ITunes 12.1.0.71 broke "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" option

After upgrading to iTunes 12.1.0.71 (64 bit) on my PC, iTunes is no longer organizing my iTunes media folder.
Example:
I drop a video into "automatically add to iTunes" folder
Video appears as a Home Video in iTunes as expected
I go into "get info" > Options for the video and set the Media Kind to "Movie"
Video now appears in the Movie lists, however(!)
iTunes does NOT move the file out of iTunes/Home Videos into iTunes/Movies on my hard drive like it used to
So now I have Movies piling up in the "Home Video" folder instead of getting auto-sorted correctly. The "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" option I have enabled in preferences is, obviously, not working.
This is happening for "TV Shows" as well. In addition, I can no longer set disc (season) and track (episode) numbers for TV Shows so that they're renamed with the season/episode numbers in front of the episode name. There used to be a work-around where I would shift-click "Get Info" to get into the old style pane / control panel, but this no longer works. I can't figure out how to rename files from within iTunes to force the issue. If I rename the files by hand before importing into iTunes, iTunes erases the disc/track numbers off the front of the filenames.
Does anyone know what's wrong? Why are my videos not auto-sorting into the correct folder / sub-folder hierarchy on my hard drive? Why is everything piling up in my "Home Video" folder even though iTunes has been told that they are NOT home videos? Help!

iTunes 12.0 had an issue with not moving video files around after tag/media kind changes. That seems unchanged. A workaround is to uncheck the Keep organized option, click OK, then set it active again.
The iTunes 12.1 version of Get Info appears, at first glance, to include all of the properties that were only available in the old school get info dialog in the previous version. Also gone are the Add Field button for optionally enabled fields, and the autocomplete on space bug. The old dialog doesn't seem to be available from any keyboard combination, although I quite possibly haven't tried everything.
tt2

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How do I find out if Keep Itunes Media Folder Organized option is enabled programtically

How do I find out if Keep Itunes Media Folder Organized option is enabled on Windows. My Java application needs to know this because it effects how it should interact with iTunes and last time I looked the api provided by the iTunes.dll doesnt provide this information.
I have made some progress looking at iTunesPrefs.xml which stores preferences in a binary plist format and have mananged to extract the location of the iTunes xml file using a Java library called dd-plist
public File getITunesXMLFile()
        System.getProperties().list(System.out);
        String homedir = System.getProperty("user.home");
        File prefsFile = new File(homedir,"AppData/Roaming/Apple Computer/iTunes/iTunesPrefs.xml");
        File xmlFile;
        try
            NSDictionary rootDict = (NSDictionary) PropertyListParser.parse(prefsFile);
            NSDictionary userPrefs = (NSDictionary) rootDict.objectForKey("User Preferences");
            if(userPrefs!=null)
                NSData iTunesLocation = (NSData) userPrefs.objectForKey("iTunes Library XML Location:1");
                if(iTunesLocation!=null)
                    String base64 = iTunesLocation.getBase64EncodedData();
                    String filepath = new String(Base64.decodeBase64(base64),"UTF-16LE");
                    xmlFile = new File(filepath);
                    System.out.println(filepath+":File Exists:"+xmlFile.exists());
                    if (xmlFile.exists())
                        return xmlFile;
        catch(Exception ex)
            ex.printStackTrace();
            //Use default then
            xmlFile = new File(homedir + "/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml");
            if (xmlFile.exists())
                return xmlFile;
        return null;
However the Keep Itunes Media Folder Organized option appears to be stored in the Documents:132 key with other options and this library doesnt seem able to decode the daat into a base64encoded value. I did think I could just compare differences between the file after enabling/disabling the option in iTunes, but the results are inconclusive - sometimes after chnaging the option the preferences file doesnt seem to change.
Is there a known hack for this ?

