How to Play Songs in iTune without adding them to my Library?

I've been using iTune for quite sometimes now, and one thing that keep bothering me is that everytime I open a song in iTune, it got added to my Music Library automatically, this isn't what I intend to do in most case, so I have to manually remove the song afterward.
Is there any preference setting that allow me to turn this option off? By the way, I'm using iTune 7.0.2, the most up-to-date version.
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Go to iTunes prefs>Advanced>General> turn off the "copy" option. iTunes will now now copy the files - it will still create a reference to the tune in the library and you will still have to delete the reference if you don't want the tune. I am not sure what the fuss is about removing a tune that you don't want in the library.
It is easiest to let iTunes do the work by having the "Keep + Copy" ooptins selected.
As already noted you can play the tune via the Finder.
MJ

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How do I delete songs from Itunes without losing them in my IPOD? I don't want 11gb of music stored on my computer when I already have it in my Ipod. Anyone have some info?

You can Transfer music manually, then delete the files from the PC without having it sync to the iPod.
HOWEVER.....
Deleting songs off of iTunes or your computer is a very bad idea unless you have created one or more backup files of all your songs.
Using the iPod as the sole repository of any of your songs is a very risky practice. When (not ‘if’) you need to restore the iPod, return the iPod for service, or it's song files are somehow lost or damaged, you will be re-ripping all your CDs back into iTunes and re-purchasing all your iTMS songs. Restoring the iPod is a common ‘fix’ to many small issues that arise.
If you cannot store your songs on a PC or within iTunes, then you will need to have some storage medium in use (an external hard drive, DVDs or CDs). You should also consider a secondary backup medium for additional safety. Whether you keep your music in iTunes or on an external source – Multiple copies of your music files are a must!
The iPod is really designed to be playback device - not a primary storage device (although it can be used as such), and certainly not as the only storage medium for all your music.
Always backup your PC files: both music and data. Backup as frequently as possible. The usual ‘metric’ is to determine just how much work (hours, days, weeks) or money spent you are willing to repeat by extending out your time between backups. Your choice, your potential headache &/or loss.
Many data-savvy folks have more than one backup and create incremental backups every time they add to or change their Library. Depending on the work I am doing, I may perform several backups during the same day. As they are incremental, and placed on my Backup ExHD – it is a very quick operation to perform several times a day, when needed.
If you are heavily invested in your Library data (Playlists, Play Counts, Ratings, Last Played, Date Added, etc.), then:
it is critical that you also make multiple backups of your ‘iTunes Library.itl’ file.
iTMS REMINDER: While you can always take the time to re-rip the CDs you own to restore your iTunes music, if you lose your iTMS purchased music and have no backups, you will have to re-purchase them. Few exceptions are made to this rule – at least none that I am aware of.
Here is a post on developing a backup strategy:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=1498152

Removing songs from itunes without removing them from ipod

Is it possible to remove songs from iTunes without removing them from iPod? When I attempt to delete songs from iTunes I get a warning that they'll be deleted from iPod as well. I've got Manually manage music and videos checked under Options in the Summary window.

You can delete songs from your iTunes/computer hard drive after transferring them to the iPod, and for this you need to set your iPod to manage the iPod content manually.
However, this is an extremely risky option because when (and not if) there comes a time to restore your iPod, which is a very common fix for iPod problems, then all the music would be erased. If you no longer have the music in iTunes (or any other back up), then all that music would be lost.
What if the iPod were lost/stolen/needed repair? Again, the music would lost. I strongly recommend a back up, and if computer hard drive space is in short supply, you should seriously consider an external hard drive. They are not expensive, and the cost is well worth it when compared to the loss of all your precious music.
At the very least back up your music to either cd or dvd before deleting it, particularly any purchased music/videos, as this would have to be bought again if it were lost. See these about backing up media.
How to back up your media in iTunes.
Buegie's complete back up strategy.
To move music from iPod to computer, check out the instructions/suggestions here.
Music from iPod to computer (using option 2). This a manual method using "hidden folders" and although it works, it can be messy.
Much easier ways are to use one of the many 3rd party programs that copy music from the iPod to the computer.
One of the most recommended is Yamipod. This is a free program that transfers music and playlists etc from iPod back to the computer. However, it does not transfer playcounts/ratings etc.
Another free program is Pod Player.
There is also CopyPod. This does preserve ratings/playcounts etc if those are important to you but this program is not free. It also supports video transfer.
If you are using iTunes version 7 or later, then you can transfer purchased iTunes store music from the iPod to an authorized computer by using the "file/transfer purchases from iPod" menu. Note that the maximum of 5 authorized computers applies here.

HT3529 How do I send a group text, I have set up groups in my gmail account but can't figure out how to send a group text without adding them all individually

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You can use iCloud:
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Step 7. To add more contacts, repeat steps 5 and 6, but you can add multiple contacts at once by pressing Ctrl (on a PC) or Command (on a Mac) and clicking on each contact in the list that you wish to select. Then, drag one of the highlighted names to the new group and they will all be added.
It's possible to add names to more than one group, and you can create as many groups as you like.
Step 8. Launch the Contacts app on your device (iPhone, iPod touch or iPad) and you should see the new group appear almost immediately - as long as you have an internet connection.
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On your iPhone go to Settings>General>iTunes wi-fi Sync, make sure that is off if you want to delete a movie in iTunes but not lose it on your device.

