Multiple iTunes Libraries - Each with a separate Media folder location

I have searched and learned that I can create more than one iTunes library file. I can do this so I can start to separate out my large music collection into more manageable chunks. I have learned that I can switch libraries by holding down the "shift" key while starting iTunes (I'm on Windows, so for me it's the shift key) and selecting or creating a new library. Life is good.
However, it seems that the "Media folder location" is the same for all libraries that I create. I want to have certain files and their associated library files on an external drive, and the rest of my library on my local drive. It doesn't let me do that. When I create a new library, and set it up on my "I" drive, and I change the "Media folder location" to also point to the "I" external drive, it works fine. I rip some music, and it's all good.
However, when I close iTunes and switch back to my original library which stores music on the "C" drive, the media folder location for that library has also been switched to the "I" drive. This is not good. The point of having separate libraries is to be able to manage my music. All of "these songs" go on the external drive, and the library files are also there, but all of "those songs" go on my internal drive, and the library should also be on the internal drive.
Am I missing something obvious, or does it just not work properly? Thanks.

I came across this thread and wanted to add my observations. I'm not experiencing the problem noted here. It works fine. Note that I've just updated to iTunes 10.5 today, but I haven't used my multiple libraries in a few months, so I don't know if my lack of a problem is because of this (or a prior) update to iTunes.
I use two libraries. One media folder is on my D:\ drive, and the other, for storing music in a lossless format, is on my external H:\ drive. The library files, however, are both on my C:\ drive. (C and D are partitions of the hard drive in my desktop PC.) The first library file is under My Documents\My Music\iTunes\ and the second one for my lossless music is at My Documents\My Music\iTunes Lossless Library\. (This works great because when I hold shift and open iTunes, the Open iTunes Library window appears, and I just navigate up one level, pick either the \iTunes or the \iTunes Lossless Library folder, and choose the library file therein.)
Tonight I copied the lossless media folder to a new, larger external drive. I then relabeled the old external drive as P: and labeled the new external drive as H:. I then deleted the lossless files from the old drive (now labeled P:). When I first opened my lossless library in iTunes, I could see all of my lossless files which are stored on the new drive (, i.e., the new H:). But when I went to Edit>Preferences>Advanced, the iTunes media folder location showed the D: drive media folder. Uh oh. Looking for help, I came and read this thread. Althought it left me expecting the worst, I just went ahead and changed the media folder location for my lossless music to the H: drive folder, closed iTunes, went back in, and the change stuck. I opened the other library, went back and forth a few times, and each shows its correct media folder location. So maybe this problem was fixed by Apple with an iTunes update, or maybe it's because I keep both libraries on my C: drive instead of on the separate drives where the files are located. I have no idea, but I just wanted to share my observations in case it helps someone else.

Similar Messages

Problem with multiple iTunes libraries!

I've been using a program called PowerTunes that enables easily switching between libraries. I suspect that it may be the culprit of the multiple iTunes Libraries that I have. It's out of control! I've nested Previous iTunes Folders six layers deep!
In addition to this weirdness I've also got multiple plist files and temp files. It's a mess!
When I look at my backup iTunes folder it looks much cleaner. None of the nested folders (pictured above) or the temp files and multiple plist files. Can someone help me to understand this and restore my iTunes library to a normal state??
I've written the maker of PowerTunes but he's just one guy so who knows when I'll hear back from him. The more overt problems I am having include:
• losing ratings
• recently added items disappear
• when I switch libraries, iTunes wants to rebuild the genius library (every time!)
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!!

I'm noticing that with iTunes 8, iTunes now doesn't keep separate preferences for multiple library locations, which is really crazy. I wonder if it's a bug or if there's a reason they did that. so when you hold option and launch itunes to get to your other iTunes library, this "other" iTunes library is now using the "old" iTunes library's file location. So if you add music to them, then they get all jumbled together and you don't know what's going where.
I'm thinking this is the cause of what's happening to you. When you "keep music organized" or whatever, who knows where iTunes is putting the stuff now. It's really bad. I'm hoping somebody has a solution, or any ideas.