Thanks that certainly a possible workaround that I can see working but Im not that keen on using a users file as a test file, or adding a file myself that I have to keep deleting.
The thing is I'm very close, I've found a library that can read the binary xml format to some degree, and managed to decode the Xml Library File sucessfullly (but I don't need to this as available as the in the COM lib anyway as itunes.getLibraryXMLPath())
but I cannot decode this option whihc is lumped in with others, real shame they dont provide it via the COM lib.
Added this link showing progress in case interested:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17957433/how-can-i-work-out-if-ituneskeep-itu nes-folder-organized-is-set-programmaticall

Was there a change to the location where iTunes copies media with the "Keep media folder organized" option selected?

iTunes was copying my media to for example:
\volume\iTunes\Music\Artist\Album\tracks.mp3
\volume\iTunes\Movies\Movie\movie.mp4
\volume\iTunes\TV Shows\TV Show\Season\episode.mp4
I believe after the update it started to copy and move files to different locations:
\volume\iTunes\Artist\Album\tracks.mp3
\volume\iTunes\Movies\movie.mp4
\volume\iTunes\TV Shows\TV Show\episode.mp4
Music is no longer being copied to the Music folder, it's being copied or moved to the root of where I have my iTunes directory defined. Has anyone seen this change happen to them?

Actually to get it to run through your library as it now exists I think the consolidate command is still around (I don't have itunes 10).
How to Consolidate Your iTunes Library and Keep It Organized - http://www.switched.com/2010/11/02/itunes-consolidate-library-keep-organized/

Will enabling the 'Keep iTunes Folder Organized' option alter my folders?

If I select "Keep iTunes Folder Organized" in iTunes, will it alter the way my folders are curretnly organied on that drive? I already have my music organized by artist and album in folders on my harddrive. Though, some of the track names are messed up in iTunes. If i select this option, what happens? will it fix the track names issue, or must i fix those manually? would it copy or reogranize my folders that are already there?

It shouldn't alter your folders unless they are in the place that iTunes wants to put its folders - It will rearrange the music into new folders so that iTunes can find them. They will be located in your Music folder > iTunes > iTunes Music > then usually folders by Artist.
For the ones that are not named correctly - when you edit the ID3 tracks in iTunes they will be moved to the correct place.
I think you should be able to verify this by using the iTunes > File > Add to Library... option on a small sample of your music that is currently arranged manually.
Regards,
Colin R.

"keep iTunes folder organized" option

for the past year i have been importing my music, then converting it to AAC format. after converting it, i have deleted the original foles from my computer, seeing that the AAC files are in my iTunes music folder. i have never had "Keep iTunes Folder Organized" selected. does iTunes automatically do this when you convert files?
sorry if u dont understand what i am trying to ask, i guess im just trying to figure out the difference between using it and not using that option.

for the past year i have been importing my music, then converting it to AAC format. after converting it, i have deleted the original foles from my computer, seeing that the AAC files are in my iTunes music folder. i have never had "Keep iTunes Folder Organized" selected. does iTunes automatically do this when you convert files?
sorry if u dont understand what i am trying to ask, i guess im just trying to figure out the difference between using it and not using that option.

ITunes copies files without the "copy files to Media folder" checked.

I've never been a fan of iTunes. My dislike of its impositive ways is directly proportional to its version (10.1.1(4) currently), so I never allow it to do anything automatically for me. I really like it that way.
In recent years, after a couple of experiences filled with much tribulation, I have never checked either "Keep iTunes folder media organised" nor "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library" under its Preferences, whenever I have been forced to use this accursed application.
But owning an iPod (a couple actually) makes it impossible to live a jovial iTunes-free lifestyle. So yes, I use it on occasion.
Those occasions almost exclusively mean copying music and audio books to and from it. No videos, no Pictures, no nothing else.
I'm using a 4th Generation iPod Touch.
My iTunes library is not on my computer but on an external HD.
Anything I drag and drop to the library comes from folders in that external HD.
Now, the few audio books I own are not even inside my iTunes media folder. They are elsewhere in a folder of their own. But everything had worked O.K.ish so far.
Today, while re-tagging some audio books I asked iTunes to show the file in Finder. And it did. It was indeed inside that external HD... BUT... on the iTunes media folder, not on the folder where I keep those audio books originally.
I checked the iTunes "Preferences" to see if the Gremlins had changed anything. It was as it has always been (with all pertinent options unchecked).
I checked the original folder to see if they had been moved. Nope, they were still there too.
The versions are not the same, since all that re-tagging I'd been doing had of course affected the ones in the "wrong" folder (the one I did not assigned nor agreed to create).
The music is fine (some of which comes from a folder similarly outside the iTunes media folder, although most comes from within), it's just the audio books.
An event of note is that a few days ago, that external HD had a problem and the data had to be moved elsewhere, the HD re-formatted, and the info placed back into it once more. But the paths remain identical since the HD has the same name and the folders are where they once were. I've no idea if this has any effect on anything at all, but I thought to mention it.
So this mystery is such. Any takers?
The questions are: Why does this happen? How can I stop it from happening again (aside from not using iTunes :-D).
It is not that big a problem since I have very few audio books thus the duplicate is not too large, but I'd like to know how to avoid it, if possible.
Thanks in advance for any information on this.

iTunes prefs -> Advanced. Uncheck *Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library*.
Any reason you don't want them in the music folder? You could add them to iTunes and delete the from your documents folder.

