Why do i have to itunes library xml files?

Along with iTunes Library, there are two xml files i have; itunes music library.xml and itunes library.xml, do i need them both? I only ask as the file path information in itunes music library.xml are not up to data(i moved my library to an external HD) and would like to know if it would be safe to delete it.
The links in itunes library.xml have seem to been updated.
Thanks
"If it's not broken, don't fix it...
........I never learn!"

Google is your friend! (To quote:)
iTunes Music Library.xml
This file contains some (but not all) of the same information stored in the iTunes Library file. The purpose of the iTunes Music Library.xml file is to make your music and playlists available to other applications on your computer. In Mac OS X other iLife applications (like iPhoto, iDVD, and iMovie) use this file to make it easier for you to add music from your iTunes library to your projects.
Actual article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660

Similar Messages

Have found multiple iTunes Library.xml files. Moved Library to new Hard Drive and it needs to be completely rebuilt?

Hello. I have a Mac Mini operating Mac OS X 10.7.2. I recently had to move my iTunes Library to a new hard drive. I followed the directions on how to move the library and refind everything yet when I do so what comes up is a mere skeleton of what I had. I have had to hunt down my purchased Apps, Music and Movies and re-add them to the library. I also noticed in doing this I have multiple iTunes Library.xml files ... shouldn't there only be one? If so how do I clean this up without doing any accidental damage (i.e. how do I find the one that is being used and delete the rest?)? If I delete the others is there any risk of losing purchased content? Lastly syncing my iPads has become a nightmare as I get the "This iPad is currently synced to another iTunes library" message. Obviously something

It's hard for me to picture the exact situation. It sounds like you still have your library file on the internal but some files on the external, and maybe some on the internal, some of which are in the library and others not... By re-adding things after consolidating it may have made things into a hodge-podge. Yes, that article you referenced says: "iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder"with Media Folder being the emphasis. You probably should have just moved your whole iTunes folder. Still, moving the media folder as instructed should not have messed up the library. Did you make the mistake of starting up iTunes before the external drive had mounted fully and it then told you it couldn't find many files? How you proceed to sort it out will depend upon how much time you want to spend and how important things such as ratings and playcount are to you. I have not actually used the consolidate feature across different drives myself (and don't feel inclined to do so here to test ).
If you are in the USA you can download some previous purhcases with iCloud, but not all.
Here's a bit on what an iTunes folder should look like:
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]
Library files with graphic and explanation of different iTunes versions - http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=13169517
Once you get iTunes working off the external drive it should just put new media to the external when you add it.
I have almost no experience with synching (I synched my neice's iPod, once, about 4 years ago).

Is there a way to rebuild the ITunes Library XML file from my IPod?

After several promptings, I finally decided to install ITunes 7.4.3.1. Like a fool, I did not backup my entire library prior to doing this upgrade. Nothing is going to go wrong now mate, is it? Everything seemed to proceed just fine with the upgrade. I noticed that ITunes updated the XML Library in the process. Where the problems occured was after the upgrade, I was in the middle of listening to the latest "NPR Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" Podcast (I have some 3,000 downloaded podcasts in over 85GB worth of space) when ITunes crashed. When I brought ITunes back up, it had seemed to have reverted to an earlier backup ITunes Library XML file that I had made months ago.
I still have all of the .mp3, .m4a, .mp4 and .m4v files stored in my ITunes Music folder. Somehow when I brought ITunes back up, it had lost all of the music I had dowloaded from the ITunes store even though the files were still out on disk. It thought there were only 395 podcasts despite the 3,000 plus files out there.
Clearly, something went horribly wrong and I don't want to spend weeks downloading these files again when the only thing that really needs to be done is the ITunes Library XML data file needs to be rebuilt. It dawns on me that my IPod has an XML data file that save any updates I have not yet synced with it that it is quite current. Is there some way that I can sync my IPod with ITunes and copy the IPod XML data file into ITunes Library XML data file? I know that there must be some way to access the IPod since I can plug it into my Kenwood car stereo and read through the IPod's contents.
Is there anyone out there that has an idea that might be able to help me recover my ITunes library?
Thanks for any assistance,
--randyt00

