Question re. sharing iTunes library with other user accounts

I have seen this document:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203
I want to share one library with four users on my account. I'd like for any music purchased or ripped to this computer to end up in User 1's iTunes library, and for Users 2, 3 and 4 to have access to User 1s library just as User 1 does.
When I follow the directions for "Listening to another account's music files" in the above referenced document, it tells me to navigate to User 1's library through the dialog box that pops up after User 2 clicks "Add to LIbrary".
The problem is, when User 2 is doing that, and User 1 has put the iTunes library in ~user1/public, as the directions suggest, that dialog box won't allow user 2 to access User 1's Public folder.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance...
Chris

Another long description in store here...
iTunes has two main elements. One is the library.itl database file. When you open iTunes it is this that you see. It contains what music is in a library, playlists, date added, playcount, etc. It is this that is really the library. The other element are the media files. When you tell iTunes to play a track it checks in its library file which music file is associated with that track and goes and plays it.
Now you say, "for Users 2, 3 and 4 to have access to User 1s library just as User 1 does." Do you really want User 4 to be able to go and delete or rename tracks, or change the playlists? This can be done if you really want it. Or do you want each person to keep their own library [file] and share media? Even that has disadvantages as a person might still be able to rename a file or even delete it for all. At least everybody would have their own playlists, ratings, etc, though a person could delete a file and then it would appear as a broken link for others. To be honest, iTunes isn't great for sharing.
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
Exactly what you want to do will involve different setups so before going into detailed insructions it would help to know which ones to provide. Here's an sampling:
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189
Chris CA's instructions on sharing one iTunes music library between multiple user accounts - https://discussions.apple.com/message/8974074 - Multiple users using a single library file - similar post at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3753008
iTunes Home Sharing now works between users on same computer - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3865597 The problem with HS is I think you then end up with multiple copies of files, one for each user. At least they cannot damage another's collection though.

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Sharing iTunes library with other users (on Vista)

I'm posting this for my sister who just purchased a new computer running Vista. She's set up a user account for herself as well as one for each of my two nephews. We've successfully moved over her iTunes music folder from her laptop and can now access it and listen through her account.
However, we'd like to set it up so that my two nephews can also listen to the music from their user accounts. My oldest nephew also has a shuffle that would sync to it.
I've found a link to information about sharing, but I still need to clarify a few things.
Here's the link:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195
On this page, it describes how "to share your music with other accounts on the computer" and also how "to listen to another account's music files".
Exactly how are these two things different? I'm pretty sure that I probably want the first of the two, but I'm not positive.
And once we successfully set this up, would we have to sync the shuffle via my sister's main account or could it be synced from any of them?

Let's answer your second question first ...
And once we successfully set this up, would we have to sync the shuffle via my sister's main account or could it be synced from any of them?
Any of them.
... and your first question second.
Exactly how are these two things different?
The first part - sharing your music with other accounts - makes the music available to the other users on the computer.
It is then up to the other users to decide whether or not they want to make use of the available music, hence the second part - listening to another account's music files - which, as the article says, must be repeated "for each account that is listening to shared music."