Is it possible to "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" with multiple folders?

It bothers me, I am not proud of this, that I hunt through my "Music" folder to find my TV Shows etc. I would like to separate my iTunes media in folders by type, or conform to the default OS X home folder's subfolder nomenclature. I would settle for setting up another scheme involving seperate drives, Applescript or Automator; in order than iTunes would add appropriate media to appropriate folder.

jamms wrote:
It bothers me, I am not proud of this, that I hunt through my "Music" folder to find my TV Shows etc
It is in the /iTunes/iTunes media/TV Shows/ folder.
You can only view TV Shows in iTunes so why do you need to "hunt" them anywhere?
If you really need to, you can select the TV Show (or movie or music or podcast, etc.) right click, Show in Finder.

I have an issue with Add to iTunes folder incorporating mp3s in iTunes Media folder, but not into my iTunes library.

I am using iTunes 10.5 on Windows 7 (64bit). This has only started happening since the 10.5 update. When I add mp3s to "Add to iTunes" folder, the mp3s will be added to a folder within the iTunes Media\Music\ directory, but the song will not show up in my iTunes library. If I open the mp3 from its location in the directory, it will open in iTunes and be included in the Library go forward. This issue is not consistent, it has happened the first time I tried to add an mp3, and not the second that I tried to add the exact same file. Oh also, I have always had the option selected to allow iTunes to keep the media folder organized.
For the time being I have to keep a list of everything I am adding and verify whether it shows up in the library. If it doesn't I have to run a search to see what exact directory path iTunes put it in, go there and open the file - frustrating and time consuming. Even more frustrating to me however is that I really don;t know if I have recovered all the added mp3s from before I recognized the problem.
Any ideas? I was wondering if there maybe was a way to have iTunes refresh its library from the folder?

Back up all data immediately as your boot drive may be failing.
If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator. I've tested them only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'Channel t|GPU D|I/O|n Cause: -' | tail | open -ef
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Normally the command will produce no output, and the window will be empty. If the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window) has anything in it, post it — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the TextEdit window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.

C: drive is full - move only iTunes Media folder contents to another drive without consolidating?

My iTunes library contains a combination of music/movies/etc that I've purchased or downloaded from the iTunes Store as well as music I've purchased from Amazon and my own ripped CDs (not ripped via iTunes...other software). The Amazon and ripped files have always lived on my D drive (for easier sharing betwen family members, without opening up permissions on our User folders), while the Store files all live under my User profile on C.
I'd like to move the iTunes Media folder contents off of C and onto D. All the instructions that use "consolidating" and "keeping the media folder organized" will not work for me, since I do not want all my files under the iTunes Media folder...I like them where they are now in D:\Music\Amazon and D:\Music\CDCollection.
Do I have to resort to moving the files myself, adding them into the library again, then cleaning up the orphaned library entries that are pointing to the old location?
Thanks!

Copy the entire iTunes folder from your music folder to D:\iTunes.
Click the icon to start iTunes and immediately press and hold down the shift key. Keep holding until asked to choose or create a library.
Click Choose and navigate to the file D:\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl
Check the library is working properly.
Use the option File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate Files to import any stay files to the new library folder.
Delete the old iTunes folder on the C: drive.
Ideally you will also backup this library to another drive.
tt2

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

Keeping iTunes libraries in MacMini together.

