ICloud/iMatch keeps adding duplicates to my iTunes music folder? What's going on? What am I doing wrong?

Every time I open iTunes, iMatch keeps adding duplicates for some -- not all -- of the files in my music folder. Each gets a little cloud-with-exclamation-point next to the duplicate. If I manually remove them, they pop up again the next time I open iTunes. The actual files are not duplicated in my local music folders.
What am I doing wrong? Could it be related to the Error 50 message (Cannot save library) I get sometimes. I uninstalled and reinstalled iTunes, which stopped that message for a few weeks, but now it's reappearing after I manually deleted all the duplicates.
This is driving me crazy.

What have you tried?
You opened itunes?
Connected ipad?
Went to the music tab?
Selected sync music and selected the music to sync?
Synced?

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Duplicate files in itunes music folder with title 1.mp3

Can anyone tell me why there might be duplicate files with this number in my music folder? I'm interested to know what might cause this to happen.

Any help here? This question has been bugging me for some time. It's hard to believe that this seemingly simple task / question is so difficult to find a solution for. Please - if you know a way, I'd love to clear some space from my itunes music folder.

ITunes "music folder" loaction?

Hey-
I have screwed up this software...with regards to the loaction (default location) the software had for my music folder location and I'm not sure I have selected the correct location. Do I want to select my documents/my music as the default location? The reason why I ask is because the default location after I installed the software was I believe my doctuments/my music/iTunes music folder so I'm confused as to which it's suppose to be.
I also thought the software was suppose to automatically check my music folder everytime I launch the program for added music and add it to my iTunes library automatically, but it doesn't seem to be doing that either. I have to manually do another 'scan' for it to pick it up and add it to my iTunes library.
Also, what is the proper way to remove a song, folder etc in the iTunes music library WITHOUT it also removing the actual folder/music from my computer? I goofed up earlier and deleted stuff from the iTunes library that I didn't want in it and it wipped it from my harddrive! Thank God I had it backed up on my external maxtor, or I would have been screwed:(
What am I doing wrong?

You actually mention 2 folders in this post.
The default location of the "iTunes" folder is "my documents/my music".
The defaul location of the "iTunes Music" folder is "my documents/my music/iTunes".
So when you are installing itunes the default location will be for the itunes folder ("my documents/my music").
iTunes only checks for music on your hard drive when you open the program for the first time.
When you first deleted a song from you library there were 2 pop ups for deleting that song.
the first pop up was are you sure you want to remove that song from the library. y/n
The next pop up was if you wanted to keep that song in yout itunes music folder or move to recycle bin.
If you click move to recycle on the second pop up and check the check box do not ask me again, then every time you delete a song from the library, it will automatically move that song to the recycle bin.

Cleaning up duplication mess from Shared iTunes Music folder

I'm helping my sister clean up a mess on her Windows Vista computer. In the process of cleaning up one mess, I may have made another.
She's wanting to share the iTunes Music folder with multiple users on the machine--so that they can all access the music from their individual user accounts. A couple of months ago, I set up the iTunes Music folder in the Public folder so that all users could access it. Each user then created it's own iTunes Library database upon opening iTunes in their accounts.
We thought this would work fine, but she's now finding that if items are added in different accounts, they're not showing up in the others--you have to know what was imported/added in one account so that you can "add to library" in the others.
So, in order to try to fix that, I created a new Music folder ("iTunes Music New") for the Main user's account and "consolidated Library" so that it would contain everything. I then went into each account and changed their default Music folder location to the new Public one that I created "iTunes Music New".
My next problem occurred when I clicked consolidated library in a 2nd account. Now, since all accounts are pointing to the same folder and I hit consolidate library in 2 accounts, the Music Folder has duplicates of MANY, MANY songs. However, they're not necessarily duplicated in the iTunes Music Library database, since the consolidation occurred from two separate accounts.
Most of the duplication software/scripts that I've researched seem to be able to delete duplicates within the iTunes Music Library database. Obviously, I'm not needing that, I'm needing to delete duplicates from the iTunes Music folder itself.
Is there a way to do this?
Once I solve this problem, my next question is how to clean up all of the secondary user libraries so that they match the main one. It doesn't matter if I lose playcounts on these secondary accounts as long as I retain them in the main original. Can I just delete the .xml and iTunes Library.itl files and "add to library" the main music folder?
Or can I create a shortcut in each of the secondary users folders that would point to the .xml and .itl files in the "master" user's folder?
I hope that this makes sense.
I'm hoping to get this situation mostly cleared up before I leave my sister's in the next day or so.