How do I create multiple midi tracks each with separate external synthesizer sound

Mac Pro OS 10.10.2, Logic Pro 10.1.1, FireFace 800 (updated), Roland XP-30 synthesizer/keyboard, Mackie mixer.
XP-30 analog output to Mackie, FireFace monitor to FireFace main inputs and FireFace out to Mackie.
What I can't get to work: Sound output for monitoring as I record on each of several midi tracks, each with access to my banks/programs.
Logic automatically set up the multi-instrument and created 16 tracks, visible in the mixer window. I have entered custom banks for the XP-30 and they are working.
Mt problem is two parts. First, my last experience was with Logic Pro 7 way back.
Problem two is that when I create midi tracks (except for the first one I created on channel 1) by control-clicking on one of the tracks in the mixer window I get no sound for monitoring. I can see the green monitor indicator for the track shows midi data incoming. I just can't hear it. It's as if there is no designated output. I have checked audio preferences and see the FireFace as input and output device. If i change the channel to channel 1, I get the sound, but then I have two tracks on channel 1 which doesn't work for designating unique sounds to each track.
I can select "All" for channel and get monitored sound on several tracks; however, they then all play the same sound, of course.
i can create midi tracks (either instrument or external) using the plus icon, but no matter how i set them up that way, they do not allow me access to my banks/programs.
In logic Pro 7 it was no problem creating multiple midi tracks, each with a different sound assigned to it. In Logic Pro 10, I am baffled regarding how to accomplish this and get it all to work as simply and nicely as I was able to with #7.
Make sense? Can anyone help?
Thanks

I have it set to Performance mode which according to the owners manual: "This mode makes the XP-30 function as a multitimbral sound
source, and Performance settings can be modified. If you’re
using an external MIDI device to control the XP-30 in this
mode, it will function as a multitimbral sound source."

Multiple iTunes Libraries?

Is there anyway you can have multiple libraries (not playlists) for different iPods on the same computer? We don't want our music to mix...how can I fix this?

To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Shift key in Windows when launching iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library.
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. The new library will be empty until you add content to it. To get back to your original library you need to close iTunes and open it again while holding down the shift key, this time choose to open an existing library and navigate to its location. Multiple libraries can prove tricky when using multiple iPods, if you don't use the keyboard command you can risk syncing to the wrong library: Using multiple iTunes libraries -Windows
Another option is to create a separate Windows account for each person on your PC. Different user accounts by definition would give you completely separate libraries. Each account has it's own iTunes folder, Library and iTunes Music folder and you load it with CDs etc just as you did with your original one. The iPod can be set to update however the owner chooses, sync all, manual or sync specific playlists.
Apart from these methods there are several other ways to use two or more iPods with one computer, have a look at this help page for all the suggestions and choose the method that suits you best: How to use multiple iPods with one computer

Multiple iTunes Libraries on same computer?

Hi,
My wife, daughter, and I all have ipods, each uses a different computer, my wife and I each use our laptops, and daughter uses the home desktop. Recently, the desktop has crashed and looks like we might need to re-format the drive (i.e. lose everything) and re-install Windows XP. She's got all her music on her iPod but unfortunately, no back up on a CD or DVD. Is there some way to re-create a new library for her from her iPod on to either of our laptops without causing conflicts with our existing iTunes libraries which are totally different. I.E. will the "sync" function work to recreate a library on a hard drive vs. going the other way around as usual.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Shift key in Windows when launching iTunes. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library.
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. The new library will be empty until you add content to it. To get back to your original library you need to close iTunes and open it again while holding down the shift key, this time choose to open an existing library and navigate to its location: Using multiple iTunes libraries -Windows
iTunes will only let you copy your purchases directly from an iPod to the computer, you'll find details in this article: Copying iTunes Store purchases from your iPod or iPhone to a computer
For everything else (music from CDs, other downloads and including iTunes purchases) there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. You can read reviews and comparisons of some of them here:
Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
Comparison of iPod managers
A selection of iPod to iTunes utilities:
TuneJack Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
SharePod Windows Only (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod2PC Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
YamiPod Mac and Windows
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows
Floola Mac & Windows
iPodRip Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Music Liberator Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
Music Rescue Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iGadget Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iRepo Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
iPod Access Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
TouchCopy Mac & Windows (iPhone and iPod Touch compatible)
There's also a manual method of copying songs from your iPod to a Mac or PC. The procedure is a bit involved and won't recover playlists but if you're interested it's available on page 2 at this link: Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide

Have multiple iTunes libraries on one machine?

