How do I share iTunes music between different accounts on one Mac?

Good morning !
There are various users sharing our Mini. Can I set the Mini up so that we all can share the same music library ?

It works for "initial sharing" but the described solution includes some drawbacks;
- songs added under one account don't show "automatically" for other users
- if added there is a copy of the song-file (* 2.mp3)
- no "bulk" import withoud re-adding already present songs
Any workarounds for these problems known? 'caus I'm getting tired to keep the 3 iTune Libs of my girls in synch
AdvTHANKSance Chris

Similar Messages

I have one imac. my wife and i each have our own user accounts and itunes library. How do we share selected music between user accounts?

i have one imac. my wife and i each have our own user accounts and itunes library. How do we share selected music between user accounts?

To give other users read-only access to your 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.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer

How do I share iTunes music between two user accounts?

We have two (admin) user accounts on our iMac. My husband has downloaded tons of music from CDs to his iTunes library. How can I get some of his music to my iTunes library without having to re-download from CDs? If anyone can give me simple instructions it would be appreciated.
Thanks Jeanette.

Look at this article: iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203

How to share iTunes library between 2 accounts on 1 Mac

I want to share my library with my son on his account. Both accounts are on the same computer. What steps do I need to take to do this? Thank you in advance.

My wife and I share the same iTunes library on the same Mac but have separate user accounts.
To do this:
1. Make a folder called ‘Music’ in Users/Shared and move your iTunes library to this new folder.
2. Ctrl + click on the ‘Music’ folder and select ‘Get Info’.
3. Click on the padlock icon at the bottom of the ‘Get Info’ window and enter your password.
4. Set the permissions as follows:
Your user name (Me) = Read & Write
Wheel = Read & Write
Everyone = Read & Write
5. Click on the gear icon to the left of the padlock and choose ‘Apply to enclosed items’.
6. Click OK.
7. Close the ‘Get Info’ window.
8. Log into each user account and create an alias to the new shared iTunes library in their User/Home/Music folder (the default location for the iTunes library).
Note: If an iTunes library already exists in the users ‘Music’ folder you will need to delete this first and don’t forget to backup just in case something goes wrong.
Each account will now be able to access the same shared music library.
One final thing which usually catches people out. You will need to tell iTunes to ‘Keep iTunes Music folder organised’ and ‘Copy files to iTunes Music Folder when adding to library’.
To do this:
1. Open iTunes
2. From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences
3. Click Advanced
4. Select the ‘Keep iTunes Music folder organised’ option
5. Select the ‘Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library file’ option
6. Click OK
Note: This needs to be done in both user accounts.
The only slight down side of this method is that if I add any new music to the shared iTunes library in my account, my wife has access but she isn’t able to change the info (artist name, album, track number etc…) as I am the owner of that music (the files have standard permissions applied when added so I have Read & Write access but my wife has read only access). The same applies if my wife adds some music through her user account. This isn’t a problem for me as I’m the one who manages the library and adds music, my wife simply wants to be able to access it.
If you want to manually change the permissions so that both users can change info, simply navigate to the ‘iTunes Music’ folder which is located in Users/Shared/Music/iTunes/ and Change the permissions using the same method above, making sure you ‘Apply to enclosed items’.
This will need to be repeated each time any new music is added. If you want to know how to set things up so both users can change info on tracks without having to manually change permissions each time then this can be done, but it will require delving into ACL permissions.
Message was edited by: ChrisWad

Unable to share iTunes library between multiple users on one Mac

I've got an iMac (running Snow Leopard) and I'm trying to share a single iTunes library among three users (Admin, and two others), but I simply cannot get it to work. I have followed the instructions in this Apple KB article "to a tee", checked and doublechecked permissions (read/write for everyone) on the iTunes Music folder (moved to /Users/Shared), and it just won't take. The original library owner (Admin) can still access all music as normal, but no other user can. I've tried deleting everything from each users' ~/Music/iTunes folder and the iTunes plists, so I could start each user fresh, but NOTHING has worked. iTunes for the other users simply does not recognize any media. Like I said, I've followed all of the instructions in the KB article linked above.
Since that seems to be the "official" method that every other thread on this subject references, I'm looking for some troubleshooting tips to help me discover what exactly is wrong here.
Thanks in advance!

Chris, thanks for the reply. Are you telling me that I should move the iTunes folder itself, and not merely the iTunes Media folder, as instructed by the KB article? At this point, I'd be willing to try just about anything, but the KB article specifically states:
Important: Do not move the iTunes folder, the iTunes Library file or the iTunes Library.xml file.
As I stated above, I did exactly what the KB article said to, which is to move the iTunes Media folder (called iTunes Music on my iMac, since the library has been around since pre-iTunes 8 or so) to /Users/Shared, and then go into iTunes Prefs for each user, and under the advanced tab, choose the location of the library for each user. I know that this method does NOT share iTunes library (.itl or .xml, or the other associated files), and doing what you suggest would, but I'm curious if that would cause any problems.
And yes, like I said in the OP, I did check/change all file permissions on that folder appropriately.
Thanks again for the help! Please let me know if I'm reading your suggestion right!

