ITunes Match, multiple users/libraries

I've poked around a bit, and can't find a clean answer to my question.
My situation is three users, a couple of shared devices, and several ipods/iphones. To this point, we have used one apple id for everything. But each user has pretty specific tastes, so three fairly divergent music libraries. I want each user to be able to manage their library in the cloud most effectively without merging. iTunes Match, however, doesn't differentiate by library. If I turn it on for everyone, everyone's music gets mashed together, including play counts and playlists.
My next solution was to just give everyone their own apple id, and pay for each person to have music match. However, when I tried this last night, as I activated a new id, I was told my computer was already associated with an Apple ID, and that ID would be locked out for 90 days in terms of iTM.
My conclusion is that there is no way to have multiple users manage their libraries independently using iTunes Match. Is this correct? Does anyone know of anyone work arounds? Am I missing a setting somewhere?
Thanks

Each user on each computer will have to set iTUnes to use the external as the library location.
Next depends on what you want to do. Move all files to external then using iTunes add the files to iTunes library again. Empty library in iTunes then add files to library recreating library from scratch.
All users will have to maintain each library separately even though all files will be in same place and accessible to all users. When one person adds something to their own library the other ones will not know it. If someone else wants those files also then they will have to use add folder or add file option to add the files to their own library. It should not duplicate the files on the drive but is sometimes does when you do this. Deleting files or renaming them can be problematic if one user deleted a file another user has in library it will affect both. Podcasts are an exception, these will always duplicate if multiple users subscribe. This allows individual management of episodes.

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ITunes Issues - Multiple Users/Libraries

I am experiencing several issues that revolve around multiple users, multpile iPods and two networked computers. To describe the situation - I have two computers networked with an external drive connected to the main computer. My wife, my son, and I are all users of the computers, we all have our own iPods and it seems like we have multiple libraries out there. I am looking for a solution to do the following: Consolidate all of the libraries into one shared library that all of us can use located on the external drive (due to size constraints and trasportability). The external drive is a plug and play type device with ample space for this. SOme of the issues I have are some songs appear in one iTunes list with a gray exclamation point in front of them and then you have to go searching for the proper folder/library to locate the file, so obviously there are multiple libraries/folders. I believe this has everything to do with my sons "ability" to fix things on the computer. Can anyone direct me to or provide me with a solution to this dilemma? Is there a way to consolidate these without creating multiple copies of the same songs (this has also occurred in the past when my son was solving things. Sorry for the long description but I am trying to provide as much info as necessary.

Each user on each computer will have to set iTUnes to use the external as the library location.
Next depends on what you want to do. Move all files to external then using iTunes add the files to iTunes library again. Empty library in iTunes then add files to library recreating library from scratch.
All users will have to maintain each library separately even though all files will be in same place and accessible to all users. When one person adds something to their own library the other ones will not know it. If someone else wants those files also then they will have to use add folder or add file option to add the files to their own library. It should not duplicate the files on the drive but is sometimes does when you do this. Deleting files or renaming them can be problematic if one user deleted a file another user has in library it will affect both. Podcasts are an exception, these will always duplicate if multiple users subscribe. This allows individual management of episodes.

ITunes Match & multiple music libraries

As you can see from my products list below, I have a history of devices -- all with iTunes' libraries connected by the same login of my @mac eddress. As I added a new device, it became my default iTunes library. Syncing & ripping my CDs between the last to the newest device has been spotty, so iTunes, iCloud & iTunes Match make me positively giddy.
Guess I'm still fuzzy on how iTunes Match in particular will work. Do I need to use the device containing the bulk of my ripped music as the library scanned? If that device happens to be an iPod classic 3, do I need to sync it to my iTunes library using one of my newer devices before signing up for iTunes Match? Unfortunately, I'm betting I won't have enough disk space on a single newer device to do this....
What's the most efficient way of prepping for iTunes Match & iCloud? Thanks!
And, thank you, Steve. This world has become much less interesting, but I wish you restful peace.