Sharing Itunes library with another User Account & Fast Switching

Hi. I recently purchased a new iMac G5 and am in the process of setting it up to be used by 2 separate users (girlfriend and me). I apologize in advance if this is more of an Itunes issue and not solely an Administration issue.
My question deals with creating a new user account on my Mac (with Fast Switching) and allowing my girlfriend to share my iTunes library with the ability to transfer music to her ipod when she is logged into her own unique account. I will be the Administrator on the Mac.
We are trying to avoid loading our music two times into the Mac under each of our logins. Is there a way that we can share the music I have already loaded into my Itunes library when she is logged into her account so that she can transfer to her ipod and create her own distinct playlists? If so, any advice on how to enable this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Seth
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Unfortunately, baltwo's solution will not allow your girlfriend to create any playlists or copy songs to iPod.
The easiest thing would be to share the entire music folder, so anyone of you can listen to your music.
You'd have two options.
If you want to be using the exact same library, so any playlist you created can be edited by your girlfriend and vice versa:
1. Go to yourusername/Music/iTunes. You'll find two files called "iTunes library" and "iTunes music library" Copy them to your desktop, so you'll have a backup just in case.
2. Move your yourusername/Music folder to computer/users/shared. (The folder will be copied ONLY in case your using FileVault, so you'd have to delete the original User/Music folder after making sure you'd got a functional copy at computer/users/shared) Select users/shared, press "apple+i" to get the info window, go to "Ownership" change all permissions to "read & write" and hit "apply to enclosed items"
3. In case you're using FileVault, either delete or rename the original Music folder within your own account. Again, not necessary as long as FileVault isn't enabled.
4. Select computer/users/shared/music, hold down "ctrl" while clicking on it and choose "create alias" from the contextual menu. Copy that alias into your homefolder as well as your girlfriend's account (need to log in) and rename it to "music" without the "alias" at the end.
5. Launch iTunes. Done.
6. Don't worry, in case you don't see your music. I've used a slightly different approach, yet this one should work totally fine.
If you want to listen to the same music, yet be able to set up your own playlists, ratings etc.:
For your account:
- go to yourusername/Music/iTunes, move "iTunes Music" to computer/users/shared and change ownership according to #2.
- If FileVault is enabled, check #3. Of course, you want to rename the original "iTunes Music" in this case.
- create an alias for computer/users/shared/iTunes Music and copy the alias to yourusername/Music/iTunes. Rename it to "iTunes Music" without "alias".
- Launch iTunes. Should be working the way it used to. Quit.
For your girlfriend's account:
- log in, copy alias to username/Music/iTunes, rename alias.
- Launch iTunes, go to File-> Add to Library, select username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music, choose.
That's it.
The only downside is, only one user at a time can access the music folder, so if you're logged in and running iTunes, you're girlfriend, logged in via fast user switching, won't be able to open iTunes until you quit it for yourself. Haven't found a way around this yet.
Fell free to report any issues.
huhh...rather long posting...

Can I share my iTunes library with other user accounts on my computer?

My kids have their own user accounts on my laptop. Can I share my iTunes music with them? If so, how? If not, can they import their own music from cd's without opening a store account? Anything else I need to know? I appreciate any help you can give!

Click here and follow the instructions.
(51864)

Does home sharing allow me to share my iTunes library with other users on the same imac

Does home sharing allow me to share my iTunes library with other users on the same imac?

Apparently so (as long as each user operates out of a different Mac User account).
After setting up home sharing in the various different user accounts on the Mac, you need to have iTunes open in the account that you want to Home Share from.
Now use fast User Switching to get into the account that you want to Home Share to. Launch iTunes in there. The library in the other account should appear as shared for you.

How do i share my itunes library with other users on the same mac

I'm trying to share my itunes library with other users on the same mac. I have tried moving my library to a public folder but when the other user logs in they can't see it in the public folder?

Presuming you moved the entire iTunes folder to the shared folder the other users need to start their iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and select the iTunes Library.itl file in the shared folder. Only once should be necessary. Note that any changes anybody makes will be seen by everybody, so you have to trust each other a lot.
If all you moved are media files each user will have to add those files to their iTunes library.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189 Chris CA's instructions on sharing one iTunes music library between multiple user accounts - https://discussions.apple.com/message/8974074 - Multiple users using a single library file - similar post at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3753008 Suggestion by Turingtest for multiple users and one library - http://discussions.apple.com/message/9117622 - use smart playlists and tags to isolate groupings.

Sharing one library with two user accounts.

I want to share one iTunes library with two user accounts on the same iMac.
I've followed the tutorial where you move the iTunes Music folder to a shared location HD/Shared/iTunes and then pointed both iTunes to that location via the advanced menu, but only the admin account has the music. The other user account iTunes shows nothing.
Also, I've now moved the music folder back to my area on the HD (not shared any more) and now the iTunes music folder shows all the album folders where before I guess they were hidden. Why and how do I get it back to how it was...?
All we're trying to do is share one mac. My wife and I have our own log in user accounts, but want to have the same music and iPhotos accessible on our own set-ups.
Thanks for any help.

Out of interest I got this to work.
I made a folder called 'All Music' and put all the album folders in it.
Moved this folder to User/Shared/ and then clicked on the file, and Get Info.
In Get Info added my wife to Sharing & Permissions as Read & Write.
In iTunes / Advanced found the folder on my user account, and then did the same on my wife's account and hit add to library.
I hope this was the right way to do it..... It seems to have worked.

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Hi,
I'm trying to share the iTunes library on a SP2 system. I placed the Itunes folder on a partition and setted iTunes to use this folder in each user account but...
When one add musics to the library, thoses musics are not visible once switched to another user account.
How to really share the same library with several user accounts one the same machine ?
Thanks

Note that Otto42's post is from March 2006. This is way before iTunes 7, which allows you to move the iTunes folder.
His steps will work but are much too involved and unneeded.
Rather than using TweakUI (and possibly messing up something), just move the entire iTunes folder to a shared directory and hold Shift when starting iTunes, then select Choose library and go to the iTunes folder.
All changes made by any user will be to all users.
Note that only one user at a time will be able to access iTunes.

