Music management on iPhone

I'm just wondering how you all manage your music on your iPhone. I have over 60GB of music on my Mac, so obviously that's not all going to fit on the iPhone. I read a post here from someone who suggested smart playlists. Just curious to know what you folks are doing, as I assume you're all in the same boat (i.e. you have a lot more music on your Mac than will fit on your iPhone).

I personally use a couple of smart playlists.
For example, I have one smart playlist that updates with my least played music that is the genre "classical." This list syncs to my phone so everyday I have different classical songs for my drive to work (keeps the road rage down).
There are a number of categories you can customize so iTunes will automatically keep your music fresh and varied.

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No manual music management on iPhone?

It seems that there's no way to manually move content between iTunes and the iPhone. Instead, content management relies entirely on automatic syncing preferences. As someone who uses their iPod on multiple computers, I rely on the 'Manage music and videos manually' check box that appears in the device manager tab when I connect my iPod to iTunes. Without it, each time I sync my iPod to a different computer I run the risk of having content overwritten.
Am I the only one who finds this strange? Am I missing something? I suppose it speaks to the fact that the iPhone is only meant to be used with one computer. Otherwise, you run the risk of overwriting crucial phone information like your contacts and calendar. The iPhone's syncing preferences offer a handful of workarounds, but nothing as direct as dragging and dropping content. Anyone else upset to see the manual transfer option excluded?

Smart playlists while nice lack a few features, especially in a device with limited storage. It automatically adds songs that match certain criteria. However, if you are, say an Evanescense fan then you would encounter an issue where there are multiple versions of the same song across multiple Albums. And the songs aren't all the same. So then with the features provided by iTunes you would have to uncheck the songs, so they wouldn't be sync'd to the iPhone using the "Sync only checked songs" option. Which works for the iPhone, but now iTunes won't play said songs normally, leading you to check the song again if you wanted to listen to it at home.
And that is the problem, there are several groups that have re-done songs. I used Evanescense as an example, there are many more bands/groups that do the same thing.
Whereas if I could drag/drop music onto it I could be more specific. If I wanted to add a smart playlist I could simply drag the smart playlist onto the iPhone and iTunes would copy only the songs on that list. Or if i had a regular playlist then it would work. Instead, with the current system I have to create the playlist, then tell the iPhone to sync that playlist.
As far as drag and drop, yes it should be entirely possible. Afterall, iTunes sees the Music/Movies/Playlists on the iPhone under the devices list. So you could copy music to it much in the same way you drag music to a playlist in iTunes.
Message was edited by: thirdgen89gta

How can I delete music from my iPhone 4 (iOS7) when I manually manage the music in iTunes, but it has no affect on my phone's music library?

I'm attempting to delete music from my iPhone 4 (iOS7). When I connect it to iTunes, and the music shows up, I delete the music from the phone. When I disconnect the phone, the music is still there. The same thing happens if I try to sync the phone before disconnecting. I have "manually manage music" checked. Additionally, when I reconnect my iPhone, the music I "deleted" from it when it was previously connected to iTunes no longer appears, preventing me from trying to delete it again.
I know I can swipe left on each song to delete it on my phone, and I have been, but that takes a long time when you're trying to delete everything on your iPhone.
Suggestions?

https://discussions.apple.com/message/20344222#20344222.

I have music on my iphone, but Itunes says 'Music - zero items' when iphone connected. How do i manage my songs?

Background info: I have music on my iphone that i would like to change / delete / update manually. Software versions of both itunes and iphone are up to date.
So, in chronological order:
When i connect my iphone to my PC, itunes detects it. Fine. No problem.
I click on the 'on this iphone' tab (where I would expect to see the music i know to have on my iphone)... It says 'Music - zero items'. Hmmmm - i know i have over 1 GB of music on there...
I click on the summary tab for my iphone. 'Manually manage music and videos' is checked. The status bar at the bottom shows i have over 1 GB of 'other' information on my iphone, but no music.
Basically what i'm after is being able to delete and add music from my itunes to my iphone as i see fit. At present i am unable due to the reasons outlined above. Tried contacting Apple direct but providing me with only 140 characters to describe the problem to them is.. well... pretty w@nk.
Any help appreciated- have been scouring the discussion boards but cannot find anything that correlates directly.
Thanks in advance

Without syncing: File>Transfer Purchases

Bought a new macbook and want to manually manage music onto my iphone 4s but when i click 'manually manage' and then 'apply' i get the message saying it will erase everything already on there. Need help please!

Bought a new macbook and want to manually manage music onto my iphone 4s (as it is already full of music from old windows laptop) but when i click 'manually manage' and then 'apply' i get the message saying it will erase everything already on there. Need help please!

Before you sync your iPhone make sure that all the music that was synced to your phonereviously has been copied to your iTunes on the new MacBook Pro. Then when you connect your phone you will be able to either sync all music or select only those playlists that you want on the phone.