I've got a MacMini with a small hard drive, and I'm running out of space. We have 5 users using this computer. Everyone logs into their own user account and syncs their iDevices to their own copies of iTunes. I don't want 3 or 4 versions of the same media in the computer. I understand the idea of home sharing... We do that with a laptop. But this is a little bit different. It's like home sharing, but all within one machine. Without duplicating the media.
So this is what I did:
1) Went to iTunes Preferences - Advance
2) changed the Media library location for all users to /Users/Shared/Music/Itunes to combine the libraries.
3) Selected "Left the Keep iTunes Media folder organized"
4) Selected "Copy to iTunes folder when adding to library"
Then I logged in to all the other users in the computer and did the same thing.
But the data never got moved there. One of the users actually doesn't use iTunes, and when I went into that iTunes and did the same thing. The media never showed up on that user's library.
This is obviously not the correct way of fixing my problem. Any ideas or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
Erica

I am currently facing a similar dilemma
What I tried to do is to keep one mac as the 'master', and the others as slaves.
I moved all my music files to a single drive on the master, and had all the slaves point to that folder as their iTunes music folder.
Then I deleted the contents of ~/Music/iTunes/ (all the database files and such) on each slave, and soft-linked them to the relevant files on the master (that is, ln -s when the master's drives are mounted over AFP). That way, each slave iTunes thinks it is starting up with a complete, local database, but it is really pointing to a single file on the master, with any changes to the library occurring in a single place.
This seemed to work for a while, but it seemed to break whenever any changes were made to the library file. I think its ownership may have changed or something.
I really think this should work, solving both our problems. Does anyone out there have any ideas on how to make it work? It looks like quite an elegant solution on paper!

ITunes Media Folder Renameable on External Drive (mac)

I have a 1TB collection of music in a folder on an external drive within a folder that is NOT called iTunes Media, but which until now had behaved as if it were.
I just switched to a clone of my old 1TB drive on a 1.5TB drive. After 11 hours of locating my 157000 tracks, I was able to find and use every track. However, when I added a new track, apparently I lost the ability to add new music tracks within the Music folder. Instead, a new iTunes Media folder was created within the folder which SHOULD have been called iTunes Media.
In the (new) iTunes Media folder there are a few folders containing the music I added after the switch. In the Music folder (below, but higher hierarchy) there is 1TB of music, which means it cannot be copied into the (new) iTunes Media file on the 1.5TB drive (not enough space).
Even though it would entail 100+ hours of new clone-backup time, the most logical solution would be to discard the embedded iTunes Media folder, rename the top-level folder iTunes Media, then let iTunes relocate the tracks again (over another 11 hours) and reload the few tracks loaded since the switch.
However I do not know if iTunes will allow this to work, and if so, what needs to be done in order to make it work.
Can the top-level folder be renamed? Do I need to untick and tick the Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized button?
Thanks
Mac OSX 10.6.8, iTunes 11.4

I am getting a bit lost on what was done and exactly why you did it that way. It looks to me like you use iTunes with standard preferences settings and you didn't so much move your media folder to the external drive as your whole iTunes library (everything in the top level folder including all the media files). This should have been done simply by copying the iTunes folder from the old drive to the new one, renaming the AllMyiTunesMusic folder if you so desire, then starting iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and selecting that folder as the iTunes library to now start using. Apart from the copy time when you could go away and drink a pot of coffee the actual labor time would be about 2 minutes. I think you must have done something different which has kind of messed up your library and resulted in duplication of files. Some of those folders such as Movies and the neighboring Music folder should be in the media folder, but don't move things about in Finder or iTunes may lose track of them and things will get worse. If you can go back and do things properly then I recommend you do so, otherwise we can see what we can work with here.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
iTunes 9 [and later]: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847 - plus supplemental information about organizing to new structure https://discussions.apple.com/message/26404702#26404702
Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-7392 and making an iTunes library portable.

ITunes won't copy music files to Media folder when songs are dragged

I am trying add songs from my external hard drive to my iTunes Library.
I have the following options checked:
"Keep iTunes Media folder organized."
"Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library."
In the past, I could just drag files from my hard drive into the iTunes song list and add them to the library. iTunes would successfully make a copy of the file to the iTunes Media folder so that I could disconnect the hard drive and still play the songs.
Suddenly, this no longer works. iTunes won't make a copy of the file anymore. It won't even make a copy of files located on my desktop.
I found a workaround -- copy the files from my hard drive to the desktop. Then I have to go to File > Add to Library in order for it to work.
It's an extra step, but it was VERY annoying to have to figure out.
So my question -- Is this an iTunes bug or some kind of deliberate attempt at making it hard to use files not purchased through iTunes?
I noticed this on one of the Apple support pages (my emphasis):
Copying music to and keeping the iTunes Media folder organized
You can select these options on the Advanced pane of iTunes preferences:
"Keep iTunes Media folder organized." Learn more about how iTunes 9 and later organizes your media.
"Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library." Select this option to store all your media files in the iTunes Media folder. Since it's all in one location, you can easily transfer or back up your media. When you purchase or import media into iTunes from a CD, it's automatically added to your iTunes Media folder. If you add media to iTunes another way (choosing "Add to library" from the File menu or by dragging an MP3 file into iTunes), it might not be added to your iTunes Media folder.
Well, why the heck not??