Sharing itunes library with all users on the same computer

I am trying to share the itunes library with 4 users on the same computer. Please tell me how.

I've been trying to find a way to do this easily as well. It would be good if you could set iTunes to use the "All User" documents folder instead of the My Documents folder for the storing the main library and just use the My Documents Folder for individual playlists.
Follow the instructions in the link provided by Mimico Kid.
** It is not important that the shared folder is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Music. It can be any shared folder on the PC. On mine it's H:\iTunes as I don't have the space on the C: drive.
When you've done that make sure that your Adminstrator account's copy of iTunes shows the Library, Playlists and Album art as you want the all the users to see them.
Then copy all of the remaining files from the Administrator Accounts iTunes folder into every other users iTunes folder.
** C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Documents\My Music\iTunes
If any user adds songs or modifies playlists the administrator will need to log on and copy the files from that users iTunes folder to everyone elses.
This might be a slightly cumbersome way around the problem but it works for me. It has the disadvantage or advantage whichever way you look at it that every User will see an identical view with identical playlists.

Sharing my iTunes Library with other Users on my computer?

...hi guys! Nice to find this friendly commumity!
I wonder if any of you have worked out how to share the library across other users on the computer yet?
I share a PC with my girlfriend, and all of our downloads on iTunes are from our CD collection. But as I installed iTunes on my user account, she can't get the songs now!
When she opens iunes from her user account, it's a blank library!
Please help!
Thanks chaps,
Kerr
Message was edited by: heinzeman

Chris CA wrote:
Move the entire _iTunes folder_ located in *My Documents/My Music*/ to a Shared directory. Make sure to set this folder for read/write permissions for all users.
I set my permissions as follows OS 10.4.X:
first under the original owners login, change all permissions to read & write, then change 'group' to wheel. Then change the owner from the user to system (I applied to all within ~ may not be necessary).
Start iTunes holding the Shift key and select *Choose existing library* then pick the iTunes library file you moved into the Shared directory.
In iTunes 7.5, you'll need to hold the Option key and then pick the /Users/Shared/iTunes/iTunes Music
Quit iTunes and log out of your user and let her log in.
Start iTunes holding the Shift key and select *Choose existing library* then pick the iTunes library file you moved into the Shared directory.
Now she needs to File -> *Add folder to library* and pick *My Documents*/My Music*/*iTunes*/iTunes music*.
This will add all her music to the common library.
Once this is complete, she can delete *My Documents*/My Music*/*iTunes.
Do this for all users. Any changes made by one will be seen by all.

Question/Problem Sharing iTunes Library between multiple users

Hello all,
I have a question (potential problem) regarding sharing an iTunes Library between multiple users.
In the past, I had placed the iTunes folder in /Users/Shared, and created an alias to it in the "Music" folder of each user, and it worked fine. However, with a recent upgrade to Mac OS 10.5, only the Home user account can access the library.
I read the Apple Support Document http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1203 uner Mac OS X which specifically states *not* to move the iTunes folder, just the iTunes Media folder (which I don't have, would that be iTunes Music?).
Any recommendations? Should I delete the different alias, move the iTunes folder back to the home user, and then follow the instructions in the support document?
We're also looking to sync music purchsed on our iPod touches, as well as apps (which weren't supported in our privous Mac OS X version.
Any advice is appreiciated.

David Guay wrote:
... iTunes Media folder (which I don't have, would that be iTunes Music?).
yes.
specifically states *not* to move the iTunes folder
*do* keep the entire iTunes folder in /users/shared, however, instead of creating aliases, launch iTunes while holding the option (⌥) key, click choose library when prompted, and select the iTunes folder in /users/shared.
obviously, only one iTunes at a time can access the library !