Unfortunately, you're going to have to delete those duplicate files by hand.
On my PC when I do boneheaded things like that, Windows gives them names like
song[1].mp3
song[2].mp3
You can use Windows search to find files with [1] in the filename. That should speed up the process.
After you get everything on the hard drive fixed, all you have to do is set up the secondary accounts to use the main users's ITL file.
From iTunes > Help > iTunes Help
*To create or use a different iTunes library:*
+If iTunes is open, quit it.+
+Hold down the Shift key while you open iTunes (from the Start menu, choose All Programs > iTunes > iTunes).+
+In the dialog that appears, do one of the following:+
+To create a new library, click Create Library.+
+To choose a different library, click Choose Library.+

ITunes Music Folder

Ok, so I tried downloading a TV show last night from the iTunes store and it said I didn't have enough space on my Hard Drive to complete the download. Well, that threw me off and as I was looking to see what was eating all my memory I noticed that my iTunes Music Folder, when navigated to via the finder, shows I have 30 GB of music files. If I look at the bottom of the iTunes window when the program is open it only shows 14 GB. I did FILE>SHOW DUPLICATES and it only shows 6.5 GB of duplicates. Does anyone know what is going on or how to correct? It is like there is two of every song, but I don't see duplicates in the iTunes Music Folder.

it is possible and likely that you have song files in your iTunes music folder that aren't referenced in your iTunes library. in other words, there are files in your iTunes music folder that iTunes doesn't know about.
for an unknow reason, you may have duplicate your songs using the finder. you can validate this by doing a "Get info" in iTunes on a song for which you see duplicate using the Finder. The Get info will show you the path of the selected song in the General tab. The duplicate you will see in the finder would have a difference in the name. This will allow you to manually discriminate which song is referenced in iTunes. But this could be a tedious task.
At this point, you will need to clean up this mess and there is several way to go. the simplest could be to drag'n drop your whole iTunes Music File into the iTunes window in order to have iTunes reference all your files and then, clean up the duplicates.
you may think of other way to go, but this will not be simple if you have a large library.

Songs in Library are Not in iTunes Music Folder

I just had to Re-create my iTunes Library, which took quite some time since each song had to be selected individually and imported (per the instructions). Anyway, I have the box checked in Edit>Preferences>Advanced to automatically Copy Songs in Libary to the iTunes Music Folder; however, I just purchased two new songs and when I went to the ITMF to check to see if they were there neither the artists nor the songs are there. I then tried to add them manually by clicking on Add File to Library, but that did not add them to the iTunes Music Folder.
If anyone knows what I need to do and why iTunes is not automatically adding the new songs to the iTunes Music Folder, please let me know how to fix this.
Thanks.

Ardwych
Yes, itunes just sets a pointer to the Windows files in its ITL database.http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
If you have itunes preference to copy files to your itunes music folder, then it does copy them there and you might now have two copies of the same song. But itunes will probably be using the copy in the itunes music folder.
This section of this article might explain it better
*How iTunes Manages Media Content*
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to -a-new-hard-drive

Duplicates in iTunes Music folder

I just noticed that all of the m4a music files stored in my iTunes music folder have duplicates. This does not seem to be the case for mp3 files. These are not duplicates in iTunes--when I show duplicates in iTunes, I don't have any, even though the files are all listed twice on my hard drive. Why did this happen?