I have posted so many issues to APPLE on the staggering lack of basic functionality with itunes and each time they keep deleting it.
Automatically Addd feature does not work consistently if the library is on NAS or a drive not on the same bok as the Mac, iMac or PC.
iTuns will hang if you have the finder window open and the recently added playlist open
itunes will not add files automatically if more than three phases of adding folders to the automatically add to itune folder is refreshed
Once could even jump to the conclusion that the software testing and Quality Control in the iTunes development team had missed out whole chunks of tsting OR that the test designers wrote such basic test scripts which did not replicate real world useage.

How to Share One iTunes Media Folder on a Windows Laptop and Mac Laptop

I have an HP EX490 Home Server setup. I want to use the Music Share volume to act as the home for all of our music. I am using a MacBook Pro and my wife is using a Dell Windows Vista Laptop. I have my iTunes pointing to the iTunes Media Folder on the Music Share. The iTunes Library resides on my laptop in Music/iTunes/Library. I used the consolidate library feature and it moved all the music to the appropriate iTunes folder on the Share. Now I want to do that with the Windows Vista Laptop. I have the Vista laptop pointing to the Share for the iTunes Media folder location. The question is how do I add the files to her library? Do I "consolidate library" again or just "add folder to library"? Also do I keep the boxes checked "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" under the Advanced Tab in Preferences? Would greatly appreciate the help. Lots of music/videos and only want to do this once.
Thanks in Advance
Tom

Tom DePrenda wrote:
I used the consolidate library feature and it moved all the music to the appropriate iTunes folder on the Share.
Good!
I have the Vista laptop pointing to the Share for the iTunes Media folder location.
Good!
The question is how do I add the files to her library?
Go to your File menu and use the command Add Folder to Library. When the dialog comes up, point it to the Music folder in the Share area. But read on first...
Also do I keep the boxes checked "Keep iTunes Media folder organized"
You must turn off the "Keep..." option. Otherwise, when one of you changes a tag, iTunes will re-"organize" and the other person's iTunes will lose the link.
The "Copy..." option should also be turned off. As you add new music, put it where you want it. Then you must "Add File to Library" from each iTunes.

How to stop iTunes from looking in old media folder location?

Several years ago, I moved my iTunes media onto an external drive attached to my Airport Extreme, because I was running out of room on the internal drive.
I had all the usual problems with iTunes looking on the internal drive, but it mostly worked okay, as long as I didn't mind only being able to access my music at home.
A few months ago, I got a 2TB internal drive, and told iTunes to use the default media folder location on the internal drive again. I also check to keep iTunes media folder organized, and to copy files to the iTunes media folder when adding them to the library. I had already manually copied the folder structure over from the external drive.
I noticed that when I would start iTunes, I would see the activity light on the external drive, and it would be mounted on my Desktop. I checked, and the location for the media folder was still correct in preferences. I checked a file or two and (this seems to be gone in iTunes 12.1) it was still showing the file location on the other drive.
I tried to manually "cut the cord" by renaming the folder on the external drive, but iTunes was cleverer than that.
What do I need to do to stop iTunes from looking for files in the old location? I'd like to reclaim that space, but I'm afraid to remove anything over there, in case iTunes has been putting things over there instead of the new, correct location.
This is a MacBook Pro 8,2 i7, with 10.10.3 and iTunes 12.1.x.
Thanks,
Sean

Manually moving files yourself and telling iTunes where to store media in preferences does not do what oh so many people who come here with issues think it does. Changing iTunes' media storage preferences only tells iTunes where to store new media. iTunes still looks for old media where it last saw it, namely on your external drive. You have to let iTunes do the relocating of the old media files by consolidating to the internal drive. It will cheerfully ignore any changes you do in Finder yourself.
iTunes 12 for Mac: Change where your iTunes files are stored - http://support.apple.com/kb/PH19507 - more information at: https://discussions.apple.com/message/22026652#22026652 - and steps 5-8 in https://discussions.apple.com/message/24491967#24491967

ITunes 12.1.0.71 broke "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" option

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