ITunes Music Library vs. iTunes Library

What is the difference (datawise) between "iTunes Music Library" and "iTunes Library?"
To add music files to the library while in my C drive, do I click and drag the files into where?? ...the "iTunes folder" or another folder? I can't add them to the .itl or.xml files, so how do I add them??

*to add music files to the library while in my C drive, do I click and drag the files into where??*
You open iTunes and drag the songs to the Source list (the long pane on the left hand side). Alternatively in iTunes go to File>Add file to library or File>Add folder to library and navigate to the file or folder of files that you want to add.
The iTunes Library file is the database that holds all of your library information, song titles, artists, playlists, playcounts etc. The iTunes Music Library is an XML file iTunes uses to communicate library information with other programs. You'll get more information including the Folder/File structure in this article: What are the iTunes library files?

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"iTunes music" folder inside "iTunes"

in iTunes preferences i have /Users/me/Music/iTunes for my iTunes Media folder location
inside this folder i find a folder called "iTunes Music" that contains: duplications from the "iTunes" folder (in the higher level), songs/albums which are exclusively there but not linked from iTunes (when i ask i tunes to "reveal in finder"), and some which ARE linked from iTunes -- so, i cant really understand the logic of it.
something tells me it got to do with the home sharing, because i find there some tracks from other libraries/computers... but all and all, it takes some lots of space on my HD, and i would be happy to know if there's a way to consolidate all of it into one folder and get rid of the duplication.
thanks for the help!

Here are typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
If you have upgraded from version 8 (or earlier) to iTunes 9 (or later) at some point, then your media folder (everything inside the red outline) may still be called iTunes Music instead of iTunes Media. The extra Music folder inside the media folder is used if you have allowed iTunes to Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization (iTunes 9) or used File > Library > Organize Library > Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (iTunes 10). Depending on your choices for Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library plus a little bug in which one build changed the name of the file storing the choice of layout it is quite easy for some of your files to be organized according to one layout and some the other.
Assuming you're happy letting iTunes organize your files the following steps should tidy things up (should it be necessary):
1. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" and click OK. Skip if this option is greyed out (already upgraded) or you prefer the older layout.
2. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Consolidate files and click OK. This will bring any files currently organised outside the designated media folder into it. NB This will create duplicate copies of any file that needs to be consolidated, and you will need to manually clean up afterwards. If space is at a premium try Doug Scripts has something that will move files rather than copy them.
3. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, uncheck Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK.
4. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, check Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK. This triggers iTunes into reorganizing everything according to your preferences.
5. (Optional) Close iTunes, rename the folder iTunes Music as iTunes Media then restart iTunes. Check under Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab that the location has automatically updated. If you can't access the media for any reason just undo the folder rename. (Assumes you don't already have a folder called iTunes Media and that iTunes Music is the currently designated media folder.)
PS If you really prefer the older layout, but it is already in the new one then edit the file called .iTunes Preferences.plist in your media folder and change the integer from 1 to 0 before doing step 3.
tt2

HT201209 I'm new to this an yesterday I bought 65$ worth of iTunes music using a iTunes gift card. Then I got these emails saying I am being billed again????? What do I do???? I'm very frustrated with this. Please help me

yesterday I bought 65$ worth of iTunes music using a iTunes gift card. Then I got these emails saying I am being billed again????? What do I do???? I'm very frustrated with this. Please help me

What e-mail are you talking about?
What exactly did it say?
Are you sure that the e-mail was not your receipt?

Using Time Capsule as External Drive for iTunes Music Folder in iTunes 9

First, prior to upgrading to Snow Leopard and iTunes 9, I had my 210 GB of music on a 1TB Time Capsule which I accessed wirelessly through my Macbook Black and I set my path to the "iTunes Music (External) Folder" I created on the Time Capsule as the default path for iTunes to access the iTunes Music (External) Folder. My iTunes Library and Album Art reside on the Macbook hard drive. Unless I opened iTunes when the Macbook was disconnected from the Time Capsule (e.g., not at home), it always remembered the drive path the next time it was opened and would play music fine. If I had to reset the drive path, iTunes would remember it (again, unless I was disconnected from my Time Capsule). Now, under iTunes 9.0.1 and Snow Leopard, iTunes always defaults back to the iTunes Media Folder on the Macbook each time I open iTunes even if I set the path to the Time Capsule. The TC is also used as my airport connection to the cable modem and Home Sharing is enabled. Oddly, iTunes seems to play music just fine even though the drive path to the iTunes Music (External) Folder is not being utilized, which it would not do under the old version of iTunes. A screenshot is below. Anyone know what is going on here?
/Users/seanrichardson/Desktop/Screenshot_1.png

Make sure the Time Capsule is ready and mounted before launching iTunes.
You can add it (the Time Capsule) to your Login items in System prefs -> Accounts.