You probably added the files to the iTunes library with the copy to iTunes library location.
This will leave the originals where they were and then make a copy in the iTunes library.

"Add a copy of this File to iTunes music folder when adding to library" ???

why on earth is this feature a feature???
now that i finally realized what i have been doing all this time... i see that i have 1000's of dupes eating up HD space.
obviously when i add a song to my library - i want it in the folder i have chosen to be my iTunes music folder -- d'uh!!!
that is precisely where i added the songs to!
so can someone help me understand why i did this?
what need did i have to click this preference?
i know i made this choice...
what i want to know is if there is a reason to click it that i am missing the boat on?
thanks

hi nysepete,
why on earth is this feature a feature???
this feature is for copying files into the iTunes music folder when you are dragging/openning files into your library.
let's say you have a song file on your desktop that you just downloaded from Internet. if you double click on it or simply drag it into the iTunes windows, iTunes will automatically copy this file into your music folder. then, you can delete the file on your desktop since a copy have been made and referenced by iTunes.
if however this option isn't activated, the iTunes library will instead referenced the files in it's current location, i.e. in this exemple on your desktop.
personally, I keep the option checked so when I need to add files to the library, I know the will be managed by iTunes and then simply send the original to the trash. unchecking this option is mostly for people that want to manage files themselves outside the iTunes Music folder.

What happens after unchecking 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized'?

After unchecking the 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' option, am I right in thinking that future additions to the library are simply linked from their default location? If so, what happens when ripping CDs, and how is it possible to rename or move files/folders without iTunes failing to find them and having to add them again?

It's more what doesn't happen rather than what does. If you like to organise your own folders in your Music folder you must leave it unchecked, as checking it gives iTunes the authority to rename and move tracks at will.
If you rip a CD with iTunes and the iTunes Music folder according the tabs recovered from Grace note. The hierarchy is Artist\album.
This is not affected by Keep iTunes Music folder organised.
If you add tracks already on your PC, depending on the setting of "Copy to iTunes Music folder when adding to library, iTunes will either store a link to the track in its current location or copy it into the iTunes Music folder according to the tags.
It is not possible to move or rename any track in your library or iTunes will lose it. There is no folder watch feature.
So you need to place and name a file BEFORE adding it to the library if you want to manage your own folders. Once added you can't change it without having to either add it again or find it manually in iTunes.
The only thing you can do is to use iTunes to move the whole iTunes Music folder to a new location.
Message was edited by: polydorus

Adding songs, they copy to iTunes music folder, but don't show up in my lib

Hi,
I recently built a new computer, and wanted to put my music on it from my external hard drive, which contained my "iTunes Music Folder" from my old computer. However, when I add music from my external hard drive to my new computer's hard drive, it says it's copying it to the iTunes Music Folder (on my new comp), and says that it's "Analyzing Gapless Playback" and the like, but the only problem is, the music doesn't show up on my Library! And I've looked, all the music copied to the new iTunes Music Folder, but my library (in the iTunes program itself) remains a blank list! Does anyone know what the problem is, and what I can do to fix it? Thanks in advance.

I have a Dell that's running Windows XP. I have found that itunes is very temperamental. this works most of the time... except on my son's computer that's running Windows Vista.
Go to your library in iTunes. Then go up to file and try one of the options (import, add folder to library, or add file to library).
Adding a folder is the least work. You can add all the files from a folder with one click... if it works. Remember that itunes is temperamental.
If that doesn't work, try adding a file. The problem with that is that you have to go through the whole process for each and every file (song, movie, etc).
Sometimes the only thing that works is to import.
I haven't gotten iTunes to work on my son's computer (Windows Vista).
I can't get support from apple in any way at all! They are good about creating electronics that appeal to us But they are lousy at support. If anyone figures out how to access support (where you can actually contact Apple) please let me know ([email protected]). I've been trying for 6 months.