Hi,
I want to have multiple iTunes libraries on one machine (with two different hard drives, internal fore mp3s and external for AAC files). One library is composed of mp3s for an iPod, I want the other library to have AAC audio files for burning CDs. I would rather the libraries not be mixed.
I have read the article (#301748) for migrating an iTunes library and am preparing to migrate one of the libraries on to a external hard drive.
I have read about using Libra to maintain two different libraries on one machine. I was wondering if anyone does this and if they have encountered any problems? Is there a better solution?
Thank you,
TPK

It's one thing to want two music libraries on one machine and another to want two music libraries on one user account. For the latter, here's what I've done.
I created folders in my iTunes folder called, say, Main Library Folder and Second Library Folder. (These could be anywhere you find convenient.) I dragged my regular iTunes Library file into the Main Library Folder. Then I opened iTunes and created my second music library. When I finished that, I closed iTunes and dragged the just-created iTunes Library file into the Second Library Folder.
If I want to use my main iTunes library, before opening iTunes I drag an alias (Cmmd-Option-drag) of the iTunes Library file from the Main Library Folder into the iTunes folder. Then, when I open iTunes, iTunes reads my main library file. And of course, it works the same way for the second library.
Of course, you could just shuffle the actual library files into position in the iTunes folder from their holding areas, but I strongly preferred to get myself into the habit of relying on aliases, so I could leave the actual library file alone in their respective folders. You most definitely would not want to accidentally overwrite one of your iTunes Library files.
I'm sure one of the shareware products would do a more elegant job, but this just shows you that it's not a difficult process.
The alternative is to set up separate user accounts to access different libraries on the same machine. This has real benefits and, to me, should be the first option one considers. It's easier on the brain, as it sticks to iTunes' one-user-one-library model, and there's absolutely no risk of getting libraries confused. Fast User Switching on the Mac makes going back and forth between accounts easy. But if you really want to avoid using different accounts, and it's only you that has to keep things straight, the approach of jumping back and forth between different libraries in the same user account should be OK.

Repair itunes library (damaged) file. Multiple iTunes libraries on an external harddrive. All libraries have been working fine. Do some "housecleaning" on a one of the large libraries 296GB. iTunes quit and now has damaged file. 296 GB still on HD.

How to repair itunes library (damaged) file. Multiple iTunes libraries on an external harddrive. All libraries have been working fine. Do some "housecleaning" on a one of the large libraries 296GB. iTunes quits and now has damaged file. 296 GB still on HD.

The duplication is unnecessary. Exporting creates a duplicate of the file. So now you'll have a duplicate of a duplicate. Exporting is not "working on" a file.
No it's not merging, it's exporting from one to the Finder and into another. No matter what lose something. If you export the Original you leave behind all the work you've done in iPhoto. If you export anything else, you lose the non-destructive editing and the ability to revert to the original. With merging you preserve that work. Yes, you can trash the old Library when you have completed the manoevre but no it's not the same thing as merging.
This User Tip
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921
has details of the options in the Export dialogue. But in brief:
Current gets you the iPhoto Preview, used for sharing via media browsers. It's a jpg, medium quality missing metadata. Original gets the file you imported, unchanged and then you can export different version of the current version at different qualities. If you choose to export anything except the Original you do not get a Raw. There's no such thing as an "edited Raw", and you lose the connection between the original and the exported version. That means you've taken a non-destructive workflow and turned it into a destructive one.
The Tiff will certainly be higher qulaity and less likely to suffer generational loss in future editing but the file sizes are vast, often more than 10 times the size of the jpeg.
Put it this way, it would be cheaper to buy Library Manager than the disk you'll need to contain all the Tiffs. Unless you plan on a lot of editing, I'd go for a high quality jpeg as a reasonable compromise.
To be clear:
So, I guess my new question is, how can I edit the Raw image and keep it in a RAW format that IPhoto recognizes so that I can reprocess without any loss at a future time, or is it that once you edit a RAW image, then it is no longer a RAW image?
Once you edit a Raw it can no longer be a Raw. End of.

Multiple iTunes libraries, sorta

Hi there all,
My PowerBook drive is on it's way to be full of music and I was thinking about getting an external drive to leave at home. The problem is that I want to take some of my music with me. Is there any easy (and freeee) way to have the entire library on the external drive and part of it on the internal drive. Like to have multiple libraries basically. It would be nice also if I didn't have to reconfigure iTunes to recognice the library every time I started it up by going into preferences and all that. Thanks ahead of time!

