ITunes 7 Multiple Libraries

It says that iTunes 7 now supports multiple libraries. How do I do this? What if I want one library for songs on my external hd and one for songs on my internal hd?

Shift key thing is cool. But I agree, why not let us switch while in program. Itunes Library manager seems to be a better bet still and keeps hard drive clean.
http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/ituneslibrarymanager.php
I use this to keep sound effects and music in two libraries and it works great.

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HELP! - iTunes 7 Multiple Libraries - iTunes Music Folder Location

I've created two libraries with the new multiple libraries feature on iTunes 7, but it appears that there is no way to choose separate folder locations for each of the libraries. I tried to do this and ended up with all of my songs in one folder, which is what I don't want. I would like to have would like to have two libraries, one for regular music and one for Christmas music, and I would like to choose a separate location/folder for each library. I keep all of my music on an external hard drive - I don't have enough room on my internal hard drive. Does anyone know if there is a way to do this?

Shift key thing is cool. But I agree, why not let us switch while in program. Itunes Library manager seems to be a better bet still and keeps hard drive clean.
http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/ituneslibrarymanager.php
I use this to keep sound effects and music in two libraries and it works great.

ITunes Updates & Multiple Libraries

In Windows 7 I use iTunes V 10.7 with three iTunes Libraries. Before attempting any updates I always Backup MY MUSIC, & make sure that I have a very recent Windows System Backup. Every time I attempt an Update, I always end up with three Libraries that are totally mixed up. It does not help that I copy my Backed Up Libraries into My Music & reopen iTunes with those Library files, because they get mixed up too. I end up using 'Restore System Settings' to restore my system to the happy days of V 10.7.
Now I'm sure that there are lots of other iTunes users with multiple Libraries.
I'm hoping that one or more of them can tell how to do a 'clean' update with clean Libraries.

Thanks. I think that the first part of your response is not relevant in my case. But the second part is definitely relevant, because I get hung up at the message 'The file iTunes Library.itl cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes'. That is the point where I give up & 'Restore System Settings' to put me back to V 10.7. Yes - technically I'm doing a 'downgrade'.
Now, when I was in V 12, after resetting my displays - Playlists etc. on the Left side, & Music showing in a Song list the way I like, I didn't see any benefit of V 12 over V 10.7. Moreover, in V 12 the 'iTunes Store' doesn't work - it just closes the iTunes program!
So I'm not in a big hurry to try reinstalling V 12.
But I'm up to the academic challenge, so at the end of the week - which will be the New Year - I might try a more thorough job of Backing Up my three Libraries, & downloading/installing V 12 & see if anything has changed. Of course, I will do a Windows System Image Backup first, so that if I end up ****** off, I can do 'Restore System Settings' & thereafter live forever happy with V 10.7.
Remember that in the software world "New does not mean better". Very, very true.

Itunes 11 multiple libraries

I had multiple libraries in itunes 10 and have now downloaded itunes 11. Now all my libraries are combined together (my music, kids music, christmas music). How can I separate them again?

I'm looking for this answer too . . . Iron Maiden showing up in daughters lulabies is not that cool . . .I'll come back if I find anything. I think it has something to do with the cloud.

ITUnes 9 - Multiple Libraries cannot be found

Yesterday, in order to free up space on my macbook's internal hard drive, I created a new iTunes library on an external hard drive where I moved most of my music. But I kept some on my internal drive for when I'm away from home and want to listen to music directly from my laptop. Like today. When I started up iTunes holding the option key, I selected 'Choose Library' and selected my iTunes music folder (and then subsequent other folders) and every time got the message "An iTunes library could not be found in the folder X. Please choose a different folder". I figured it might be because my internal music library was created eons ago. So I created a new one.
However, when I got home this evening and hooked my macbook up to the external hard drive, and started iTunes holding down the option key, the same thing has happened with the external library I created last night. Any idea what I might be doing wrong?

The only thing is that when I unplug my external hard drive, and open iTunes holding down the option key and select the library that is on my internal hard drive, it still shows all of the music on my external hard drive ... Is this linked to the iTunes library file that I still have sitting on my desktop?
no. iTunes looks for library files in your iTunes folder only. i guess it's because you created one library containing all files and another containing the +internal files+ only. i'm thinking it might be a good idea, in order to clean up the mess , to have iTunes consolidate all content to the external drive first, then consolidate selected content back to the internal.
Since there is so much more music on the external than the internal, it would be nice if, when I option-opened iTunes and selected the internal library, it would only show the music that is actually on my computer, instead of having to guess what is and what isn't.
instead of working with two libraries, i much prefer one single library which content is (or can be) spread across one or more volumes. iTunes provides the option to create plain (dumb) and/or smart playlists in order to filter content. the advantage is, IMHO, not to have to switch between libraries or remembering what content is in which library. as an example you could create a smart playlist that contains only the tunes that you keep locally (for traveling) and another that is a combination of local & external content for when you're @ home and the external drive is hooked up.
check the following reads on the subject: one and two.
however, if you, for whatever reason, need separate libraries, there are tools that'd make the task easier. notably, there are:
_*http://dougscripts.com/itunes/itinfo/ituneslibrarymanager.php*_
and
PowerTunes
click here for more information on *how to manage multiple iTunes libraries on the same computer*.
there are ways to have iTunes move only selected files to another location. say, for example, you want to move your movies. in that case, you would point iTunes (preferences > advanced) temporarily to that location, select the movies in iTunes, right-click and choose +consolidate selection+. after the move's done, you'd point iTunes back to the old location - or where you want it to put newly added content.
I'm not sure I get this part.
the +consolidate selection+ provides an option to move selected content to another location. for example, if you want to move your Apple Lossless music to drive A, movies to drive B, tv shows to drive C, and yet have all content in a single library.
the above reads on +splitting & managing+ your library will provide further insight.
let us know which path you will follow and if you have additional questions.
JGG

