Share iTunes playlists (and music files) on multiple devices and separate networks

I want to know how to share playlists between my devices (i.e., iphone, ipod, ipad) and another device (ipad, itouch, ipod) across networks. In other words, without the benefit of home share since the other device will not be on my home network.

Hello AvalonFun,
Thank you for contacting Apple Support Communities.
The following article will give you some guidance on sharing your music:
iTunes: How to share music and video
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2688
Regards,
Jeff D.

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My playlist appears in itunes, but the music files have mysteriously disappeared in my iTunes Media file. Is there a way to recover them? Tried searching and cannot find them.

My playlist appears in itunes, but the music files have mysteriously disappeared from my iTunes Media file. Is there a way to recover them? Tried searching and cannot find them.

This page might help: http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=44083
Older Zens don't support AAC, which is the format iTunes uses for songs.
You can convert from AAC to MP3, which every media player under the sun will play. Here's a tutorial: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12519_7-10096807-49.html

How do i make it so iTunes plays the music files from where i have chosen to store them?

how do i make it so iTunes plays the music files from where i have chosen to store them as opposed to it scattering copies of my files into a myriad different folders based on the albums they came from when i'm not even interested in keeping whole albums?
I recently converted myself to mac after having been a windows formatted person since the beginning of time. I use last.fm and the client scrobbler only supports iTunes on the mac (scobbling since Nov 06 and i'm now heavily dependant upon it as a means of discovering new music) - if you don't know what that means then take it for granted i have no option other than to use iTunes as my media player whn using the mac. And almost immediately upon using iTunes i was filled with horror.
My tale of woe as follows: I copy all my mp3 files to folder X on my new mac. I copy my simple playlist in to that same folder X. The simple playlist simply lists all the files in folder X in the order i want to hear them in... simple right? And what happens the moment i start playing my simple list? Well you probably all ready know; itunes throws copies of all those files in to the air, scatters them to the four winds so each of them fall into a little folder of their own representing the album they might once have come from. I don't keep whole albums. For me the 'album experience' is a ruse to trick one into listening to weaker material. I only keep the concentrated goodness. I only put up with albums in a previous lifetime because in the days of vinyl i had no other choice apart from spending hours compiling mix tapes. Now i am liberated from these restrictions and have been for the 15 or so years i've been using a computer to listen to music. Until along comes iTunes forcing me backwards in time, frog marching me back into the past.
That simple list i mentioned is my one and only playlist. This single playlist has been evolving for 15 years as tracks are added and removed and their position in the list changes because that song sounds amazing when heard after that other song whereas hearing this song after that song would be like pouring custard over your sausages (for me shuffling is an abomination). And so here is how i've managed this list and managed synchronization of said list and listed files with my mp3 player (currently a Zen).
Adding a new file: After deciding that song is a keeper i will copy it into that simple folder that holds all my music and drop it in to a position on the list i deem most suited for it. Incidentally over this entire 15 year (i'm pretty sure it's been around that long) my media player has been winamp but for the reason previously mentioned i am unable to use winamp in mac world.
Removing a file: fortunately winamp has an option to simultaneously remove a file from the list and the hard drive. And naturally so because after all if i no longer like a song then i want it expunged completely from life or at least from my hard drive and playlist. In the brave new world of iTunes i have to remove from the list there then delete the file from where iTunes copied it from and then the place iTunes copied it to.
Editing the list: drag an item in the list to it's preferred location and select to save it as i would for any other file using any other application... well desktop type application as opposed to one that uses a database as its primary means of storage.
Syncing with the mp3 player: copy drag drop playlist file from the simple folder on the hard drive to the simple folder on the mp3 player as i would for any other file. And then also copy drag drop the most recently created files from simple folder on hard drive to simple folder on player after having ordered them by creation date so as to make it easier to select the most recently created. After a while the mp3 player will fill up with the files no longer on the list so i will delete all files from player then re-copy all flies from simple folder on hard drive to simple folder on mp3 player.
I do not make changes to the list on the mp3 player so synchronization needs only to go one way: from laptop to player.
So all very simple. Apart from editing the positions of files in the list everything is managed by copy drag dropping and deleting files using windows explorer.
But i'm in a mac and circumstances have forced me in to the corner of using iTunes. And this whole iTunes situation is terrifying for me as over the years i've heard horror stories about it deleting all of someone's music files. Perhaps this may have been by using the software incorrectly but even so, the very fact that it appears possible for this to happen simply by using the software incorrectly and the fact that it happens with some degree of frequency given the number of reports of this happening that i have heard of over the years on music discussion forums fills me with dread that i have to now use this software. And given the software's blatant disregard for the user's choice as to where to store his/her files it's no surprise that this happens. The software is pointlessly doing dangerous things with my data. Please make it stop.
Please can i just at the very least make iTunes play the music from the folder i have chosen to put my files in and not copy those files here there and everywhere without my say so? Thankyou.