How do I share iTunes library between different versions of iTunes

I have an old motorola powerPC based iMac which is running Mac OS 9. The latest iTunes version for the old Mac is 9.2. I also have various computers including an Intel Mac and other Windows PCs that run the latest iTunes version 10.6.3.
When I tried to share a playlist from iTunes 9.2, the other 10.6.3 iTunes do not see it.
When I shared a playlist from iTunes 10.6.3, the other 10.6.3 iTunes see it with no problem.
The iTunes 9.2 also see a shared playlist from the 10.6.3 iTunes showing up between the Store and Genius section on the left pane, but as soon as I click on it, it disappears after it made an attempt to open it.
Is there a way to make the cross version sharing work?
If not, is it possible to upgrade my iTunes to 10.6.3 on Mac OS 9?
When I use "check for update" within iTunes, it says my 9.2 is up to date.

iTunes 10.6 requires a computer running OSX 10.5.8 or greater.
I don't know much about playlist sharing but it does not surprise me at all there are issues between computers that span over a decade. I'm not sure if there is anybody around Apple who even remembers OS9.

Is there a way to share iTunes music between different users on same computer?

Just bought a new iMac and want to share my library with my wife on same computer. We have separate user profiles on the computer, but don't want to have to import entire 200gb library twice onto the same machine. Is there a way to get her profile to see my music on the same computer?
Thanks for any help!

Check out Terrence Devlin's replies (he posted two separate good ones) to this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3250415?start=0&tstart=0

HT3819 How do I share downloaded tracks between different users on same mac?

Hello. I bought my new Mac a couple of months ago. I set it up with three different users, one for myself as admin, one for my wife, and one for our daughter, all on the same Mac. My wife and I both have our own Itunes account. I spent a couple of days downloading almost all of our CDs into my Itunes library. Now, I want to know how my wife and daughter can access these songs in their libraries so that they can put tracks on their Ipods. So far, the only option that I have been able to see is the downloading of the CDs all over again into my wife's library. Wouldn't this just make duplicate tracks on the Hard Drive? If anyone can help, or point me in the right direction, it would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

It works for "initial sharing" but the described solution includes some drawbacks;
- songs added under one account don't show "automatically" for other users
- if added there is a copy of the song-file (* 2.mp3)
- no "bulk" import withoud re-adding already present songs
Any workarounds for these problems known? 'caus I'm getting tired to keep the 3 iTune Libs of my girls in synch
AdvTHANKSance Chris

HT1203 iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - I tried to use the instructions to configure 2 different windows users sharing the same iTunes library. I could not get this to work per the instructions.

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.
If you want to give full read/write access to more than one user, see the support article linked below.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
There is a way to share the library without moving it to a secondary volume. If you really need to do that, ask for instructions.

How do I use the time capsule to share itunes music between multiple apple devices? Also, is it possible to control the music on one device using another, and how do you set this up?

How do I use the time capsule to share itunes music between multiple apple devices? Also, is it possible to control the music on one device using another, and how do you set this up?

unless i'm missing something, i think you got mixed up, this is easy google for walk throughs
i'm assuming this is the new 3tb tc AC or 'tower' shape, if so, its wifi will run circles around your at&t device
unplug the at&t box for a minute and plug it back in
factory reset your tc - unplug it, hold down reset and keep holding while you plug it back in - only release reset when amber light flashes in 10-20s
connect the tc to your at&t box via eth in the wan port, wait 1 minute, open airport utility look in 'other wifi devices' to setup the tc
create a new wifi network (give it a different name than your at&t one) and put the tc in bridge mode (it may do this automatically for you, but you should double check) under the 'network' tab
login to your at&t router and disable wifi on it
add new clients to the new wifi network, and point your Macs to the time machine for backups

How to share music between different accounts on a single computer

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

I would like the share an iTunes library between two different accounts on one Mac. How do I do this?

iTunes no longer works properly (aka at all) while using one of the user accounts set up on my iMac. It does, however, work when logging in under another user account on the same iMac. (if any of you can help me solve this issue that would be perfect). If there is no solution can anyone help with my request to share an iTunes library between two different accounts on one Mac. How do I do this?

jc_hering wrote:
that works for anything he purchases after he creates the new account. What about his current music that currently resides in my itunes library? How can I get his current music out of my library into his new account/library?? Thanks..
Copy it to his computer into his iTunes library and authorize his computer with the iTunes account used to purchase them..
You cannot tranfser items from one iTunes account to another. Purchased items remain part of the iTunes account is was purchased with.
iTunes account - used to purchase items
iTunes library - where purchases (and CD RIPs) go on the computer

HT3819 how do I share movies/music between my computers. I have opened shared on both computers and both are on, but i am not able to drag anything from one to the other. Does anyone know where the settings button is on the bottom of the itunes screen?

how do I share movies/music between my computers. I have opened shared on both computers and both are on, but i am not able to drag anything from one to the other. Does anyone know where the settings button is on the bottom of the itunes screen?

Oops, I forgot a step between 7 and 8 ... before syncing the iPhone I need to explicitly send the document back to iTunes on the iPhone, or the changes won't come over at all ...
and then one more thing ... Numbers on iOS does NOT recognize a number of key features of the OSX app, such as conditional formatting ... so after editing my document on iOS and syncing it back to OSX on my Mac, all of those settings are lost (no more conditional formatting, have to do it all over again)
What am I doing wrong ?

Can i share iTunes music between my kids with different apple id's?

Can i share iTunes music between my kids with different apple id's?

Welcome to the Apple Community.
Yes, even though they have their own IDs for the iTunes Store, if everyone uses the same ID for home sharing, you can share the content.

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 iTunes music between different accounts on one Mac?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for