Switched laptops - music moved - appears in itunes music folder, not itunes

I used my ipod as a hard drive to move my music from my old windows laptop to the new. The music all shows up in my folder for itunes music but not in my itunes program. What am I doing wrong?

File -> Add to library...
then pick the folder with all your music in it.
Patrick

Import itunes music back into itunes help help help help!!!

I lost all of the music that i had purchased through itunes from my pc when it crashed. Now I have all those songs (3000+) on dvd, how do i import those songs off the disk into itunes? I've tried drag and drop and I get nothing i've tried impoting but itunes dose'nt recognize.Even when I try to play the music through itunes nothing happens!!

If you burned the purchased music on a Data DVD, try adding (not importing) them to the library.
Set iTunes to 'Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library' in Preferences>Advanced>General.
M

Itunes music sorting question, itunes is sorting part of a cd incorrectly

ok here's the problem. I just imported a cd onto my itunes music file. it was originally filed as two cd's, one with the regular cd, the second with four bonus tracks that were released on various versions of the particular cd. this is what happened. itunes put the regular cd with the other cd's I have by the artist, but the bonus songs? they were stored in a new list, same band name, in an unalphabetized location on my itunes browser. the band is called "10 years" and the regular cd is, like I stated above, filed with the rest of the ten years tracks, but the bonus material? it's stored near the top of my artist list in a now new label that says ten years. i selected all the files for the cd, put them in as one cd, with one cd title, all filed as (correct track number) of 17 tracks, and its still sorting them separately. so in summation, the regular cd's 13 tracks are filed with the rest of the ten years tracks, but the bonus songs are filed in an all new ten years artist label at the top of my artist list, instead of at the bottom where the band names that start with numbers are stored. in the six or so years i've used i tunes this has never happened. i've imported hundreds upon hundreds of cd's into itunes and this has NEVAR happened. I tried deleting the cd, after it was correctly labeled and then re importing it but to the same no effect. it still files them separately, and incorrectly i must add. lastly, the actual file location of the tracks is correct. they're all in my ten years file, all in one folder under the cd title. when i select the "correct" ten years file on my itunes browser all the songs are listed, but the bonus songs are above the regular songs on the list. so track 1-13 are UNDER track 14-17. now I know its not a big "problem" but it IS quite frustrating. I'm a little OCD about my music and dont want anything out of order or mislabeled, etc. if you have ANY idea what is causing this issue please help. i would appreciate it.

Ah, that's the same fix as I describe in One album, still too many covers. I've no idea why iTunes does this one either. Funnily enough it seems to happen sometimes when I rename an existing album which is properly grouped so I know the values must be consistent because I've only just changed them, and did so all at the same time.
tt2

Sound on playback of iTunes music either on iTunes or Sonos stops.

Have had this problem for a while on different platforms but seems worse now.
Had XP on laptop and library on time capsule. The sound on playback of iTunes songs would quite, but iTunes still acted like it was playing. Sound would restart after a few songs went by or if you restarted the song.
Went to iMac partially because of this issue and now still have the problem. Have iTunes library loaded locally on the iMac. So then thought that it was an Airport issue. So I went with Sonos system and the problem persists. I see similar posts all over the web, but don't see solutions
I've been sold on the fact that Apple products just work, but that has definitely NOT been my experience with iTunes. Not even close.
Hope someone can help.

let's first check through the possibilities from this document:
Troubleshooting iTunes for Windows Vista video playback perfomance issues
... if no joy there, what make and model of PC do you have? are you using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Vista?

ITunes music for non-iTunes players?

hi, i see that this iTunes plus says that you can use the new type of music for other non-iTunes players? Basically I play a video game and that game has it where you can play MP3 files in the game. However it does not support traditional iTunes purchased files because of how they are incoded. Will the new iTunes plus files be able to be played in a regular MP3 player? or be converted so that they can be? buying from iTunes and not able to use the files in other programs besides iTunes is a huge turn off :/

If your player can play 256 kbps bitrate AAC files (which you can find out from the documentation that came with the player) then you will be able to listen to the new iTunes Plus tracks as-is.
If your player can handle AAC tracks but only up to 128 kbps (which is the case with my Blackberry phone, for instance) you can make a copy of the track with a reduced bitrate and listen to that on your player (and use the original higher-bitrate version on your computer or iPod, if you like).
And if your player can only handle mp3 files, you can create a copy in mp3 format that will work just fine.
These conversions to lower bitrate or to mp3 can be done very easily within iTunes.