The XML file is not used by iTunes. It is created for the use of other programs. Your library is in the itl file. SInce you still have the file you could simply add them to your library using the add folder option instead of downloading again.
What are library files
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93732
Rebuild library.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93313

Help please. Lost itunes library.xml file

Hello,
I have windows 7 and have failed in my attempts to locate my itunes library xml file. I think I lost it when I transferred music from one computer to the next. Online I have seen a tutorial on how to find it, user - my music - itunes. However it's not there. I was trying to sync my itunes music to android, but cannot do so unless I have the xml file. Please note, i am not a computer savvy guy. please don't make it to technical.
Thanks
- Anthony

I already have itunes installed and all my music, playlists and podcasts which work fine, but the media cannot be transferred onto my phone via Isyncr due to not having the itunes library.xml file. You are saying all I have to do is get the itl file from my old computer and save it onto my new one. then re-download itunes and it should work?
Edit: I found my old computer and still cannot locate .xml or itl file.
Looked in users/music/itunes music. and nothing saying xml or itl is there.

The itunes library.xml file doesn't make sense.

I edited all 2,000+ songs' file path locations in the library.xml file and even after that itunes only saw half of the files, if it saw half of them why didn't it just put all of them???

I would seem that you are.
The XML file is provided for 3rd party support. It allows other applications to interrogate your library. iTunes doesn't normally have any cause to read it back or make use of it.
Create a smart playlist with the rule Checked is True. Drag the contents of this into a new playlist called iPhone Tunes (or similar), Select the Songs list and CMD-click on any empty playlist. Delete the initial playlist. Sync your device with iPhone Tunes. Drag new stuff into it when you want, delete stuff when it gets too big.
That's the simple way of reworking your current selections into a more flexible set up. There are other things you could do like create smaller size-limited playlists along the lines of "Recently Played", "Recently Added", "Not Played In Ages", "Top Rated", along with say a regular list called "Essentials" which, once set up, would allow you to have some rotating content on the device without having to do any extra work.
tt2

HT1451 My playlists are gone on my PC (Windows). No iTunes Library.xml file,

My playlists, and song history are gone. I do not have a Library.xml file. My playlist is still on nother PC via the cloud.
How can i recover my playlists and song history; I have "ranked" over 7,000 songs!

Your Vaio media software is doing it.
See this -> iTunes creates an empty library file in Windows

Corrupt iTunes Library .XML File for library with 3,000+ playlists.HELP!

Here is my situation. I've been ripping my cds to Lossless for almost a year now and I'm at about cd 3000. A few days ago my Mini got hung up on a cd and locked up. The cd drive even completely stopped spinning after about an hour. I did the only thing I could and turned the power off. It was totally unresponsive. When I re-booted I got the "iTunes Library has been renamed (damaged) error. I tried several fixes which didn't work such as simply renaming damaged(by removing the word damaged from the file name). Right now I have dragged the Library File and the XML file to my desktop and tried to restart iTunes to import the XML file but that's giving me none of my playlists. I have a playlist for every album in my library. I like this way so no need to comment on how it doesn't make sense to you. My database file is 43MB and the XML is just a few KB. My library is stored on an external drive. I will freak out if I have to create all these playlists again. I know that there is a playlist generator app that will automatically do this but I had these all last name, first name and aliases and how I wanted to find them so I put a lot of work into how I organized everything. What else can I try?

It's so funny you just replied to this because I've been waiting patiently for a week and I just now posted another snag I'm running into right above this post.
I never really had any kind of problems with all of the playlists. It never really hung up or anything like that at all & I'm using a very first generation Mac Mini. It would seamlessly play from any song I picked to any other song I picked by just clicking on it.
I had multiple reasons for using so many playlists if you want to read about them here:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1230475284

Help: Songs Do Not Appear When Importing an itunes Library XML file

I have 2 apple IDs and 2 libraries I want to combine. I've been working on this for hours. I found detailed instructions on making sure all the right preferences are checked, locations are in public folders, and so on. There are no error messages when I import the file but no songs appear/download. I also cannot get files into windows media player using any of the directions I've found online. I have windows 8.1
On a side note, I, like everyone else grew up with computers so most basic problems I've always been able to troubleshoot. Windows 8.1 and Itunes software is so unecessarily complicated and hard to work with. If this is how advanced software is going to work, I have a new found appreciation for my Grandma because I don't understand it at all. How about we go back to folders with artist names instead of giant XML files. How about we drag and drop. I'm so ****** off at this point. I just don't understand how this is going to be fixed and my 1000s I've spent on music is all down the toilet beause of ****** programs and no customer service.

