Syncing Apple Music with MP3s on a new external drive while retaining metadata

Hi Prof.

If you've already copied the files to the new drive, in exactly the same layout, then it may just be a matter of changing the name of the old drive to say <Volume Name> (Old) and the new one to <Volume Name> so that Music looks for the content on the new drive instead of the old one.

tt2

You would need to copy the MusicLibrary.musiclibrary file that references those mp3s to the SSD and then point the Apple Music app to that file by holding down the option key when starting the Music App and navigating to it. Assuming of course the MP3s are in exactly the same location on the new drive as they were on the old one.

click here ➜ Move your iTunes library to another computer - Apple Support

The files need to be placed wherever the library file expects them to be.

If they were not in the external drive, they need to be placed on the Mac in the same location they were in before.

You can alternatively try to play one of the missing songs and when it fails it will ask you to try to find it, it can then use the location of that song to try to determine the location of the rest so you don't have to do so manually.

Outside of that, you would need run some type of script to rebuild the file locations in the music library database.

Our resident iTunes and Music Library guru turingtest2’s might have something that can help. I'll see if I can get him to chime in to this thread.

If your music resides in multiple locations or if you've made additional copies before, keep track of where your main library resides. Consistency in file organization helps prevent confusion in the future.

Thanks TT.