I see. That makes more sense to me. This link might also help you understand it better: http://www.apple.com/itunes/whats-new/
Basically, what iTunes Match will do is scan your iTunes library and when it finds non-purchased music that is already on the iTunes Store it will be added to your iTunes in the Cloud; any non-purchased muisc that is not in the Store will then be uploaded to your iCloud account. Up to 25,000 tracks, I think. This will allow you to download your purchased and non-purchased music to any iDevice or computer that is logged in with an AppleID.
Keep in mind iTunes Match is not a streaming service. It does physically download the files to your iDevice even though they may start playing automatically (depending on network speeds) the files are still being downloaded to your iDevice.
Make more sense?

How do I share iTunes with multiple users on Mac mini?

How do I share iTunes with multiple users on Mac mini?

You have to turn on Sharing and then Authenticate Sharing on the other devices. You can have up to 5.

ITunes match for two libraries on one computer

Whenever I try to enable iTunes Match in the latest iTunes beta, it says "This computer is already associated with an Apple ID." I cannot proceed with scanning my library. In the other account, with their Apple ID, it works.
There are two user accounts on our Mac. Does this mean that iTunes Match is linked to the device itself, and not the unique Apple IDs/user accounts? This means in a family that shares a computer, with unique and separate iTunes libraries within each user account, only one person in the family can use iTunes Match (but strangely, both can pay for it).
Any ideas?

I wonder if the following would work...
For both accounts and itunes libraries, use the same apple id.   This should work on the same machine.
Unfortunately, that means the libraries between the two accounts would 'merge' oncd match does its thing and be the same under that one id in the cloud.
For purchases, one of the accounts would have to sign in with their ID in the apple store which would log them out of match. Logging out of match means you only have access to the files you have downloaded from the cloud or where already in the library.    I think your purchased music would be fine and once downloaded to the library, when you log back into match would be picked up and placed in the iCloud library.
From what I can guess, you would have to be stuck with one shared library and this may not be what you want.
They didn't really make match to be a shared among accounts and instead locked it to the machine - probably because of the music licenses. With purchased/drm music and video thouugh, they can be shared across 5 appleid's. Very confusing. You have 10 devices on one id for match and auto/redownload of purcahses and you have 5 appleid's you can share content with.
I've got 4 machines, 5 apple id's, and one match account so far. Only two machines are using match so far (mine and a server), and just using homesharing for the others for now.   Maybe when I'm bored I'll try to see if there is a way to activate match on all the other machines and also work with the other non-match Apple ID's. In a way, home sharing may be easier for the users of those ID's to pull from the master library matched from the server.

Problem with iTunes and multiple user accounts in Windows

I am running iTunes on a PC (Windows XP) and have multiple user accounts. When I switch between user accounts and try to open iTunes, I get a message that tells me I can't open the program because another user is using it. Is it really true that I can only have iTunes open in one user account at a time on a PC with multiple user accounts ?!? If not, what am I doing wrong?

You are right, can only have one open. You have to log out of a user before logging in to another user to use iTunes. Do not use the fast user switching ability of Windows.

Itunes Match: Two users on one computer.

My wife and I share one computer. We switch between users. I set up my itunes match under my user name, then I swtiched to her user and
tried to set up ITM. no go I get this message
Any advice?
Cheers

You can only associate each computer (not account on the computer) to one apple id. This is a restriction of match and automatic downloads from iTunes. See the iTunes terms and conditions and http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4627.
I haven't tested it yet but I think if you have two user accounts on a machine and each has a different apple id, one of the accounts will have to login to match with the Apple ID that was authorized on the machine. I think if they do that, the user's iTunes library will be matched and combined with the library of the other user''s appleid only up in the cloud. You may or may not want that behavior. Also, I think if the user switches back to their AppleID, as long as they kept copies of their music locally that music though also in the cloud would still be accessible since it is on the disk. But anything showing with the cloud download icon (ie: stored only in the cloud) would disappear from the library until they login to match again since that music is not on the disk. The relogin to match will go thru steps 1..3 but much faster on each relogin and all music in match would show up again. I think the user can go purchase music on their id, login to match on the match id, and iTunes will auto match those purchases since they are added to the physical library.
Note, this is speculation on my part based on the fact that I was able to logout of my match ID and login to another ID to updated some aps from the app store. What happened was all my cloud music disappeared, local music stayed that was also present on the disk ws still there. I downloaded some apps, logged out, and logged back in with my iTunes match apple id and everything came back.
I would caution not to do this on an iOS device. On there, if the music is not in the cloud library when logging in and out of match across id's, it may be deleted. Also, the relogin on the iOS device, for me at least with 13,000+ songs, takes 20 minutes on an iPhone 4S.