Two things contribute to this.
One is that some songs might be tagged as Part Of A Compilation (see the Get Info on those songs/albums) in which case they will not show up under the artist.
Second, is that an artist needs at least two different Albums identified for their songs to all list under the artist. In other words, if you import a CD with album name then add a handful of misc songs without album names associated, those handful will not show up under the artist name.
But add an album name to at least one of those handful of misc. songs and then ALL of the songs should show up under the artist.
You don't have to do it for all of them, just enough to have two different albums identified with the artist. But in general, it is a good idea to make sure your tunes have Song name, artist name, and album name associated with them as a minimum.
Patrick

Changes made to iTunes Library.xml keep reverting back

I'm helping a friend with his computer. He uses an external harddrive for all his iTunes music. Lets call this drive "iTunes HD".
He wants to move his collection to a newer bigger drive. So he mirrors the content to a new harddrive. Let's call this drive "New HD".
We remove the old drive called "iTunes HD" and launch iTunes whiles holding down the option key and select the iTunes folder on "New HD".
It finds the library and lists the songs, but can not find any of the songs. It's looking for each file in "/Volumes/iTunes HD" and not the new drive.
We exit iTunes.
I vi the "iTunes Library.xml" and globally replace "iTunes HD" with "New HD" and save the file.
We relaunch iTunes and again it can not find any of the files and when I get information on them it's still looking in "/Volumes/iTunes HD".
We exit iTunes and reopen the "iTunes Library.xml" file and all the changes have been undone and reverted back.
So I reapply all my edits and this time move the ""iTunes Library.itl" to /tmp to get it out of that directory. And relaunch iTunes.
Now it comes up with no Library of music at all. So I go to "File > Library > Import Playlist" and select the xml file I just finished fixing. I says Importing Playlist and then nothing happens. Cursor comes back and there's still nothing in the Library.
I have to move the "iTunes Library.itl" from /tmp back into the directory and relaunch iTunes for it to see the Playlist again. It still can't play them because it's still referencing the old "iTunes HD" which we removed.
How do I fix this?

In iTunes go to Edit > Preferences > Store and turn off
Show iTunes in the Cloud purchases
Share details about your library with Apple
On any iOS device go to Settings > Music and turn off
Show All Music
Close and reopen iTunes and/or reset the device and you should see your version of the metadata for each track rather than the original store data.
tt2

Itunes Library.xml save automatically?

Is there a way that the itunes library.xml file that you export when clicking the export library button under the file menu can be saved automatically without having to click it everytime? Thanks

No... When I add a new song or video or something, I want Itunes to update the Library.xml file automatically instead of having to clicking export library every time. Is there a way?

Library .xml File

I'm not sure why, but the library files being created by iTunes are called iTunes Library.itl (database file) and iTunes Library.xml I was just imformed that the default for the .xml file should actually be iTunes Music Library.xml How do I get iTunes to create the iTunes Music Library.xml file instead?
The reason this is an issue is I have a separate media player that streams my iTunes music through my home stereo. This system allows you to use the iTunes playlists with it, but in order to do so it indexes with the iTunes Music Library file. Since mine is not there my playlists show up as empty. If I rename the file correctly then reindex the media player then the playlists show up fine. But of course the next time I open/close iTunes & it saves the library then it creates a new iTunes Library.xml file. For the time being I am simply renaming the file anytime I update my playlists, but this is a work around & I'm trying to figure out how to get iTunes to go back to its default of iTunes Music Library.xml. Perhaps I should do a reinstall of itunes then import the correct file????