Two user accounts one Itunes Music Folder, How do I keep the Libraries sync

Okay let's see if I can explain my dilemma properly. My girlfriend shares my computer with me, so I gave her a seperate account to keep her stuff in. However I keep all our music on an external hard drive in the iTunes music folder. The problem is everytime I upload new music or delete something on my account/ iTunes library, It doesn't update the iTunes library on her account. Therefore I have to sign in to her account to update her library with new music or delete tracks that have been removed from the Music folder. Kinda a minor thing until you upload 5 new CD's and remove like a 100 old tracks/podcasts, then it gets to be very annoying and time consuming. So is there anything I can do to sync our libraries to the music folder when changes are made? Hope I explained that well, and thanks for your help in advance!
powerbook G4 1 Ghz 12.1 inch Mac OS X (10.4.7) iTunes 6.0.1
powerbook G4 1 Ghz 12.1 inch Mac OS X (10.4.7)

open749
As both libraries are the same you're wasting disk space, so have only one library - yours and enable sharing on it.
You need to be looged in and iTunes running, she will enable 'look for shared libraries' in her Preferences... and your library will show up.
Regards
TD

Duplicates in iTunes Music Folder but not in iTunes

If this has been addressed already, please forgive me, but in my User>Music>iTunes Music Folder each of over 6000 songs has a duplicate.
They don't show up as duplicates in iTunes or under Show Duplicates.
Is there anyway I can get rid of the 6000+ extra tunes other than clicking on each duplicate and dragging it to the trash?
tia,
Bob

Steve,
I started over by trashing everything in my User > iTunes file and relaunched iTunes.
Then I went to iTunes Menu > File > Add to Library where I re-imported all of my tunes into iTunes from by backup file on my external hard drive.
I then Consolidated the library (whatever that means); now, I'm back in business.
Here is a link that might help indirectly: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1329
hth, Bob
p.s. If you don't have your music backed up externally, you can get the tunes into iTunes directly from you iPod using this: http://www.fadingred.com/senuti/

HT2905 I want to delete duplicates from my iTunes music but cannot see "Display Exact Duplicates" in File menu.

Hi,
I want to delete duplicates from my iTunes music but and iTunes help says to click on "Display Exact Duplicates" in File men but I don't appear to have this function. Where else can I look?

Thanks Kappy. I had just found it but thanks reply. Next question is: Is there a quick way to then delete the duplicates without having to select each one and delete?

Keeping itunes music folder organized

I have the box checked for "keep itunes music folder organized" but noticed that the folders on my computer are not consistent with how certain albums are organized in itunes.
For example, I have a series of albums, all with the same name, Vol. 1-6. On itunes, they are all properly separated by Vol number and disc number, but in the folder on my computer, they are all lumped in together in the same folder.
Anyone know how I can fix this because I really want to keep my itunes music folder consistent with how the music is layed out in itunes.
Thanks much.

I just ripped a 4-disc set that had really bad Gracenote tags.
I had to fiddle around with things so itunes could organize them properly. If you want more details, post back.
I really don't think this is an itunes bug. I think it's an issue with a bad Gracenote entry.

ITunes music folder keeps reverting back to default

If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it: I just moved my music library to a new hard drive, following the Apple instructions on "moving the iTunes music folder" (i.e. changing the iTunes music folder location on the advanced tab in preferences, setting it up to copy files, and then consolidating the library). The move worked, but for some reason, whenever I exit iTunes and come back in, the iTunes music folder reverts back to the default (C:\Documents and Settings\default\My Documents\My Music). It doesn't announce it or anything, but when I go to add new music, it sends it there instead of the new drive. What am I missing on the transfer?
Windows XP SP2

"booting up"= turned on.
I have noticed that you have posted on a thread that is 2 months old. This is really a bad idea as your issue can be easily overlooked. It's always much better to "start your own topic" by click on this link on the forum main page.

ICloud/iMatch keeps adding duplicates to my iTunes music folder? What's going on? What am I doing wrong?

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