play it no more.
If one user adds a song, the other has to add it to his/her library too.
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.3.9) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

Sharing music between two itunes libraries on same mac computer

Hi. We have one computer with two Itunes Libraries (when we click on Itunes we use the Option Key so that we can choose the appropriate Library).
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thanks
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iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
go to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203

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I am trying to share music on my Mac between two different iTunes accounts. Can this be done?

iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189

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Can you share music between iTunes accounts on the same computer? My kids iPods are under my account now with all of our shared music but they want their own iTunes accounts. I would like to transfer the music and apps that they purchased under my account to their new accounts... Is this posible?

Anton M wrote:
This really isnt good. there isnt even a .tmp file on my pc.
Did you enable the display of system files and hidden files and folders?
by the way, how can i stop this from happening another time.
Make a backup!
i had music there for over 6 years.
Well you must have updated iTunes once or twice in that time. Do you have some sort of "tidying" app that is supposed to clean "unnecessary" files. If so perhaps it is too aggressive.
tt2

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My wife and I have separate user accounts on the same MacBook Pro so that we can both sync our phones to this computer. My account is the primary user account, and my iTunes library is stored in this account. My wife would like to put music on her iPhone so she can run, but I can't seem to access the music library thru her account. I know the files are all on the hard drive regardless, so I just need to know how I can make iTunes on my wife's account access the library that's there. I've tried the steps I could find on Apple's website, but I can't seem to make it work. I'm running the latest versions of everything - even tho the post says I'm running 10.9.1, I'm actually running 10.9.4

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.
If you want to give full read/write access to more than one user, see the support article linked below.
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Differentiating/Sharing Music Between Mac Accounts

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