When playing songs in iTunes playlist, How do you keep the next song from jumping to next song? I am working on song list updating other tracks info and then the next song starts and I lose my spot in song list?

When playing songs in iTunes playlist, How do you keep the next song from jumping to next song? I am working on song list updating other tracks info and then the next song starts and I lose my spot in song list?

Max OSX 10.6.8, iTunes 11.1
I had a similar problem: I wanted to synch my playlist to my iphone. I like to have my playlist sorted by genre. But under each genre, albums are not sorted by the track numbers. This is a problem, especially when I am listening to club mixes when the DJ smoothly transitions from 1 track sequentially to the next one. Under the properties of each audio file, the Track Numbers and Disc Numbers are already there.
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Can i show and play music from my external hard drive in iTunes without adding it to my Mac hard drive?

I have more music than I can keep on my Macbook hard drive by over 200GB. I'm hoping to be able to show and play all music from my external hard drive in iTunes without having to add any of it to my Macbook Hard Drive

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If you would like to add the music from your external hard drive to iTunes without copying it to the iTunes Library on your internal hard drive, you may find the following article helpful:
Add files to your library without adding them to your iTunes folder
When you add an item already on your computer to your iTunes library, iTunes places a copy of the file in your iTunes folder. The original file remains in its current location.
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Choose iTunes > Preferences, and click Advanced.
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How to copy iphone songs to itunes without erasing?

how to copy iphone songs to itunes without erasing?

Morning Roshni123,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
This article is an overview of how to sync your iOS device with iTunes on your computer using USB or Wi-Fi.
For more information on this, take a look at this article:
iOS: Syncing with iTunes
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1386
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HT204406 How to delete duplicate songs from Libary without deleting them from play list or other devices

How to delete duplicate songs from libary without deleting them from playlist or other devices

I'm with you verm71; it's not entirely clear how Apple is expecting you to manage this. I'm going on vacation soon and want to clean up my phone so that it's nice and empty for the new pictures. There doesn't seem to be a way to do this without losing your pictures in the new Photos as well. If imported, it's impossible to see which is the Cloud version and which is the Local version. It's very annoying.
I've also noticed in iPhoto you used to have the ability to locate the original of the picture inside the photo database. That option is not provided in Photos, making finding the original extremely difficult.
It seems to be a great, well-oiled system. But I would love to know how Apple envisions the typical workflow for archiving...

How to use as audio player without adding to music list?

I bought a Thai language program that is an Adobe Reader PDF file. It has literally thousands of 4 second MP3 audio files that you can click on to hear the thai word pronounced by a native Thai person. iTunes plays each little file but then adds it to my music library, so when I want to play music randomly, I get these thai words. It's very annoying, and it's clogging up the library. How can I use this language program without adding to the music library?

I don't think there is any way to really avoid this as iTunes will only play items in its Library.
In the PDF, Can you right click the link to the mp3 and select to play with quicktime player?
This would allow you to play your audio and take iTunes out of the equation.

Sometimes when I play songs in Itunes by double clicking on them, Itunes will place the song as the first one on the album. It will chnage the order of the songs on the album, and I can not switch them back to the correct order.

Sometimes when I play songs in Itunes by double clicking on them, Itunes will place the song as the first one on the album. It will chnage the order of the songs on the album, and I can not switch them back to the correct order. This onloy seems to happen when I double-click on the song to play it in itunes. If I just hit play, this doesnt happen. As a result, I have several albums now in which the songs are in the wrong order. Its very frustrating, as this error then transfers over to my ipod every time I sync it. When I choose the info. for the songs, it has them correctly listed (i.e., it lists the songs as being #1 of 19 on the CD, for example). But then the song will have placed by Itunes as #5 of 19 for whatever reason. Itunes does not do this every time, but does it with enough frequency to be maddening. Any thoughts?

The problem of tracks becoming de-linked between iTunes and the music files in your iTunes music folder happens for different reasons - this seems to come up fairly commonly in this forum.
The solution can be to locate each song in the iTunes library, as you mentioned - or, but wait, before I get to that...
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There may be scripts that can help re-link de-linked music files - or, at least provide you a list of such files, Scripts are easy to install and use...
at Dougs Scripts, there is one called iTunes Track CPR that might work
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=itunestrackcpr
or, if you just want a list of de-linked tracks, go to
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/
and find the script called List MIA's, this will create a text file listing all de-linked tracks
if you review the thread at
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3633708
also the thread at
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17513078#17513078
you may find more insight into dealing with this kind of issue there, although some of that thread may not apply to your case, aspects of it might help.
Good luck.

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How can I erase songs from imatch without erasing them from the playlist ?

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punzete wrote:
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Audio cuts out at random while playing songs in itunes

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Hi. What OS X release? (10.x.?) iTunes? On this G4 1,25 single now connected I got 10.4.11 and iTunes 7.0.2 Works fine.
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How to Play Songs in iTune without adding them to my Library?

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