Making a second iTunes Library

I have a 15 gig itunes library, mixed between mp3 and aac files.
I want to make a duplicate library, on my external HD, to make all the files mp3 to make some mp3 cds and dvds with. Is there an easy means to this? I have a current back up on my external. Can I just convert all the files and then boot itunes using that library for a few times, leaving my original where it is in my music folder?
I did some searching but didnt find my exact question.
Thanks in advance.
John

Libra and iTunes Library Manager can manage multiple libraries.
You can try both and see which one is best suited for your purpose.
M

Similar Messages

Can I set up a second iTunes library if away from my first?

I started this post on MacBook Pro, but someone there thought I might get more specific answers here. He said 'yes', I could, by holding 'alt/option' key while clicking to open iTunes, and selecting 'new library'. But he warned I might lose everything on the iPad. Anyone here have experence with this to know what does happen?
Here is my original post:
I'm in France on a journey. I have an iPad with me, and want to download new books I buy off Amazon into my Kindle software on this iPad. When I tried to do this, I'm told it can't be done without having access to my iTunes library.
Unfortunately, my main iTunes library lives on an external hard drive back home in California. I loaded music onto an iPod so I wouldn't need it.
Is there a way I can set up a second iTunes library on this MacBook Pro I'm traveling with, which will allow me to download books without access to my main iTunes library?
Thanks so much for your help,
Karen

All the stuff on my current iPad will be stripped, null and void?
Not having an iPad I can't say for certain although when I connect any other iDevice (iPhones & iPods) to another iTunes Library I get a message similar to "Your device is connected to another iTunes Library…" with more stating to the effect that it will be erased and the contents of the current (which in this case empty) Library will replace whetever is on your device. At this point you have the option to Continue or Cancel.
So yes, you might end up with an empty iPad which is why I suggest you be extremely careful in reading what's on-screen.
It's one of the big big failings in iTunes where I need to carry around a 65GB library just so I can manage an iPhone.

Add music to my ipad from second iTunes library

Hi everyone
For syncing, backups, etc I use my iTunes library on my mac for my iPhone and ipad. This includes CDs I have ripped in mp3
I have been reripping my CDs using AIFF. I have these an external hard drive. I also have imported these into MY second iTunes library which is on an external hard drive. I use this second iTunes library just for these music files.
Is there any way I can sync or drag and drop these CDs from this second iTunes library of mine onto my ipad and iPhone without needing to import them into my regular iTunes library that I use?
Thanks in advance for any info
Peter
( by the way I tried posting this in iTunes for Mac section but my ipad air had problems publishing the post for some reason. Something came up about some previous reference when i started my post)

Having kept looking around I found this that APPEARS hopeful: (mind you some other threads disagree)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1535
I can sus that out later tonight or tomorrow when I get a chance.
There is also this comment on another thread that is similar. Comment by paulie.phonic:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5007069?start=15&tstart=0
Any idea about those theories?
Cheers

How do i make a second iTunes Library?

pleas someone tell me how to make a second itunes library for me because my brother has one and he doesnt want my songs on
his library.. Please Help

The most practical solution is for you to have your own user account in Mac OS X. That way all your information - your iTunes library, your Address Book, your browser bookmarks, your documents, everything - will be completely separate from those of your brother.
Regards.

HT1589 I cannot create a second itunes library, I have tried shift and iTunes and the screen to choose library options does not appear.

I am tryingto create a second itunes library as I need these completly separate. I have looked up how to do this on my PC and holding shift and iTunes does not give me the option to choose library or create new library. Can you tell me where I can get to do this?

Hi lizzy1959,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
The article below may be able to help you with this.
Click on the link to see more details and screenshots.
iTunes 11 for Windows: Use multiple iTunes libraries
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12366
I hope this information helps ....
Happy Holidays!
- Judy

How do I add movies or books to an external second itunes library?

I want to create an external itunes library. I know I have to use opt. and restart itunes in the correct library.
After I create a new second library, how do I add content to that library? Do I just have it on the same disc, or must it be in a
particular folder? Don't know. In my main itunes library, I just drag the movie into the open itunes window, and it puts my movie, or book
where it belongs. Please Help. I have moved all my movies and books off my main computer iMac, onto an external drive.
Thanks if you could give me detailed how to's. I have the current itunes software on my iMac.
Bev

Are you trying to start a second library just for the books and movies on the external drive? If that's the case, create your library on the drive, then drag the books and movies to the Automatically Add To iTunes folder you will find in the iTunes folder that was just created for the new library on the external drive. This will move the files to the correct locations within the new iTunes folder and add them to the new library.