One iTunes Library, Multiple Users

Is it possible to have one iTunes library (say the Administer's iTunes library) and share it with multiple users on the same computer?
Thanks.
Mick

See if this helps: iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer

ITunes Match - one user per computer

Recently, my computer has crashed. However, I was able to download my music to my friend's computer. I was planning on then having iTunes Match set up and use the new library we created to store on the cloud. However, I was told only 1 Apple ID could be associated with the computer. So here's my idea:
Could I de-authorize HER account, upload MY music to iTunes Match (my account is already authorized on her computer), then when it's done de-authorize MY account and authorize HERS? Is this possible? Would she then be able to play her music as she could before?
PLEASE help me with this. I am currently without a laptop, looking to use my iPad as one, but I NEED to be able to access my music library.

TimTheNerd wrote:
By creating a new user account for yourself on the computer you won't have to deauthorize her account since all of her iTunes settings will be under her original account.
See option 1 described in the link below for step by step details. The other options will also work but I think option 1 is the easiest, and easiest to remove once your done.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1495
Hope this helps
We will definitely try this and let you know if it's successful!

ITunes with multiple users

Hi, I have a friend that just bought a mac mini. He is going to set up Multiple user accounts on it but he wants all of the users to be able to use the same itunes Library. How does he set this up. Does he put the libary in the shared folder?

This should help:
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
Note that when it says "publicly accessible location", it needs to be a place where everyone has read and write access. The most common such place is the Shared folder in the Users folder.

HT5085 iTunes match multiple choice?

Will iTunes match ever give you the option of what album to match your song from? Assuming there are multiple albums with the same matching song.

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PLEASE HELP -- iTunes Match - multiple problems, desktop and iOS