option discovered in preferences. Really this and any feature that moves deletes or edits a users data should as far as possible be OFF BY DEFAULT. It shouldn't by default and without the users specific say do this dangerous and unnecessary thing without even letting the user know what it's doing!!! And then cause me a few hours (as i'm new to mac) searching for the option so as to switch it off. If i hadn't noticed the status cage declaring that it was copying files then i might never have twigged that this insane thing was occurring. And if i hadn't of noticed i would have been left maintaining the contents of the folder i copied the files to, the folder which as far as i was informed and so believed was also the location of the music files i was playing. How does Apple justify this 'genius' piece of software non-design? Surely it will hurt no one if this was off by default for new users - overall at least i dare say it would cause a lot less distress in the future for the unsuspecting public at large. Thanks for the support.

Can I change the file path that itunes reads my music files from? 65000 files trying to be transferrd from external to internal HD. I dont want itunes to manage my collection, just read it. thanks

Can I change the file path that itunes reads my music files from?
I have about 65000 music files that i have transferrd from my external to a new laptop internal HD.
I have organised the folders myself as I use a PC and do not want itunes to organise the folders because when I'm searching through music on windows it is sorted out by artists/albums with 'the...(eg The Beatles)' under 'T' instead of 'B'.
Long story short.... Is there any way that I can keep my itunes library as it is on the external HD and copy it to the new laptops C drive, keep all the info (playlists etc) and still have the same folder structure as on the external HD?
Or, is there any way of making windows sort things in alphabetical order like it is in itunes (eliminating the 'the' issue)?

The files that weren't inside the media folder on the original machine need to be copied over to exactly the same paths as they had on the source machine. See this thread for an ongoing discussion of a similar problem. See also this post on migrating the iTunes library.
tt2

Itunes 'lost' my music files

This appears to be the result of a problem while I was syncing my iPod. During a standard syncing process, it appeared that iTunes was pulling music files from a location on a home server that I didn't want. I stopped the sync process and most of my music and all my playlists have now disappeared.
Now iTunes 7.4.2.4 can't seem to 'see' 2/3 of my music library or any of my playlists. I've been using it for a couple of years with no real problems. All my music files/folders are still in the iTunes folder on my hard drive but iTunes doesn't see them.

Are you saying that there is no music on your iPod and in your iTunes library on your computer?
- Try resetting the iPOd. Nothng is lost
Reset iPod touch: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- Reboot the computer
- Redownload iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
- iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads

I created a new Itunes playlist and when I synch my phone it is not visable as a playlist on my phone (Iphone 6), but it does appear on my computeras a playlist on my phone. How can I get it to be visable on my phone?

I created a new Itunes playlist and when I synch my phone it is not visable as a playlist on my phone (Iphone 6), but it does appear on my computer as a playlist on my phone. How can I get it to be visable on my phone?

Hi,
It sounds like there may be some disconnect between the phone and the computer. Could be a number of things going on, but one way I've been able to fix this issue on several occasions is by completely removing all of the music from the iPhone (Settings > General > Usage > Storage > Manage Storage > Music > swipe 'All Songs' to the left and tap 'Delete') and then re-syncing it from iTunes all at once. Be sure to disconnect your phone from the computer and close iTunes first. Keep in mind that any songs that are on the phone but are NOT in the iTunes library will not be synced over after you delete them from the phone. If the songs on the phone were purchased from the iTunes Store you can transfer them to the computer's iTunes library by connecting the phone to iTunes then selecting File > Devices > Transfer Purchases from [user's] iPhone.
After deleting all songs from the phone, go back into Settings and check the music storage again to make sure everything was deleted. If the 'Music' app is not listed anymore, then you should be good to go. Just to be sure, you can also check the Music app itself and make sure no songs appear there (if songs appear with cloud icons next to them, turn off 'Show All Songs' in Settings > Music and then check the Music app again -- no songs should appear).
Once you're absolutely sure all songs have been removed from the phone, restart the iPhone, plug it back into the computer, and let iTunes sync. Give it time to sync everything over at once and make sure the sync doesn't get interrupted. Everything you've set to sync should sync over properly.
If it still doesn't sync, there may be a corrupted file in the iOS installation on the phone or in the iTunes installation on the computer. It's more likely that the issue is in the phone's software, especially if you ever installed an iOS update over Wi-Fi (through the Settings app). I'd recommend making an iTunes backup and restoring the phone to factory settings through iTunes. Then set the iPhone up as a new iPhone and test the syncing -- the playlist should sync over properly. If not, Remove and reinstall iTunes and related software components for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 - Apple Support. Then test again.
Once you get the syncing working with the phone set up as new, restore the phone from your iTunes backup and test the syncing again. Now that the iOS files have been reinstalled, hopefully the corruption is gone! If it still doesn't sync properly, the corruption may be somewhere else (in a song in the playlist, in some app data in the backup, etc.). That could be harder to pinpoint, but don't worry about that for now. Start simple.
Good luck!