New itunes library from itunes music

can someone tell me how to create a new itunes library file from the actual itunes music folder - both library files are corrupt (that is to say - blank, no songs - don't ask) - the itunes music folder has all the music - if i open it and click on songs they play in itunes, but when i open itunes there are no songs listed. there has got to be a way to re-create the library file - it's just a database that points to the actual music files, and i have the music. i just don't have the pointers.
thanks - robert

Move the existing iTunes(not iTunes Music) folder when iTunes isn't running, open iTunes, and drag the iTunes Music folder as well as anywhere else on the hard disk where the music may be stored into the open iTunes window.
(31066)

Backed up itunes music, library, now songs are missing??

Hey all,
I recently had to restore my laptop to factory specs, which meant I had to remove and re-install my itunes. I made sure before I restored it to back up all my itunes music folder and database/library files to an external hard drive. As I have over 11,000 songs in itunes (~60gb worth), this process took several hours, but I felt sure everything was backed up and I was good to go.
Wrong! When I re-installed itunes, it asked me to choose a library to use, and so I chose the location on my external hard drive, and all was fine until I unplugged it. Then it wouldn't locate any songs. So I re-imported all my songs and playlists over that were on my hard drive, but it's telling me that some songs can't be found. They should be in there but they're not. So I used a 3rd party software app to move the songs from my ipod to a folder on my computer, but they all have weird names (the way ipod organises the songs) and I don't know which song is which.
To make a long story short, after deleting and re-adding my itunes library, I now have 2-3 copies of each playlist (including the standard ones that automatically are in itunes), and 2 copies of several songs, one of which works and the other doesn't.
Since I still don't have several (possibly 100 or more) songs in my itunes that I do have on my ipod, should I just delete the whole itunes and start over?
All I really want is my itunes library back and the info like the original date added, last played, play count and ratings.
Oh, and I'm using itunes 7.5 b/c I tried 8 and didn't like it.
I really hope someone can help answer me b/c I've been unable to add any new songs to my ipod for 2 months now!

I have now resorted to uninstalling, redownloading, and reinstalling iTunes again.
That won't fix anything.
If you want everything to stay on the external...
Hold Shift and launch iTunes.
Select *Create library*.
Select a folder on the external.
iTunes will create a new iTunes folder.
Inside this folder will be a folder called "Automatically add to iTunes".
Drag all the music on the external to this folder.

I'm in the process of switching computers. Is it necessary for me to back up my itunes music library somehow, or will my library come up when I install itunes on my new computer?

I'm in the process of switching computers. Is it necessary for me to back my itunes music, or will my library come up when I install itunes on my new computer?

Hello,
I would recommend taking a look at the article below for more information about migrating your iTunes library.
iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364
-Griff W.

ITunes library is split between iTunes/iTunes Music and iTunes/iTunes Media/Music

My itunes library is split between iTunes/iTunes Music and iTunes/iTunes Media/Music, what should I do to combine them? I would like all my iTunes stuff to be in one, organized, location.

Here are typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
If you have upgraded from version 8 (or earlier) to iTunes 9 (or later) at some point, then your media folder (everything inside the red outline) may still be called iTunes Music instead of iTunes Media. The extra Music folder inside the media folder is used if you have allowed iTunes to Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization (iTunes 9) or used File > Library > Organize Library > Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (iTunes 10). Depending on your choices for Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library plus a little bug in which one build changed the name of the file storing the choice of layout it is quite easy for some of your files to be organized according to one layout and some the other.
Somehow it seems you've also managed to get both an iTunes Music and an iTunes Media folder. I'd recommend you make sure the media folder preference is set to iTunes Media before you continue...
Assuming you're happy letting iTunes organize your files the following steps should tidy things up (should it be necessary):
1. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" and click OK. Skip if this option is greyed out (already upgraded) or you prefer the older layout.
2. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Consolidate files and click OK. This will bring any files currently organised outside the designated media folder into it. NB This will create duplicate copies of any file that needs to be consolidated, and you will need to manually clean up afterwards. If space is at a premium try my scripts Unconsolidated to find out what would need moving and ConsolidatebyMoving to move rather than copy it.
3. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, uncheck Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK.
4. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, check Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK. This triggers iTunes into reorganizing everything according to your preferences.
5. (Optional) Close iTunes, rename the folder iTunes Music as iTunes Media then restart iTunes. Check under Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab that the location has automatically updated. If you can't access the media for any reason just undo the folder rename. (Not relevant in this instance).
6. (Optional - Windows only) If Windows Media Player has ever had access to your files it may have liberally scattered folder artwork files about which iTunes won't tidy up when it reorganizes things, thus leaving behind a heap of folders with artwork and no media. I've written a script for cleaning this mess up called CleanDeadArt.
PS If you really prefer the older layout, but it is already in the new one then edit the file called .iTunes Preferences.plist in your media folder and change the integer from 1 to 0 before doing step 3.
tt2

Two instances of iTunes application pointing to same library..??