Nope, doesn't work. If I delete the .xml file it will simply recreate another one the next time I open/close itunes, but it will still be named iTunes Library.xml
Tonight I even tried to uninstall itunes completely, then reinstall it and start my library from scratch, but once again it created an iTumes Library, not iTunes Music Library .xml
Any other ideas?

Multiple library.xml files normal?

I just made 2 iTunes libraries, both located in the Music folder on my internal HD. One is just called "iTunes" which gets backed up with time machine, and the other is called "iTunes For Backup", which I use for temporary music projects etc that I exclude from backup to save space.
The one called "iTunes For Backup" has an "iTunes Library.xml" file as normal, but the "iTunes" folder has both an "iTunes Library.xml" file AND an "iTunes Music Library.xml" file.
After playing around, I discovered that if I start from scratch and create a new library called "iTunes", initially it will create just the "iTunes Library.xml" file, but as soon as I've added songs and quit, it creates a second file called "iTunes Music Library.xml". If I create a new iTunes library and name it anything other than "iTunes", only an "iTunes Library.xml" is ever created, which I think is normal behaviour.
To be honest I don't even know if this is a problem, but I've never seen multiple Library.xml files inside the same iTunes folder before. And why it would have anything to do with what you name the library seems baffling. It strikes me as very odd behaviour so I thought I would throw it out there out of curiousity to see if this is normal. I'd hate to find out it's a problem after I've built a huge library.

I'm wondering the exact same thing.
I'm able to find a lot of resources on the itunes library.xml file, but hardly anything on the itunes music library.xml file…
I'm also lost as to how I import my playlists back into iTunes. I keep my music on an internal 'Media' partition and am pretty well versed with OSX, but can't seem to figure it out… All the problems relate back to both of these XML files. Importing one will import some of the playlists, but not all… Weird

ITunes Library.itl file, and temp files after Time Machine retrieval

Hi - I messed up a playlist and got it back fine using Time Machine, but I'm left with temp files as well as iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Library.xml files on my desktop (that's where I placed the needed file for playlist re-import). Can't delete them, can't move them....what do I do with them?! Thanks in advance for any guidance.

<< Quit iTunes then delete them. >>
Thanks, but with iTunes closed, I get this when I try to delete.

Can't import iTunes Library.xml to rebuild library in iTunes 7.5 - why?

Hi,
I did an "erase & install" with Leopard because I got kernel panics with 10.4.11, and whenever I try to import my old iTunes Library.xml (which weighs more than 45 Mo) to rebuild my library in iTunes 7.5 as indicated in the kb, I get a new kernel panic before it can complete the process, usually between the 10th and 15th minute. This happens even with extensions removed, and with permissions repaired.
However, I noticed that when I interrupt the process, the partial file I get is functional and I get access to a random portion of my library...
Does anybody have a tip?
My library is really important for me, especially the playlists, which I have saved separately one by one. Does anyone know if they would work if reimported with a library rebuilt from scratch by dragging and dropping my music files in iTunes?
Thanks for your help, I know it's a lot to ask...
Ben

You should be able to create a new Library file by doing the drag and drop of your music files as you describe. I would do them about 50 albums at a time to start with.
You might want to start by quitting iTunes and going to the /Your Home/Music/iTunes Music folder and moving the "iTunes Library" itl and "iTunes Music Library.xml" to your Desktop. Then launch iTunes to create new blank ones. Set your iTunes preferences and so forth before you begin. Do a few and make sure you are getting the results you are expecting. In other words do you want iTunes to move your music files to the default location, etc.
You may need to recreate your playlists when done if you do not have the individual xml files to re-import.

Why is itunes library xml disappearing?

After adding new music, my itunes library xml is disappearing. If I shut my computer down and restart it it's fine. If I don't it says cannot find file and it was modified at some date in the year 2000. I use the dj software traktor which reads the library xml. This started happening after I upgraded to lion, I was running leapord before. Anyone have any ideas what is causing this? Also, I have no problems in itunes

Click the icon to start iTunes and immediately press and hold down the SHIFT key until asked to choose or create a library. Create your new library at, for example, D:\iTunes.
tt2

Why do i have to itunes library xml files?

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