(HELP!)How can I import Windows Media Player Playlists, into iTunes Playlists, with Music . . for an iPod

How can I import Windows Media Player Playlists, into iTunes Playlists, with Music . . for an iPod
We are having no luck with the thousands of songs we have to manualy add to a particular playlist in iTunes alone. .. there must be a simpler way! How can this be done . . . if there is and it's complicated, is the Genius allowed to help us out with this? They seem to only master Mac's only. . or can they help us? PL E A SE E E HELLPPP!

tt2,
Your very helpful and knowledgeable. I for one appreciate all the hardwork and help you have been giving the people on theses lists, especially with the problems associated with the "importing playlists" from windows media. Unfortunately I need more help if you or someone else can provide it. I followed all the steps you have instructed so far in the threads I have seen. Unfortunately nothing so far works for me. Maybe you or someone can help me, I'd really appreciate it. I tried the notepad++ method and when I click on save I always get a notepad file that my iTunes can't do anything with. I click the "convert to UTF-8 without BOM" then click save as and it still saves as a notepad file. I am also unable to find the \n\ file path to replace with my \C:\ filepath. Here is a copy of the first part of one of my playlists:
<?wpl version="1.0"?>
<smil>
    <head>
        <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Windows Media Player -- 12.0.7601.17514"/>
        <meta name="ItemCount" content="161"/>
        <author/>
        <title>Power Surge</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <seq>
            <media src="..\Various Artists\Mixed Tape 2\13 Out of Control.wma" tid="{650561AF-AA9D-4EA3-84CC-2F09C24DF3B3}"/>
            <media src="..\Various Artists\Mixed Tape 1\12 One Step Closer.wma" tid="{EE5ADD9D-A879-404A-BC60-CE841045BCB6}"/>
            <media src="..\Various Artists\Mixed Tape 1\15 Click Click Boom.wma" tid="{0F71941C-1B67-425F-BDAA-246618709179}"/>
Now I went and switched the part from <media src="..\ to <media src="C:\ in all the files in hopes that was where I am supposed to have my drive letter but it didn't seem to help. Please forgive my encoding ignorance if that's what my problem is. I hope you can help. Thanks in advance.
Madmaxneo

Can I share itunes playlists from one computer to another?

Can I share itunes playlists from one computer to another?

My computer cannot run Sharing so I don't have firsthand experience. My reading of it is:
1) Music sharing lets you stream (not transfer) select items, including specific playlists, between local computers on the same network.
2) Home Sharing lets you stream or transfer media files between computers on the same network. I don't know if this is as spacific as particular playlists, or you you have to make the playlist once the desired content is transferred. It says media so doesn't look like it restricts transfer to specific playlists, it just makes your whole media collection accessible on another authorized computer.
You can export a playlist file from iTunes, but this is a text file listing of content, not a complete playable package.

I'm having installing itunes on my computer. Will removing itunes remove my music files?

I'm having installing itunes on my computer. Will removing itunes remove my music files?

No, it won't remove your other files.
Solving MSVCR80 issue and Windows iTunes install issues.

ATV doesn't show iTunes playlists and doesn't play them using the Remote app

Hello
Using ATV3 with the latest software version and it is connected to the iTunes library (also latest version) on my Mac Mini.
When I go to Computers on the ATV I can see the content of the iTunes and am able to play both Music and Vidoes however I don't see the playlists on iTunes there. On the ATV configuration it is configured to Show playlists -> All but still no Playlists appearing at the top of my movie and TV show listings section.
When I connect to the ATV using the Remote app on the iPhone and go to Computers there I do see the playlists but unable to play the ones with Vidoes just music.
Any ideas what would cause these problems...?

log into my library through more > computers where? on the Remote? This is exactly what i'm doing, I can see the content of my library there but I can't play movies from there.
Re: ATV doesn't show iTunes playlists and doesn't play them using the Remote app

How do I get my itunes to access music files on external disc hooked up to my imac?

how do I get my itunes to access music files on external disc hooked up to my imac?

assuming copy to ... when adding to library is checkmarked in preferences > advanced, drag the files from the external into an open iTunes window while holding the option (⌥) key.