I run a 2 disk system (OS & Apps on Disk 1, Data on Disk 2) - and have always had my iTunes library on Disk 2, with the media folder location ("edit" -> "preferences" -> "advanced") set to "D:\Personal Data\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music", which seems to add the library information into the directory immediately above the media folder (e.g. "D:\Personal Data\My Music\iTunes\").
I have issues with my current XP build (crashing, etc.), and have started to build a 2nd instance of XP on a newly created partition on Disk 1, next to the original instance of XP.
My question is - if I install iTunes as an application on my new instance of XP (ensurng that it's the same version), and change the media folder location to point to the existing location (both instances of XP 'see' the Data disk as the "D:" drive...), will this corrupt the existing library or media? Or can I happily boot into either instance of XP, and each inidividual instance of iTunes 'sees' the same library o.k....??
Thanks,

Hi - thanks for taking the time to reply.
As far as I am aware, the folder "above" the location that I configured the media files location to be (my case "D:\Personal Data\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music"), contains the database files - in my case, in "D:\Personal Data\My Music\iTunes\" I have:
- (Folder) Album Artwork
- (Folder) iTunes Music
- (Folder) Previous iTunes Libraries
- iTunes Library Extras.itdb **
- iTunes Library Genius.itdb
- iTunes Library.itl **
- iTunes Music Library.xml **
- sentinel (?????!!!) **
- Temp File
"**" - means that the "last modified" date/time on these was the last time I ran up iTunes application from my (original) XP installation, so these must be the database files as are being used by the application....
I only run one user per XP installation, so no multiple users 'concurrently' sharing one db and music library - and of course, I can only boot into one or other instance of XP as they are on the same partition/machine, so I can be sure that only one instance of iTunes will be accessing the db/music at one time....
I know that sometimes, other applications keep configuration settings and other bits 'hidden' away somewhere in their own application folders, or in application folders hidden somewhere under the OS file system - which in both cases for me are relative to the instance of XP selected at boot time, and I would (if this were the case) have different settings for each iTunes application instance, being in different partitions on my "system" disk. I guess the crux of my question is:
Is all data associated with the database (and management of it), and also all the media (music/artwork/etc.) files, ALL kept under [in my case] "D:\Personal Data\My Music\iTunes\", and so each discrete instance of iTunes, when pointed to this location, accepts the current status of the db (as all required info. is there), and can manage the db (e.g. add/remove things) - and that any changes are simply reflected and seen when booting into the other XP instance, and running iTunes under there..??
I believe (from what I've seen and heard so far) that this is the case (e.g. all required data held in one location, in my case, somewhere on the "D:-Drive") - but the only alarm bell is that you don't seem to configure in iTunes the location of the DB, and it then builds sub-directories with the media in it - it seems that you define where the media goes, and iTunes works back up one level in the directory structure, to install the db files there... just seems a strange way of configuring something (e.g. what happens if you tell it that the media is in the root of a discrete drive - where does it put the DB then, as you can't go back up one level from the root...!!),
Sorry for the long post, but trying to cover everything....
thx.

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.

How do I remove song files from my iTunes Music Folder that are deleted?

Hi,
When I deleted unwanted songs from my iTunes Library I selected the option to Keep Files instead of Moving Song to the Recycle Bin. As a result I've now got a load of unwanted music files clogging up my music folders.
So how can I identify music files that are in my iTunes Music Folders but have been deleted from the iTunes Library and then remove them from my hard drive?
Cheers,
Andy.
Sony laptop Windows XP Pro

Here's a thought, have you added any new items to your library recently?
If you add your iTunes music folder to your library, anything not already in your library will be added.
Now go to your library view and make sure you have the date added column visible. (Right click in the header row to get a list of columns that can be selcted).
Now sort by date added and everying you just added will be together and can be easily identified for deletion.
Note this only applies if files are in the iTunes Music folder, files in other places have to be deleted in Windows Explorer.
PS iT is usually a good idea to make a copy of iTunes Library.itl before experimenting. Copy it from your iTunes folder to somewhere else.

ITunes Music Library vs. iTunes Library

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