Ipod and itunes and multiple libraries

is it possible to have 2 different itune libraries? i have 1 account already with itunes for a 60g ipod video and my brother in law shares a computer with me and just bought a ipod nano and needs to load music into his.

Try the options here and here.
(23100)

Itunes with multiple libraries

I am using an two libraries with my iTunes, the "regular" on on the mac for the music I bought on the store and one on an external drive with a copy of my old CDs (some are so rare and odd that even gracenote cannot identify!), I would like to consolidate these libraries indipendently, how can I decide which drive and folders iTunes must look into?
Thank You.

Don't take this as a correct answer, but the solution I think you are looking for lies in the "consolidate library" function. Found under file/library menu in iTunes. Research it first. Like I said I have not done this yet but I think this might help you.
Cheers

Using iTunes with multiple libraries/HD's

Hey guys,
I am running out of space on my Mac HD. Is it possible to create a secondary iTunes folder on an external hard drive to store my least used iTunes playlists/playlist folders and use my Mac HD to store my most frequented ones?
If this is possible, would it also be possible to plug into my external HD playlists and use them alongside my mac HD iTunes folders?
Many thanks,
j

Jeveland,
Welcome to Discussions,
Although iTunes only has one 'iTunes Music folder location', the music can be stored at any location and added to the library.
The 'iTunes Music folder location' is the location where iTunes stores ripped CDs and purchased music. It does not tell iTunes where your music is stored.
The locations of your songs are stored in the 'iTunes Library' file.
Read more about the library files here.
Uncheck 'Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to the library' in Preferences>Advanced>General. Then add your music to the library.
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac 800 MHz, 768 MB RAM, 200 GB HD, DL burner Mac OS X (10.4.8) iTunes 7.0.2

Supposed support for Multiple Libraries in iTunes 7

Come on Apple, your website says iTunes 7 supports multiple libraries in multiple locations, yet there is no way to enable a second library or create additional libraries through iTunes. Is this just hype about the tedious manual workaround of not having iTunes copy everything to one location? When will we get true multiple libraries? This is sorely missing functionality for anyone with a harddrive smaller than 250GB.
Quoted from http://www.apple.com/itunes/overview/
"Multiple Libraries
Build your collection over multiple libraries, and keep them on different hard drives to save space."

I think there are a large number of us who are in the "for some reason" category: we want to have our libraries split across multiple HD's.
Here's my exact scenario:
I have a small portion of my library stored locally on my PowerBook for when I am on the road (~30GB). I have the bulk of my music collection stored on an external drive at home (~160GB). I have another set of tracks that are works in progress that my band is in the process of writing/recording, stored on a 2nd external drive at our studio (~10GB). I want to be able to plug in any of the external drives, and have access to that content whenever I am at home or at the studio, without having to change the local library stored on my PowerBook.
Consolidating the library does not help at all in this scenario - not only does the complete library not fit on my PB's hard drive, but I also don't want the reverse, which is to consolidate to one external drive which I'd then have to carry around everywhere. iTunes should be smart enough to recognize different library files concurrently, and store the import/organize settings per library. I guess that's too much to ask...