How do I share iTunes Library and Playlists

I had a desktop mac with 2 login accounts, we enjoy having our own spaces, mail, desktops, prefs, etc.. but we do not wish to duplicate nor keep either one out of our digital assests, ie music, photos, etc..
I used to have an alias to the other users itunes library and all was fine. He is the predominant music purchaser in the house and I have full access to even his latest purchases.
Upon buying a new machine, 1.66GHz duo core mini we seem to have lost this ability. If I make an alias now, when I launch itunes it says cannot find the folder itunes, it seems to now know its a folder it must find and not an alias to one. I have read ideas about sharing and fast user switching, not really the solution I am looking for or used to have. I think many couples find themselves in a similar situation. Seems silly that we now have to be logged in one side to play/stream music in the house and make sure we are logged into the other side whenever we connect the digital camera.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Chrallan
1.66GHz Intel Core Duo Mini Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Does this help?:
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer

Purchased music saga across multiple devices!! Oh and greyed out iTunes tracks!!

Ok, this has been bugging me for a while now! This post spans many common questions regarding the iTunes store, purchased music held within iCloud and how that purchased music relates to multiple iOS devices. I cannot work out how this is all supposed to fit together and I honestly believe there is some fundamental issues with either my account or the system as a whole. To explain I am going to use my iPhone 6 and my iPad Air 2nd generation to show you the current situation.
Ok, below is my iTunes store music purchases, as viewed in iTunes on my Mac Mini. 31 albums in total, some may not be full albums as it may have been a single that I bought from an album.
Ok, both my iPhone and iPad are set to "Manually manage music and videos" in iTunes and all music has been deleted from them both via Settings > General > Usage > Manage Storage. There is ZERO music held on either device, neither manually moved there from iTunes or downloaded to the devices from my purchases in the cloud (the 31 albums above).
Ok, within Settings > Music on both devices, "Show All Music" is off. This should mean that if I go into the Music app on both devices, my device should show no content. My understanding is correct about this yes? Here is the result on each device.
iPad: This is to be expected
iPhone: Something is wrong here (8 albums showing in total)
None of the above can be swiped left to delete and all play while in airplane mode so they ARE stored locally! They may have been synced to the iPhone in the past via iTunes, however now they should not be there.
The questions here: Why are they on my iPhone? Why has the first album been split (if I add it manually to my iPad using iTunes then it goes on as one album)?
More importantly, how do I get rid of them? They don't show as present in iTunes when connected, they don't show in "Manage Storage" and I can't swipe left to delete.
Moving on! I will now turn on "Show All Music" on my iPad. I expect now to see all music purchased from the iTunes store, i.e. the 31 album's.
Nope! I now see 29 albums and 1 of those will be the split album so 28 in total. Where is the other 3 shown in iTunes purchases? Hang on, see below the first album? Professor Green! I bought that from iTunes come to think of it but it doesn't show as one of my 31 albums! The same can be said for the other 21 albums that now appear! 8 that seem to be stuck and 21 more when "Show All Music" is turned on. The 31 albums showing in my iTunes as purchases are nowhere to be seen!!
Also worth noting is that Cream Club Anthems 2012 is also split into 2 albums on my iPad displaying whats in iCloud so not just on the music that seems to be stuck on my iPhone. Sigh!
Ok, on my iPhone, when I turn on "Show All Music" i get the exact same 29 albums as shown above on my iPad.
So 2 issues based on this! My purchases in the cloud are not complete and have split one album, this is proved by my iPad showing no content when "Show All Music" is turned off. Second is that when I turn that setting off on my iPhone, I am left with albums on my device, despite all music being deleted and one of the "sticky" albums is split into 2 albums.
I will throw this one in too. "Show All Music" set to off and all music deleted by iTunes and swiping left on my iPhone. Connect to iTunes and have a look what is on my device! What the **** is all this crap? Can't be deleted and definitely not present on the device!
Not good enough Apple. I have seen multiple threads with people asking questions relating to all the above and no one has given a comprehensive answer as to why this happens! I use Apple products exclusively now as everything is supposed to fit together seemlessly. As you can see from above, it just doesn't!

I am assuming someone at Apple has seen this as today all my music shows with "Show All Music" selected. However, the split album is still split and when I turn off the aforementioned setting the 8 albums still show.
It's reminding me of the old Windows Media Player days!

