Feeling frustrated!! Help Needed - iTunes Match

Question

I've been a long term user of Apple software and hardware but am really struggling to get my head around the below.
I have an iMac that contains a fairly extensive iTunes library (12070 tracks), i also use iTunes Match to enable me to stream all 12070 tracks to my iPhone and iPad. This works like a dream, all tracks were successfully scanned and placed within the cloud and were accessible on my iPad and iPhone.
Here comes the interesting part....
My iTunes library was/is a complete mess, albums were under incorrect genres (based on my opinion), a couple of tracks within albums were missing, artwork was missing, titles were incorrect etc. I finally decided to take the plunge and update all 12070 tracks and albums so they were perfectly setup (correct genre, first letter of ever word was capitalised, art work was correct, etc), but realised this would take a long time especially as I'm rarely at home to update via my iMac. I decided it would be easier if I had access to my iTunes library and the ability to update it on the move so purchased a reasonably priced MacBook air For this reason. I setup the MacBook downloaded all tracks from the iTunes match cloud and started the painful task of updating. I'd update a hundred or so tracks at a time and then update iTunes match to ensure everything was saved. The new album names, artwork, track numbers etc all saved fine. When I closed the macbook down and rebooted the following day all changes and updates were saved, it worked brilliantly. The changes were visible almost instantly on my iPad and iPhone.
6000+ tracks into the update I decided to switch my iMac on to see whether these changes had taken effect on my iMac library. I launched iTunes on the iMac iTunes Match automatically started, upon completion. I noticed that non of the changes I'd made on the MacBook had synced to the iMac, in fact it had pulled the iMac infortmation (the unorganised thing) into the cloud and pushed that onto my MacBook, iPad and iPhone. This means that about a months wth of work and updates are wasted.
Could somebody pleeeeeaaase help!!! What is the best way for me to be able to organise my iTunes library on my MacBook and push is to all other devices inc my iMac.
Should I switch match off on my iMac, but I'm not sure how I'd get updates from my MacBook across?
Should I delete the library on my iMac, just update on the MacBook and then switch match on on the iMac so it pulls the correct info?
Ive heard f home sharing but am unsure whether this will work?
Bascially I just one one organised synced library across all devices and I want the ability to update via the MacBook and these updates to push across to everything else.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Answer 1

Hi,
The changes should filter through to all other computers. I often make changes on my other computer which only streams music from the cloud - these changes usually appear quickly on my main computer. I also have copy of my main library on an external drive - I open this regularly. Changes appear. However, the changes are not on the scale of those being made by you.
I suggest that the next time you open the original library on your iMac, don't let match scan your library. Have match turned on but if the automatic scan starts stop immediately - don't select update iTunes match. I believe that the changes you have made are lost because your iMac library has been scanned before the library has been updated.
Jim