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Question Profile
| DATE | Jan 9, 2008 |
| TICKET | #335582 |
| STATUS | Closed |
| SUBJECT | iTunes questions |
| CAT | Computers, Operating Systems, Applications or Connected Devices |
| TYPE | Software Applications |
| DESC | Digital Music & Video Software |
| DESC | |
| PLATFORM | Apple Macintosh (Intel) |
| MODEL | eSata Mini |
| PROC | 1.5 |
| RAM | 2 gb |
| DRIVE | 7200rpm 320gb Sata2 on Sata bus |
| NAME | Robin |
| USERNAME | RobinS |
| TECHNICAL | Little Experience |
| ISSUE | Some Troubleshooting |
Question Details
TICKET ARCHIVE -> iTunes questions
RobinS - Jan 9, 2008 - 10:24 pm
Upon further inspecion I realize that iTunes has a lot of options and potential. If I can tame the beast it should be great.
Why would one opt to move or not move their music files into the iTunes library when importing? Wouldn't one want their music either in one place or another? Perhaps you would want everything in the iTunes folder if iTunes is the only player you use?
And would I backup all my song names in User/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist? Or are they somewhere else like in Caches or Application Support? Once I organize all those names I sure want to make sure everything is backed up.
iTunes looks like it could be quite amazing for organizing music. Though I sure wish it would retain the folders and groups I had everything in when I imported everything. I had "Keep itunes Music Folder Organized" checked. Should it have been unchecked?
Why would one opt to move or not move their music files into the iTunes library when importing? Wouldn't one want their music either in one place or another? Perhaps you would want everything in the iTunes folder if iTunes is the only player you use?
And would I backup all my song names in User/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist? Or are they somewhere else like in Caches or Application Support? Once I organize all those names I sure want to make sure everything is backed up.
iTunes looks like it could be quite amazing for organizing music. Though I sure wish it would retain the folders and groups I had everything in when I imported everything. I had "Keep itunes Music Folder Organized" checked. Should it have been unchecked?
earthsaver - Jan 9, 2008 - 11:01 pm
Song, album, artist, etc. info is stored as metadata in each song file, as well as in the iTunes Library and iTunes Music Library.xml files. Keeping organization checked is the way to go if you want iTunes to handle it. Some folks, however, use iTunes to play songs that they prefer to organize differently, particularly with live recordings and music created with GarageBand. Others just have their own mechanisms for organization that differ from iTunes' style.
RobinS - Jan 10, 2008 - 10:04 am
This wasn't answered:
"Why would one opt to move or not move their music files into the iTunes library when importing? Wouldn't one want their music either in one place or another? Perhaps you would want everything in the iTunes folder if iTunes is the only player you use?"
Nor this:
"And would I backup all my song names in User/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist? Or are they somewhere else like in Caches or Application Support?"
Nor this:
"iTunes looks like it could be quite amazing for organizing music. Though I sure wish it would retain the folders and groups I had everything in when I imported everything. I had "Keep itunes Music Folder Organized" checked. Should it have been unchecked?"
So is there any way of importing a folder of music files into iTunes without iTunes breaking up and resorting that folder? Folders are how I've organized my music for the last few years. iTunes may be preferable as it offers different ways of sorting the music, but for now I'd like to keep the folders intact. Is this possible? Would that mean I somehow convert each folder to a Playlist? That way I'm moving one group intact to another group.
And is it possible to change the info on a group of songs (say the album name) all at once without opening each one up? Imagine you've got 10,000 songs that need to be resorted. That could take days. And if there isn't a way for iTunes to do it, I wonder if there are 3rd party apps that work with iTunes that might aid in my task?
Please answer all questions, but iff this isn't your bag, feel free to pass it along to someone else. There is no rush for me getting an answer. I don't want to write off iTunes as I think its got a lot of potential. But it might take a while before I'm "fluent" in it. You've been most helpful in the past.
"Why would one opt to move or not move their music files into the iTunes library when importing? Wouldn't one want their music either in one place or another? Perhaps you would want everything in the iTunes folder if iTunes is the only player you use?"
Nor this:
"And would I backup all my song names in User/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist? Or are they somewhere else like in Caches or Application Support?"
Nor this:
"iTunes looks like it could be quite amazing for organizing music. Though I sure wish it would retain the folders and groups I had everything in when I imported everything. I had "Keep itunes Music Folder Organized" checked. Should it have been unchecked?"
So is there any way of importing a folder of music files into iTunes without iTunes breaking up and resorting that folder? Folders are how I've organized my music for the last few years. iTunes may be preferable as it offers different ways of sorting the music, but for now I'd like to keep the folders intact. Is this possible? Would that mean I somehow convert each folder to a Playlist? That way I'm moving one group intact to another group.
And is it possible to change the info on a group of songs (say the album name) all at once without opening each one up? Imagine you've got 10,000 songs that need to be resorted. That could take days. And if there isn't a way for iTunes to do it, I wonder if there are 3rd party apps that work with iTunes that might aid in my task?
Please answer all questions, but iff this isn't your bag, feel free to pass it along to someone else. There is no rush for me getting an answer. I don't want to write off iTunes as I think its got a lot of potential. But it might take a while before I'm "fluent" in it. You've been most helpful in the past.
earthsaver - Jan 10, 2008 - 2:26 pm
I did answer those first two paragraphs in the first two sentences of my reply. There are no iTunes items in Caches or App Support so I didn't mention those, and the eq.plist contains your iTunes Equalizer preferences; nothing related to song info.
If you don't want iTunes to organize your music differently and you want to leave it all where it is in the same order, tell iTunes not to keep your music organized and not to copy when importing.
If you want to see individual albums, artists, and/or genres at a time, use the Browser in iTunes (eye icon or Command+B). If you want to change multiple songs, select them together with Shift or Command and get info.
If you don't want iTunes to organize your music differently and you want to leave it all where it is in the same order, tell iTunes not to keep your music organized and not to copy when importing.
If you want to see individual albums, artists, and/or genres at a time, use the Browser in iTunes (eye icon or Command+B). If you want to change multiple songs, select them together with Shift or Command and get info.
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