Multiple libraries, multiple instances, multiple preference sets

Hi everyone!
I know how to create multiple libraries, but does anyone know if it is possble to access through ONE instance of iTunes the multiple libraries created? If not, is it possible to run multiple instables of iTunes?
In any case, if it possible to have different preference sets for each library?
The reason I'm asking is that I find it really great to have multiple libraries so that one can have media on different drives/locations and better manage one's media. However, it's a real pain in the *** to have to quit iTunes, hold the Option key while starting iTunes, choose a library, and play whatever one wants to play.
Syncing with an iPod, too, is a pain, because I have to manually manage the iPod.
So until, iTunes does all this by itself, does anyone know of a solution?
Thanks.
PowerBook G4 17" Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Good thoughts, and maybe we'll get there someday. Already, Apple has made a complex business (managing a media library) impressively easy through iTunes, and it's steadily improved iTunes, too. Of course, the success that Apple has had in software ergonomics always leaves it in the position of having consumers say, "Well, if you can give us this, then why can't you give us that?"
At the same time, many--probably a large majority--of iTunes users do not discern the difference between the iTunes Library and the collection of music files the Library refers to. I'm sure Apple is concerned about confusing such users by adding the kind of complexity and power to iTunes that some of us could take advantage of. It's a tough balancing act.
(BTW, I think Apple should have chosen its iTunes terminology a little differently in order to help users more easily understand iTunes organization. Maybe the iTunes folder could have been called the iTunes Library folder, the iTunes Music Library file the iTunes Music Catalog, and the iTunes Music folder the iTunes Music Holdings folder, or something along those lines that makes for a closer analogy with a regular, physical library.)
I still think Apple could give you the feature you seem to be looking for by creating a new kind of preset...maybe call it Collections, or something like that... that would allow you to store different sets of preferences affecting Importing of new tunes--location, file format, etc. Then you could do what you want within one library.
Who knows? ...Hope you get what you want sometime soon!
iMac G4 17; iBook G4 1.33 Mhz 14; iPod 3G 20GB Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Multiple libraries, same computer

Hey all!
I've been trying to organize my music quite a few days now. The good thing is I've figured out how i want things to be. Too bad iTunes doesn't seem to get it. Or maybe am I missing something?
I have a Macbook computer which is getting it's hard drive pretty full. Because I use it both at home and at work, I travel with it a lot which means, I can't fill it with music. I do have some music on it (podcasts for example), but most of my music is on external hard drive and I'd like to keep it that way.
The way I'm thinking, is there a way to let iTunes use multiple libraries at the same time? For example I have my external HDD library available next to the one on my internal hard drive? Kinda like when iTunes finds shared music on computers on the network?
That way I could differentiate two libraries yet having them both available without using option-key to launch and select libraries (thats kinda lame).
Hope you guys and gals get my point

DiggyStereo wrote:
Would be nice if it would be built in iTunes by Apple of course
try your luck here: _*iTunes feedback*_.
happy computing !
JGG

ITunes match with multiple libraries

I can't seem to find a satisfactory answer to this. Namely, how does iTunes Match treat multiple libraries on the same Mac. In my case, I spent a lot of time segregating my music. Thus, I have a rock library, a classical library, an instrumental (Windham Hill and Narada) library, an ambient recording library. It makes sense to me to do this rather that dump everything into one pot. That way, I can load a Touch with a specific library and don't have to create a zillion playlists. Using the same iTunes login, how will Match treat these different libraries? Will it only concern itself with what it finds in the currently open library? How will it treat different iPod Touches that are linked to a specific library? Will it want to push the wrong music to a Touch? Would appreciate any thoughts.

One person sets up Match on their computer using the iTunes account. Uploads everything to match.
I would recommend waiting until that person is done, and do computers one at a time. No particular reason, just seems sensible.
Next person sets up match using same iTunes account details. Uploads their stuff. They will then see everything the previous user put into the system, unless you select "Hide music not on this computer" in the view menu. Previous user will now see their stuff too.
Rinse and repeat.
This is how it worked with my multiple machines anyway... As long as every computer uses the same iTunes account for the store, you all get access to the same Match account.

Music and Video on Nas in folders but how do i set up itunes on multiple computers to see and use these files and create libraries?

Music and Video on Nas in folders but how do i set up itunes on multiple computers to see and use these files and create libraries?
So i have had a itunes set up on my old PC, bought a NAS and copied the folders over to the NAS, i did this incorrectly and so then even when i told the old PC to use that folder it saw all the songs but wasnt able to play the songs as it was looking in the incorrect place.
So now i want my Mac as well as my PC and others to all use the music, videos etc on the NAS they are in itunes friendly folders (as they were compiled this way by the itunes on the old PC.
When i tell the mac to use the itunes library.itl file it sees the song list (about 100gb) but cant see any songs, so i have removed this file to another location for now with the hope to set up a new file and then get it to see the songs on the folder from the NAS.
Can someone tell me how to do this for all the Mac's and PC's on my network as i really want one master library that all use and add too.
Thanks for your help in advance.

I have the same question but I am using two pc's

Multiple libraries on same computer with current iTunes version

How can I create multiple libraries with the current version of iTunes? I want to add a library to a computer that already has one. Please help!

Go to System Preferences>Users and Groups and click on the padlock in lower left and enter admin PW to allow changes. Then click on the + sign in lower left and add a new user

Multiple Libraries for Multiple Users on iTunes

Is there a way - using iTunes 7 - to have multiple libraries? Our family shares a computer and I would love to have separate libraries.
Thanks.
Tas804

Hi there
Hold down the 'alt' key for a couple of seconds when you launch iTunes from the dock.
You should get a prompt to create a new library, or choose another library to launch.
Good luck
noel

ITunes 7 Multiple Libraries

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