I've been going round and around with this issue for the past couple days (yes, I've been dedicating that much time to it) and finally went to the Genius Bar today to get help and even they were stumped. Hoping someone here can shed some light on the situation. Next stop, express lane for support.
Broad Problem:
I paid for iTunes Match around 6 months ago and activated it on my desktop.     Since then, I've had nothing but problems across my desktop and 4 seperate iOS devices (3 iPhone 4's, and an iPad 3). The basic sympton on the desktop is that iTunes itself frequently freezes (Option-Command-Esc reveals "Application Not Responding") and requires a force quit.   As soon as I turn OFF iTunes Match, this symptom goes away. I can leave iTunes open for hours without any problems. As soon as I turn it back ON, then the problem comes back -- sometimes iTunes won't launch at all (crashes before bringing the UI up), and other times it's the same freeze that requires a force-quite. Quite frustrating.
On the iOS side of things, the situation isn't any better.   When I toggle on iTunes Match and then enable "Show All Music" in the Preferences of the iPhone, then I get any one of the two following scenarios:
A) The Music App simply won't load. It tries, goes to white, and crashes back to the home screen of my iPhone.
B) If I'm lucky, the Music app will launch and I can see my entire library in the cloud as intended. The problems start though when I go to actually download/play songs from the cloud. Typically, the songs will start playing but I will eventually get an error message that alerts me that there was "Problem Downloading Track". When I then go into the Download Que of the iTunes Store (again, still on the iPhone), it shows the entire list of songs that I had wanted to download and shows them at various stages of download completion -- even if they have actually completely played on the phone itself.   Sometimes they will time out and display the "problem downloading track/try again" status, and other times the progress bar sits at about 99% with a status of "Processing".
What's particularly strange about scenario B is that I've tried to download a variety of songs to different devices -- my wifes iPhone 4, my iPhone 4, an iPad, and a iPhone 4S that the person at the Genius Bar had me use as a tester.   When I tried the iPhone 4S at the genius bar, I was amazed at how fast it downloaded to the device. This had the genius bar guy wondering if it was a problem with my phone itself or with the iPhone 4 in particular.   Unfortunately he didn't have a spare iPhone 4 to test with so I had to go home and test with my wife's iPhone 4. Again, she had the same problem.   The status bar hangs at about 99% showing a status of "processing", even though I have completely listened to the track within the Music App. The same scenario happens on the iPad as well.
Okay, if you're with me so far: here's where things start to get REALLY strange....
On MY iPhone 4, when I run into problem A or B, the only fixable solution for me has been to go into Preferences and toggle OFF iTunes Match, completely shut down the phone, restart the phone, and then launch the Music App, at which point I can see the music that has loaded to my phone.    The kicker here is that even though I've turned iTunes Match OFF and completely powered down my phone, when I go into the Music app I can ALSO see my ENTIRE iTunes Match library, completely with cloud status icons.   It's as though I never turned off iTunes Match at all. In fact, I had to triple check my own preferences to verify that it was turned OFF, which it sure enough is.   I can even go and attempt to download songs, with various levels of success based on the problems above.
Now, on my WIFE's iPhone 4, when I run into problem A or B, I tried the same process in tandem with the phones side by side as I did the test -- turn iTunes Match OFF in Preferences, power down the phone, power up the phone, and launch the Music app.    However, on her phone, when this happens the Music App shows what is to be expected -- only the music that is on the phone itself.
Okay, there's a lot to digest here, but here's the synopsis: my phone and my wifes phones are behaving differently when displaying iTunes Match, with my phone appearing to completely disregard the status of the On/Off Toggle within Preferences-->Music, and my wifes phone behaving as it should, at least in terms of what it displays.   The download problems are present on each device and the iPad is also behaving like my wifes phone.
Given all of these inconsistencies and irregularities across devices and platforms -- MacBook Pro running Lion, separate iPhone 4's each running iOS 5.1.1, an iPad running iOS 5.1.1. and an iPhone 4S running iOS 5.1.1 - my suspicion is that:
A) I've got a corrupt iTunes library file residing in the cloud
or
B) iTunes Match is having a hard time reconciling my Apple ID across so many devices (possibly complicated by issue A)
The bottom line is that I have paid for iTunes Match and have never been able to use it successfully or with any predictability.
I'm wondering if anyone else has any symptoms that match any of this and/or have come across a corrupted file in the cloud and, if so, how to remedy the situation. Since it's in the cloud, I can't do anything about. I can't even see it. Most troubling.
Note:
When I went to the Genius Bar, they had me do a complete restore of the phone (not from backup) to elminate any corrupt files within the phone itself. Even that didn't solve the problem.   That's when he brought out the 4S phone to test on and we were both so shocked at how blazingly fast the songs downloaded, error-free. That phone was able to download 8 songs completely before one song downloaded to my phone sitting right next to it. Both on the same Apple Store network and both downloading the exact same tracks using my Apple ID and login.   While it's tempting to say that the 4S is faster than the 4, I don't think it's 8 times faster with download speeds over WiFi.   However, even if the speed/completion discrepancy is because the 4S is superior, it doesn't explain the mind-boggling disparity between my wife's phone and my phone -- both iPhone 4's and both running the same iOS.   Throw in the oddity of iTunes on Lion crashing whenever iTunes Match is on and this all seems to point to some corruption in the cloud that perhaps the 4S device is able to bypass...for whatever reason.
Please help. This is nuts.

Exactly same problem - any ideas - I get error message 14

Using Itunes on multiple users (windows XP)

I have a computer and I have a lot of music I play in Itunes on my user but when a member of my family gets on their user name Itunes is empty, no music, how can I get it so Itunes has the music for all the users to listen too?
Dell 4600 Windows XP Pro 3.0 GHz Pentium 4, 512MB Ram, 80 GB Hard Drive, 128Mb 5200 Graphics Card,

You have to keep dragging it over into their library, see the very bottom of this webpage where the article tells you to repeat steps 6-8.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195

Share itunes match across users

I use Itunes across mine and my partners devices (as you would share a CD you have purchased). Can I do the same with itunes match , allowing access to one match account with another ipad/iphone with a separate apple account ?

Hi,
You must have the same account for match to work on other devices.
Jim

Itunes match replacing music libraries

does it actually do that?
an article in Macworld said that it did not

It does and it doesn't. =)
If you have music on your phone and you turn on iTunes Match on your phone, any songs that have not been uploaded to the iCloud will be removed. But any songs that are already in iCloud will remain on your phone as they were, rather than being deleted and re-downloaded again.

ITunes Match, multiple users/libraries

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