Itunes says my music files are 6gb, my user/itunes music folder says its 23gb. I am trying to move it from old/new mac with 8gb ipod

I am trying to move my sons library to his new mac using his 8 gb i pod as a hard drive.....
itunes 9.0.1 says his music files is only 6gb. But when I go to transfer his itunes folder it says his music folder is 23gb. I know I can home share transfer but his wireless is down. Either way I am wondering
1) why is Music folder so large compared to my music library?
2.) Can I simply move the 6gb of music and the playlist info etc....using his 8gb ipod?
3.) Can I delete his previous library files ?

No, I have the music I want to move from the laptop to the phone selected. Then I go under file, devices, and try to click sync but it is not available to click.

Looking to point iTunes (playlists and all) to a new location

Hello all,
I'm in a bit of a pickle of my own making, and I greatly appreciate any help anyone is able to offer on this one.
I've been using iTunes as a playlist jukebox much more than as a file organizer. Here is my normal mode and sequence of operation, largely because I came into using iTunes later than some other programs out there (like MusicMatch Jukebox or WMP).
1. Rip tracks to my hard drive using another program.
2. Add folders/files to iTunes, then create playlists, usually one CD=one playlist. If I have a multi-CD set, I will create a playlist of all the CDs together, instead of individual playlists for each CD.
3. I do not have iTunes organizing files for me, and I do not create files when adding to the library, because they are already created on my hard drive.
Several months ago, my 80GB internal drive was running out of room, so I copied everything to a 100GB external drive and started ripping newer tracks out there as I acquired them, and creating new playlists for those newer tracks. I did not re-organize my iTunes library at that time, because I didn't know what to do to accomplish that. So, my current iTunes library has older playlists pointing to files still on my C: drive and newer ones (after the copy to the external drive) to my external drive.
I also have some music that was imported directly into iTunes, mostly acquisitions from the Music Store. Those files reside exclusively on my C: drive, no copies out on the external drive at this time, and if need be, they could stay on C:, but if I can also move them to the external drive and iTunes can still find them, that would be great.
I would like to retain all my playlists that are currently referencing files on C:, but still point iTunes to the external drive for every file and playlist reference, since copies of the files on older C: drive playlists are now on the external drive, except for the directly imported files already mentioned. And, if you didn't see this one coming, I'd really like to reclaim the music file space on my C: drive, only after iTunes doesn't look there anymore for files to satisfy the playlists. Well over 50GB stands to be gained here, once reclaimed.
Now the kicker - I have over 20,400 tracks and well into the hundreds of playlists.
So there you have it - I have dual copies of most of my music files until I can get iTunes to forget about the old copies entirely, and to not have to re-create those hundreds of playlists to reference files on the external drive.
I have thought about using an editor on my iTunes library XML file to change all references to C: to my external drive name (and top-level folder references to change as well), but no editor (XML or otherwise) I have in my arsenal will hold a file this big.
Again, many thanks in advance to anyone(s) of you kind readers who might be able to throw this old (53 YO) dog a bone of useful information.
With a little bit of hope and a whole lot of thanks,
Gorgo
Cincinnati OH
Dell Dimension 2400 Windows XP External hard drives

Once more, thanks for responding, Mimico!
Bad news here, I'm afraid.
The consolidation aborted because apparently a file name was too long for the copy, and there was only a puny generic message box notifying me of samesaid abort. No reference to what track(s) caused the problem. I could be all day chasing that one down. No can do.
Needless to say, I went back to the original library file on my C: drive. Then desperation set in. I felt I had no alternative but to delete 99 3/4% of my library entries manually, leaving only those tracks that I purchased through the iTunes Store. The plan being, to also kill all existing playlists and rely on the Browser instead, once I got my track references lined up, supposedly by the following step.
Then I did an import, pointing to the master folder on my external drive, thinking it would pick up everything underneath, per the directions in the Help file for mass imports of music.
The import managed to pick up only about 1/7 of my collection on the external drive, even though it is all there on that drive under that folder. There may be different layers of subfolders and files under the main folder, but the predominating structure is an artist subfolder, than a CD subfolder, then the associated MP3 track files at the lowest level. Some of those CDs with that structure got picked up, many others did not. Bad result.
Is there any alternative to manually searching for missed folders and importing them one folder at a time? That would be the biggest help to me at this stage, I'm afraid. Otherwise, I guess I have to do what needs to be done.
Sitting in my doghouse,
Gorgo

Share iTunes playlists (and music files) on multiple devices and separate networks

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