Second iTunes library on External Drive

I have a very large music collection (about 4,000 cds) that I would like to digitize. Ideally, I would like to be able to use the iTunes library on my MacBook Pro as a smaller, sort of "current playlist" library, while keeping the majority of my library on an external drive that I have access to when I attach the external drive. How do I do this?
Thanks!

use 3rd party apps such as these to rip the CDs and store the resulting files on the external.
temporarily disable +*copy files to ... when adding to library+* in preferences > advanced, then drag the content from the external into an open iTunes window or use the +add to library+ command from the file menu. iTunes will index the path to the location of the files but not add them physically to your designated iTunes music (or media) folder.
if you want to move certain files to your MBP's music folder, you could use this script:
[_*Re-Locate Selected v1.1*_|http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=relocateselected]
This script will re-locate the files of the selected iTunes tracks from their current location to a new user-chosen folder. iTunes will be updated with each track's new location and all of each track's meta-data will be preserved. Option to remove the files from their original location. (I don't advise using this on more than an album's worth of tracks or so at a time; re-locating dozens of tracks' files to a single folder doesn't seem to make much sense to me.)
NOTE: If your "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" preference set, you will not be able to create new folders in or re-locate files within the iTunes Media folder; outside is OK.

Transferring songs from iPod to a second iTunes library on another computer

I have iPod Nano. My computer at home has an Itunes library. So does my computer at work. Can I transfer songs that I purchased at home onto my computer at work? If so, How? At work, I have tried to drag the songs that are listed under my iPod Music to my iTunes library, but it doesn't work.

have you tried this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848

Accessing a second iTunes library with an inherited iPod Touch

Hi - My husband is now using my iPod Touch. It still needs to be synced to my iTunes account because of the existing apps, books and a couple of videos. However, he has his own iTunes account for music he purchases. A lot of it came from our old CDs, and is the same in both our music libraries, but there is enough divergence (plus our preferences with the same music are different).
How can I get his music library onto what is now his iPod, while maintaining the sync to my iTunes account?
We have both enabled Home Sharing, so we can see each other's library on the computer, but so far I can't figure out how to copy his library into a Playlist on my computer.
Or can he sync the iPod to both my account on my computer, and his account on his computer?
Help will be deeply appreciated.

Thanks, Jim. I can see how that would work. But is there any way to avoid intermingling the two libraries, so each doesn't lose its own properties (such as number of times played, rankings, etc.)? I was hoping there would be a way to just move all of his music directly into a Playlist.
After mulling over your answer, I found instructions for creating additional Libraries in iTunes, and created one to be for my husband's music. I have used the command File>Add to Library to populate it. However, the only place his songs still appear is in the shared library - the new one is empty. The only item in the bottom right-hand corner of iTunes is the one which is labelled "choose which speakers to use". None of his music in the Shared library can be dragged anywhere.
In Preferences>Sharing, the last line says Status: On, no users connected. And yet I can see his library under Sharing, and he can see mine, and right now my iPhone is connected to my computer as well.
Any further suggestions? There must be something I'm missing.
Thanks!

HT4352 How do I add a second iTunes library?

I Have Apple TV that is sharing with my housemate. His is coming up on home sharing. How do I add mine?

Welcome to the Apple Community.
You need to turn homesharing on (iTunes > File > Homesharing) using his Apple ID.

IPad with a second iTunes library sync: all apps don't work any more...how can I fix the problem?

I was used to sync my iPad (iOs 4.3.5) with my main personal computer (with windows 7 64 bit on it) but after the pc went off I synchronized the iPad to my laptop (windows vista 32 bit) just for searching iOs update...the result was that any apps work anymore!!!!! How can I fix the problem?
Thank you in advance,
Paolo

If it's happening on all the apps that you've downloaded from the App Store, but not the Apple built-in ones, then try downloading any free app from the store (as that appears to reset something) and then re-try them - the free app can then be deleted.
If it's happening on all apps then try closing them all completely and then see if they work when you re-open them : from the home screen (i.e.not with any app 'open' on-screen) double-click the home button to bring up the taskbar, then press and hold any of the apps on the taskbar for a couple of seconds or so until they start shaking, then press the '-' in the top left of each app to close them, and touch any part of the screen above the taskbar so as to stop the shaking and close the taskbar.
If that doesn't work then you could try a reset : press and hold both the sleep and home buttons for about 10 to 15 seconds (ignore the red slider), after which the Apple logo should appear - you won't lose any content, it's the iPad equivalent of a reboot.