How do I manually manage the music on my iphone 5 with itunes 11?

How do I manually manage the music on my iphone 5 with itunes 11? I have managed to get some music on my iphone 5 but can't repeat the process. The add music button in the upper right allows me to edit play lists .

iTunes 11 for Windows: Set up syncing for iPod, iPhone, or iPad
Read the section titled
Sync your device manually

HT203433 I am unable to get any music on my iPhone 3GS either from my computer or iTunes stores. Just managed to download music from iTunes onto my iPad so assume my iPhone is at fault?

I am unable to get any music on my iPhone 3GS either from my computer or iTunes stores. Just managed to download music from iTunes onto my iPad so assume my iPhone is at fault?

Okay, you are using Windows 7. What version of iTunes do you have. Please don't tell me the most current one, go into Help then About iTunes and read what it says.

Need help managing two iphones, two iTunes accounts, and one music library

We have digitized all our music and it's successfully set up on an external hard drive. This is all great for me, as my iphone is synced to my iTunes account, so everything is set.
Problem is my husband set up his own iTunes account with his iphone and now he wants to access the music on our home computer/iTunes account.
So what we have is:
USER A =
computer + digital hard drive w/music (managed by iTunes account A)
iTunes account A
iphone A (synced with iTunes account A)
USER B =
iTunes account B
iphone B (synced with iTunes account B)
iTunes account B = very few music files + lots of Aps
What we want is for USER B to be able to access the computer + digital hard drive w/music (managed by iTunes account A), but retain his Aps that he's purchased for his iphone.
I hope this is clear. Can someone tell us the best way to accomplish getting USER B access to our home music collection?
Thanks!

My problem is similar, except for 3 different devices: IPod Nano, Old style Shuffle, and Iphone 3Gs.
To answer one post as to "why" different accounts... 1 pre-teen user; wife/husband have (maybe) a 10 song overlap in the library, and I have tons of apps.
Ok, all I want to do is play the same stuff on my home computer as on my work computer. There are 3 I-tunes accounts on my home computer (mine is one). My apps/movies and music don't show up on this computer, even though it has been authorized. I have synced the phone, but no changes, even after adjusting the prefs. Oh, and this is a side note, my Outlook calendars are not playing well together either. My home Outlook is "stand alone" while my work calendar is accessed by others all the time and both appts and email are "pushed" to my phone. (This is not a big deal, however)
All I want is to be able to use my home computer to get MY movies and songs onto my I-phone (from the home computer)-- and download new stuff, that once I put on my phone will transfer to my work computer when I plug sync my phone and work computer together.
Honestly, I don't need my wife's stuff or my kid's stuff, nor do I need for them to have my stuff. I don't care if we do share, I just don't want to chew up the memory on my phone with "Kidz Bop Vol 1-99", etc.
My work computer is my primary for my Itunes. If you are still with me, please help. Thanks!

All music disappears from iPhone 5 when managing manually

I have an iPhone 5 running iOS 8.2, and a MacBook Pro running Yosemite 10.10.2, iTunes version 12.1.50.
I have my iPhone configured to manage my music manually. Recently, while moving an album from my iTunes library onto my iPhone (phone physically connected to the computer), all the music stored on my iPhone disappeared. Surprised and frustrated, I began the task of moving the albums I wanted over to my phone. The music transferred fine up to a point, and then all music on my iPhone disappeared again (i.e., nothing shows up in the Music app). I also noticed that the "other" category in the memory usage bar was suddenly very large... many GBs.
Things I've tried so far:
Uninstalling and re-installing iTunes
Restoring iPhone to factory settings and then restoring apps from iCloud backup.
After doing the above, I still get the same behavior: after transferring 4-5 GB of music, it suddenly ceases to be visible to the Music app on my iPhone, and the "other" memory category is huge. The only way I've found to reduce the "other" category back to a normal size is to restore my phone to factory settings, which is frustrating.
I'd love to once more be able to move as much music as I want onto my phone without it all disappearing on me. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

I'm going crazy here! I open my iPhone and all my music is gone! It's showing up as if it's there but when I go to play it the music is gone. I tried to reload everything and it will show up but then for some reason it starts to delete on it's own. Have all the recent updates.

What's the easiest way to manage my music on my iPhone 4S, espeially to delete duplicates

It is difficult for to manage playlists, smart playlists and restored playlists. What is the easiest way to go through my 7.9 Gigs of music on the iphone and remove duplicates. Is there a way to do this on the phone itself or do I have to go through syncing?