A great and easy way of achieving what you want is to use the software Libra 2 (http://homepage.mac.com/sroy/libra/). It's $10, but you can use the trial version for free if you can stand a pop-up window each time you use it. Using Libra 2 you can have several different Libraries each with unique songs added and preferences. Check it out!
If you're comfortable copying and moving files around your hard drive, you can do the same thing Libra does manually:
If you move the two files "iTunes Library" and iTunes Music Library.xml", which are located in yourhomefolder/Music/iTunes, to a different location and start iTunes, iTunes now creates a new empty library and two new library files in the iTunes folder. To get back to the first library, simply move the new files out and the old one's back in again.

Opening Multiple iTunes Libraries at Once

I was wondering if there was a way to have multiple iTunes Libraries open simultaneously? For example, if I wanted to view two websites at the same time I would just open a new window, thus having the two sites side-by-side. Is there a way to do the same thing with my iTunes Library, either thru Apple or after market, so that I can create and compare different libraries without having to close out of one before opening another?
Thanks for any help, and sorry if this has been asked before...

Hi, welcome to Apple Discussions.
No, iTunes doesn't have a multiple document interface for the library database. You can however get it to open a separate window on a playlist so you can compare one playlist to another. If you want to view separate libraries at the same time host one on a virtual machine, a second physical machine with remote access or put two machines side-by-side.
tt2

Multiple iTunes Libraries on single Mac

I have somehow managed to create libraries of music/podcasts/videos in 5 different places on my iMac. I would like to consolidate all of them into one spot that can be shared by all accounts. Is there a way to merge them easily, that is without copying song by song or rewriting the entire library, potentially losing some files that are more current? For example, I have 3 folders of the Killers, only 1 of which has all downloaded songs. Thanks.

If you want to do it that way, each person should have their own computer login which will give each person their own iTunes library.
This would be far easier than using multiple iTunes libraries in one computer login.
To do different content on each device, select the device in iTUnes (menu View > Show sidebar), click the tabs acroos top and select what you want to sync to that device. Do the saem for all devices.

Have created multiple itunes libraries but when asked to choose a particular one only a single library shows up???

Have created multiple itunes libraries but when asked to choose a particular one only a single library shows up???

Unless you or your software moved or deleted the files from iTunes on your PC, they're still there. Time to go hunting. I don't know where iTunes stores its files on a default installation of a Windows Vista box, but I'd look in your documents folder for something containing "music" in its title. Before you do *anything* to or with the folder, copy it to a safe location. That way if something you're doing messes it up, you've got clean files with which you can work. Make sure you can see all the files in Windows Exploder by first checking your folders settings. By default Windows often hides important system files.

Multiple itunes libraries on same computer and removable hard drives

I have multiple itunes libraries, one resides on my internal hard drive on my computer and the other on a removable hard drive that I pug into the ocmputer via a USB cable, can itunes recognize both libraries at once, and how do I get it to do that?

That *****, apple should add a feature that allows multiple libraries.....hopefully they will in thenext release of iTunes.

Finding and combining multiple itunes libraries

I believe I have set up multiple itunes libraries that are located on different drives (the internal and an external). I'd like to find them and combine them into one place. Any help would be appreciated..
macbook running OS X 10.9.4

The .itl is simply a listing of what tracks you have selected for that library. It does not include the music itself. I have never imported another library so I don't know if the methods Niel outlines will actually move your music files into the same library folder or simply use them where they are. You can easily check by seeing if they have moved to the folder, or by get info on a track in iTunes and look at the information on where the actual file it uses is located.
Read the links below on what actually makes up a complete library and why combining them involves merging multiple items.
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

Combining multiple itunes libraries

Help- cabn anyone tell me how to combine multiple itunes libraries in mac osx so that I have one library on a large external drive? Thanks
Michael
[email protected]

Did you ever figure this out or get help on this issue? I am looking to do the same thing.

How can I back up multiple itunes libraries to an external hard drive?

How can I back up multiple itunes libraries to an external hard drive? I have tried dragging them across but they all open up as the primary library.

See this -> https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2682

Multiple iTunes Libraries - Each with a separate Media folder location

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for