Sharing iTunes Library with two users on the same computer

I have all of my music stored on a external hard drive.
Both users on the same computer have the iTunes music location folder as the external hard drive. How do I see music added in one persons log-in? For example: I just purchased two albums under one log-in. The second log in can not see that music unless I manually add it.
Both Libraries point to the same file location.
I have over 40GB of music and I am looking for a way to manage my music files more effectively and I want to make sure that both log-ins have the same music.
I followed the instructions in article HT1203 from the apple support site.

lafdengine9 wrote:
Both users on the same computer have the iTunes music location folder as the external hard drive. How do I see music added in one persons log-in? For example: I just purchased two albums under one log-in. The second log in can not see that music unless I manually add it.
The reason you are having this issue is because you have a shared library but private databases. What you have on the external drive is the collection of media files (library) that each account is set up to access as the source for media. What you have not done is set up a shared iTunes database, so each user accesses the same library differently.
When each user opens iTunes, iTunes access the database on their account (~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library). Therefore, their settings, views, playlists, etc., are private. When they add songs to their library only their database file is updated to reflect those additions; simply having files in the music folder does not mean that iTunes will recognize them, hence the reason iTunes asked you if you want to move the file to the trash when you delete it from your library.
The confusion here is the double use of the term library. The contents of you music folder most definitely constitutes your media library, as it is the collection of your media files. What you see as your library in iTunes is not your library but, for the most part, the content stored in a database table maintained by iTunes in the iTunes Library file in your iTunes folder. iTunes does not access your actual media files unless it is absolutely necessary. The general assumption is that what is shown in your iTunes “library” will actually mirror what is in your music folder.
So the missing step in your setup would be to switch to the account that has the most current iTunes library—that is the one reflects the actual contents of your music folder as of now—and follow this procedure.
1. Quit iTunes.
2. Move the iTunes folder to the Shared folder (./Users/Shared).
3. Launch iTunes, but immediately hold the option key to invoke the Choose Library window.
4. Select the database (iTunes Library file) now located in the shared folder.
5. If you do not see your content, go to iTunes’ preferences and reset the location of the music folder to the external drive.
6. In the other accounts, re-launch iTunes and change the library according to steps 3 and 4.
Now all users will have access to the same iTunes database as well as the shared library. The downside of this is that each user will have full access privileges. If you have iTunes 8, then to avoid the disadvantages that come with this type of set up, see [this thread|http://forums.macworld.com/thread/105366?tstart=0] over at Macworld.

Shared iTunes Library with two users

I am trying to have my system permit me to share one library between two users. My Mac acts as a Music Server for my house audio system through Airport Express and it also plays music locally through the computer speakers. In order to do this, I need to run two users simulatnaneous - one for the music server and one for local use - itunes runs on both user accounts simultaneously playing to the Airport Express and the local speakers. Trouble is that each user needs its own library. If I add a song locally, the server does not get it, and if I put a song on the server, I dont get it locally. Any thoughts?

Thank you Joe - I tried this but it's only showing a teensy amount of music - the stuff on the second users account as opposed to the giagntic library on the 'main' account. I actually went to a Genius Bar and they said that apple doesn't really want you to share music between accounts - parents don't want to hear their kids music etc. Which seemed strange, but it might be the case sadly Thanks anyway!

Accidentally moved iTunes Library to Other User Account . . .

I accidentally moved my iTunes Library to the Other User Account under the Users/Shared/Account and now I cannot "move" it back to my Desktop. Please help.
Ultimately I would like to share the iTunes Library with my girlfriend, so she may play the Library on her Desktop screen.
Thank you,
Nat

Never Mind, I figured out my mistake!

Question about sharing itunes library with another mac acct user

I have set up my itunes library to be accessible from an external HD and have it set up to where a second acct user on my mac can access it. My goal is to be able to sync my wife's and my iphone to the same itunes library/playlists, since we share that music. I followed the instructions to set this up and can see the original library showing up in the itunes acct of the second user. What I dont understand is haw to sync my playlists to the second accounts user's iphone? When I connect and pull up itunes, and select to sync specific playlists, it only gives me the option to select new playlists created on her accounts, not the ones I am sharing with the second account? All of the songs are showing up in her library as well as my visible shared library. Is this how it should work...in other words, it I add a new song to my library, it will also show up in the second accounts library, along with the one that is visible as my shared library. Does the second account just need to make their own playlists, vs being able to select specific ones on my account to sync?

I have set up my itunes library to be accessible from an external HD and have it set up to where a second acct user on my mac can access it. My goal is to be able to sync my wife's and my iphone to the same itunes library/playlists, since we share that music. I followed the instructions to set this up and can see the original library showing up in the itunes acct of the second user. What I dont understand is haw to sync my playlists to the second accounts user's iphone? When I connect and pull up itunes, and select to sync specific playlists, it only gives me the option to select new playlists created on her accounts, not the ones I am sharing with the second account? All of the songs are showing up in her library as well as my visible shared library. Is this how it should work...in other words, it I add a new song to my library, it will also show up in the second accounts library, along with the one that is visible as my shared library. Does the second account just need to make their own playlists, vs being able to select specific ones on my account to sync?

Question re. sharing iTunes library with other user accounts

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