Hello ihweiner,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
For more information on this, take a look at:
How to find and remove duplicate items in your iTunes library
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2905
Best of luck,
Mario

I cannot transfer music to my iPhone4. I just got it and was shown how to do it on iTunes. I managed to transfer photos, but not the music. I tried auto sync and also manyal. Nothing worked - still no music on my iPhone :-(

I cannot transfer music to my iPhone4. I just got it and was shown how to do it on iTunes. I managed to transfer photos, but not the music. I tried auto sync and also manyal. Nothing worked - still no music on my iPhone :-(

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

HT1202 The manual mode to transfer music to my iTune from my iPhone does not work as described. When I click on Manually manage... it displays the warning message that all music on my iPhone will be erased and replaced by iTune music.

The manual mode to transfer music to my iTune from my iPhone does not work as described. When I click on Manually manage... it displays the warning message that all music on my iPhone will be erased and replaced by iTune music.
How can I transfer my music to a second computer iTune?
Thanks,

See this user tip
Syncing iPhone to a "New" Computer or replacing a "crashed" Hard Drive

Computer crashed. Want to manually manage music without wiping iPhone.

My home computer has crashed, and I have reinstalled it completely including iTunes. When I try to manage my iPhone using iTunes I am now prompted to erase the iPhone and resync with my "new" computer. Is there any way to tell my computer and iTunes to sync with the iPhone without wiping the phone? I have some movies on the phone that were transfered as digital media copies of DVDs which I am unable to play on my computer after reformatting. I am worried that the same thing will happen to the copy on my iPhone.

Yes, I think there is. What you're talking about is force-stopping the auto sync, so you can set the iPhone to manual sync right?
I've never done this before myself, but I've heard about this before and sources say:
"While connecting the iPod to the computer, hold down the Shift + Ctrl keys in Windows (CMD + Option keys on a Mac). This will stop the iPod from auto sync’ing with iTunes and the iPod will appear in the source list. Wait until you are sure the iPod has mounted, and that it will not auto sync and then you can let the keys go. This may take between 3 and 25 seconds depending on your computer."
I got that from here: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/faqs/answers/how-do-i-stop-the-ipod-from-auto-s yncing-when-connected-to-itunes-if-i-auto
Maybe someone can confirm this?

ITunes music on my iPhone 5

Hello all you wonderful, marvelous techie people!
I have an iPhone 5 which I connected to my Vista PC, in order to access some photos that I had taken using the phones camera. I needed to send or at least upload one of these to a website, that required a copy of a receipt for a proof of purchase.
I had forgotten that iTunes was set to allow 'automatic syncing' with iOS devices being connected, so iTunes launched and tried to sync with the iPhone before I realized that it was happening and SOME music from the pc's iTunes library ended up on my iPhone. I have since changed this setting to disable auto syncing.
Despite this setting being in place I find it strange that this happened at all, especially as at some point in the process when I was trying to either stop any music getting on my iPhone or at least use the 'auto fill' settings manually, I got a warning that the library connected with my iPhone 5 had been previously synced to 'another' library on 'another' PC. This is despite the fact that there had actually NEVER been any music on my iPhone at all (or any other iTunes content - except the apps on the phone were visible in iTunes).
I managed to stop any more music getting onto the iPhone 5, but then could not figure out how to delete what HAD actually been put on the iPhone. I noticed that there is an option to 'auto fill' from specific playlists, so I thought that if I did that then at least my playlists and the songs in them would be better than music that had been chosen at random - according to the autofill settings that were in place at the time that the phone was auto filled, because I had connected it to my PC.
Anyway, although I did this the actual playlists were NOT copied onto the iPhone 5, even though the music in them was. Not only that I am unable to find any way to access this music which is now on my iPhone 5
In an ideal situation, I will NOT be having to do a 'restore' of my iPhone - which is not a restore anyway, because it is actually a 'factory re-set'.
Can anyone here tell me if it is possible to back up SPECIFIC data (NOT including the music currently on it) that is on my iPhone 5, so that if a 'restore' is the only option, then at least the 'important stuff' will not be lost.
Important stuff is contacts, notes, e-mail accounts and the msgs sent to and from those accounts, as well as any 'junk mail filtering data' in order to only get back the mail I actually want, and files created by other apps like Adobe Reader and SkyDrive. Currently installed apps, I assume, will be able to be recovered from the App Store, (which would then be updated in due course or as needed), and I would also assume that the files created by or used by the apps would then be accessible.
As always, all relevant help is very much appreciated.
Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year
Tufftybob

Have you already checked how big your photo library is? Maybe it takes to much space from your phone tosync your whole library. Open iTunes, connect your phone and then check your media-sync-settings for Music, Videos, Photos etc.

HT1386 How do I manage 2 iPhones on one computer?

How do I manage 2 iPhones on one computer? We tried this and ended up with each others numbers and apps. We have our own iTunes ID, it is mainly the music on the computer that we want for the phones. Who has the answer without us getting each others apps & contacts. HELP!!!!

How to use multiple iPods, iPads, or iPhones with one computer

Music management on iPhone

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