How Do I Import Playlists From Tiger To Leopard?

Question

OK, I give up. The following falls under the category “It Doesn’t Have To Be This Hard.”
I purchased a new iMac and went with the 24 inch Intel 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo, 10.5.5. Sweet.
With my previous iMac (G5 Rev A., 10.3.9), I had Tiger 10.4.11 installed on an external HD and used it for my iTunes collection. All was well.
Now, with Leopard on the new iMac, I’m stumped as to how I can import the playlists from Tiger’s iTunes. I’ve imported the music and podcasts, etc. from Tiger but the playlists are empty. I have them listed but all except one have no music in them.
So, my questions (after performing a thorough review of the forums and entering every search term I could think of related to this issue) are these:
1. How do I import playlists from Tiger to Leopard so that I get music and playlists?
2. Where are the playlists stored? I cannot find them using a Spotlight search ( using Leopard), nor are they listed in the iTunes music files. So, where does Tiger and/or Leopard keep them?
3. At least one playlist made it from Tiger to Leopard. Why did the other playlists arrive but w/o music in them?
4. Is the problem I have described a common one? If so, why is there no easy fix for it. Or perhaps there is an easy fix but I’m too blind to see it.
Anyone with answers is encouraged to reply. I’ll sign off as “flyboy01” but in reality I’m “Stumped!”
Thanks in advance,
flyboy01