Options for iTunes library - quickly growing with mp4 videos

Hello all,
Here is my dilemma. I have a large library of MP4 videos (movies) in my iTunes library, which is growing daily. These are not iTunes purchases. I plan to unload these files to an external HDD. Home Sharing is the main reason why I use iTunes for my Movie library to begin with.
Here is my dilemma. I cannot, to my knowledge, run a partially referenced iTunes library- where Music is automatically copied to the iTunes Media folder, but Videos are not (but rather referenced on the external hard drive).
1) Is there any way around this besides unchecking "automatically copy to iTunes folder" everytime I add a Video to my iTunes Library
2) Would I be better off creating two seperate iTunes libraries? One for the referenced video files on the EHD and one for my music, which I want to remain on my internal drive.
3) Any other plausible solutions?
I hope I'm being clear. Just looking for the best plan of action. Thanks in advance
MBP Late 2013''
10.9.2

1) Is there any way around this besides unchecking "automatically copy to iTunes folder" everytime I add a Video to my iTunes Library
No, not automatically, not with how iTunes presently works.
2) Would I be better off creating two seperate iTunes libraries? One for the referenced video files on the EHD and one for my music, which I want to remain on my internal drive.
No. I used to think it would but at least with my old iTunes version any libraries made in my user account share the same single user preferences. Unless you disable the "automatically copy to" feature I am pretty sure either library will put the items in the same media folder because they both use the one set of preferences settings. You can check this by making a second test library but don't add anything to it. Then check advanced preferences from yur main library and this test library and see if they point to the same media folder.
3) Any other plausible solutions?
Do it the way Michael Allbritton outlines, or leave it set to organize automatically but put the movies on the external drive, then add them back while holding down the option key. This overrides the copy-to function.
Note, splitting media storage this way will work but has disadvantages. If links break for any reason, iTunes will not automatically search for ones that are not part of its media folder organization. If you need to move files to a different drive in the future it will be somewhat tricky as you are likely to end up with a lot of broken links. There may be ways to avoid this but it won't be automatic.

My Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and have just listened to a youtube tutorial on how to move iTunes library to the external hard drive. If I do this can I still load new media on my Mac without the external?

my Mac is telling me that my disk is full. I have bought an external hard drive and watched a youtube tutorial on moving iTunes library to external hard drive. Will I still be able to use iTunes on my Mac for new media or will this now only work through my external hard drive?

To do this you need to learn the details of how iTunes works. For example, you just said, "leave my iTunes on my computer". iTunes is the application itself so of course it has to be on your computer. That said, I therefore don't know what you mean when you say leave iTunes on your computer. The phrasing of your question suggests to me, if I may be frank, you don't understand how iTunes works fully and we can't just give you a "do this" answer and have it work out. It would be too easy to make a mess of things.
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
Yes, you can download media and delete it again (but if it is from the iTunes Store there is the possibility you can't always download it again). Of course if you want to keep a copy you can archive it. I have done that with some files for which I have no room on my computer. I transfer them to an external hard drive and delete the reference to the file (but not the file itself) from my library. If I want a quick listen I go to the file on the drive and use Quicktime player or something else non-iTunes so I don't have to have it added to iTunes and delete again. I don't know if that is the solution you are looking for. I could leave the reference in iTunes but if the file can't be located by iTunes it will tell me there is a broken link = ! I guess I could live with that except I periodically scan my library for broken links and don't want it getting confused with ones I have done deliberately and ones suggesting I am really missing a file somewhere.
Another possibility is to make a second iTunes library for material you are archiving and only use that library when the computer is using the external drive. There are tricky aspects to dong that but it is a possibility too.
The simple solution for most people with computers with tiny drives (as most seem to be these days) is to put their whole iTunes library on an external drive and use it from there.

Large storage question regarding Itunes Library Management

HI
I am running Itunes 7.4 and have a 500gb drive physically attached via firewire 800. I currently have my itunes preferences set to copy files to the library when added. My question is. Can I only have itunes physically manage and store my music on the 500gb drive while keeping my video on another drive and have itunes just maintain a reference. In other words I want to have multiple physical either managed or referenced by the itunes library.
How are you all dealing with this as your video and music libraries continue to get larger and larger?
thanks
jim

Create a second iTunes Library. Quit itunes - hold down the option key when relaunching iTunes and follow the directions offered.
MJ

.xml file and iTunes library files are missing from the music folder

I recently made a second itunes library on my external hd, today when I open itunes and choose this library, the .xml file and itunes music file are invisible or translucent, therefore I can't open my library. But when I go to my music folder they are missing. Another odd thing is that all my music is still in the folder. Is there a way to re-open my library w/o re-importing all my music? Can I some how get a new itunes library file?
Mac OS X (10.4.10)

This is not an answer but I have the same problem. From time to time I clone my music drive to an external drive for back up. When I do, I burn a copy of the album artwork folder, iTunes Music folder, iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Music Libraru.xml, and iTunes Library file to CDRW. This is so I can copy them into the music folder in my user home drive of my laptop then hook up the external and have access my library. Trouble is the .xml file and iTunes library files don't always show up when I go to the iTunes folder in my Music folder. There either is a blank where they should be or the names appear with no icon and when I click to select, that dissappers too. I thought I had a solve by exiting iTunes and letting it save everything. It seems to bring the .xml file back but not the itunes Library file. Any thoughts?

Making a second iTunes Library

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