Answer 1

Just so you know, the difference in the version of the operating system has no bearing here as you would have experienced the same issue going from account to account on the same computer because you performed an incomplete iTunes transfer. As you inquired about where playlists are located, I will give you a complete break down of iTunes database structure as well as the proper technique for transferring your library.
_*INSIDE iTUNES*_
*iTunes Components: The Library and the Database Table*
The term library gets thrown around quite a bit when people discuss iTunes, but what you see in iTunes denoted as your libraries (e.g., music, podcasts, TV shows, etc.) is actually just a reference to your actual media library. iTunes is essentially a database package, just like your local public library’s computer-based card catalog system; the difference is that the content is electronic and owned by the user so you can also directly access the content through iTunes instead of having to go and (physically) retrieve it. Your actual library is the collection of media files you have stored on your computer. If you think of it in terms of the real world, your media files are the virtual equivalent of the books, periodicals, microforms, etc., in a real library and the folder or volume in which those media files are contained is the library.
While iTunes will allow you to add media to its library (iTunes library interface) from anywhere on any volume attached to your computer (e.g., branch libraries), iTunes generally expects your library to reside in a single folder (main library). In iTunes that folder is referred to as your iTunes Music folder and by default it is a folder named iTunes Music contained in your iTunes folder (~/Music/iTunes). The music folder can have any name and be located anywhere on any attached volume as long as you inform iTunes of where it is located by changing the iTunes Music folder location in the Advanced tab of iTunes’ preferences.
How you organize music within your music folder is unimportant, but iTunes must know the location of the (root) music folder in order to properly access the media files contained within that directory. The reason for that is because once you have defined a music folder location, or leave the default, that location is where iTunes will automatically place any new content that you add to iTunes’ library. Keeping the location of the music library straight is most important to iTunes users, such as myself, that keep their actual library on a separate volume from the system volume where the iTunes folder is located.
When iTunes uses the term library, it is actually referring to its database table file. Properly designed databases, particularly those that are scalable and that allow records (database entries) to be found or visually organized via multiple keys (metadata), as iTunes does, consist of two basic parts: the database, or source data (records), and the index table(s). In iTunes your media files are the records. Along with the actual media content, those files also contain a number of tags that provide a range of information about that particular media file (e.g., artist, song title, movie title, album, year, etc.).
The database table is the iTunes Library file located in your iTunes folder. That file is actually what iTunes references the vast majority of the time when you are browsing your collection. The table contains metadata about all of the media files in your library and it is that metadata that is displayed in iTunes when you browse your library. When you play content or edit tags, then iTunes directly accesses the files in your library. The table also contains your playlists and playlist folders, so that is the reason that Spotlight would seem to not find them on your computer’s hard drive; Spotlight most likely did list ‘iTunes Music Library.xml’, as that file is an XML version of iTunes database table.
If you copy the iTunes Music Library.xml file to the desktop on your old computer and open it, you will see the basic structure of the table. The first group of entries are the definitions of your media files—the code between the <dict> and </dict> tags—and contain the metadata that is displayed in iTunes and by which you can search and group music in iTunes various views. The definitions also contain metadata defining the location of the media file, if the track is enabled (checked) or disabled (un-checked), the (iTunes) track ID, etc.
If you scroll toward the end of the XML file, you will see the definitions of your playlists and playlist folders as well as some occasional data blocks that look like gibberish. The latter is the text representation of the binary code that defines the criteria for smart playlists. On thing that you will notice about the playlist definitions is that they do not contain detailed track info or metadata for the songs contained within the playlist(s). iTunes is a relational database, so the playlists do not contain any actual data, but instead a list of indices (pointers), the Track IDs, to the definitions for each track you have in your playlists. The definitions listed in the first part of the XML file also contain only a subset of the tracks ID3 tags. The definitions only require metadata for information that is relevant to permitting you to browse and organize your library in iTunes’ interface. In the track definition, the Location metadata is an index and points to the actual media file where the complete set of ID3 tags, as well as the actual media content, reside.
While your media resides in your music folder, the library structure you create in iTunes is actually a simple, albeit long, table stored in a separate file. Another component of iTunes is the artwork database kept in the Album Artwork folder. The Album Artwork folder contains a complex folder tree structure with proprietary .itc files at the leaves. I do not know what the exact structure of the .itc files is, but they play a role in storing image info for the various graphic-based views in iTunes (e.g., CoverFlow). Also, any songs you purchase from the iTunes Store will have the cover art stored in the Album Artwork folder; images that you add manually are stored in the actual media files.
*Transferring Your Library to a New Computer*
Now you see that there is more to iTunes than just your media files. Thus, if you want the playlists that you spent time building to migrate with your music collection simply copying the music folder to the new computer is not going to result in what you want: a complete transfer of the library you dedicated time and energy into organizing. When you transfer music files to a new computer iTunes builds a new library around that content and the only playlists that will be present are the defaults tha come with iTunes; your user-defined playlists will not appear on the new computer if you have not transferred the database table.
In order to successfully transfer iTunes to a new computer you need to move your library and everything that was built around that library. To perform a complete library transfer you need to follow this procedure:
1. *Consolidate your library* If you know for a fact that all of you media files are contained within a single root directory (e.g., iTunes Music), then this step is not necessary. If you do not have the preference to “Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library” enabled, then there is a good chance that you will have orphaned media files and should consolidate your library just in case. To perform library consolidation go to Advanced > Consolidate Library (iTunes 7.x) or File > Library > Consolidate Library (iTunes 8).
2. *Transfer your database* Replace the default iTunes folder on your new Mac with the iTunes folder from your old Mac by transferring the entire folder. When asked if you wish to replace the existing iTunes, do so.
3. *Get the media library* If you keep your music in the default iTunes Music folder contained in the iTunes folder, then you have already performed this step. If not, transfer your music folder from you old Mac to wherever you wish for it to reside on your new Mac.
4. *Set up iTunes* Unless you already started modifying preferences in iTunes on the new Mac, when you launch iTunes you should see your music library just as you did on your old Mac.
a. If your library is in the default location, ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes music folder, iTunes will begin rebuilding your library after it launches. Once that process is completed, you should see your library with playlists and folders intact.
b. If your library is in an alternate location, you will see an empty library, but you should see your playlists and folders, albeit filled with broken links. Go to the Advanced tab in iTunes’ preferences and change the location of the iTunes Music folder to the location of your transferred music library. iTunes will begin rebuilding your library from the alternate folder. Once that process is completed your library should be just as it was on your old Mac.
5. *Keep your library consolidated* To insure that any new media that you add to iTunes stays with your main library when you add content to iTunes make sure the “Copy files” preference is enabled. If the “Copy files” preference is disabled then any content that does not come from the iTunes Store or ripped CDs that you add to your iTunes library will remain in the location where the content was originally placed.
Hopefully this helps you better understand how iTunes works and why simply transferring your media files results in a loss of your library’s structure.