Music Media Folder in Apple Music is not respected

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head4heights Author

Level 1

9 points

Music Media Folder in Apple Music is not respected

2025-03-07

Apple Music (v1.5.2.56) macOS (v15.3.1).

It has a Music Media Folder (MMF) which is defined within Music> Settings...

It is to this folder that tracks ripped from CD end up.

In my case I rip to m4A format.

So far so good.

I maintain a bunch of folders that are beyond the definition and scope of the MMF.

These folders contain .mp3 versions that get copied onto a thumb drive.

These same mp3 versions are also used to populate my iPhone via a Playlist defined within Apple Music on the Mac.

It's a drop and drop. To actually get the music to the iPhone I have to sync the iPhone (using Finder and clicking on "Sync Settings...") and select the required playlist.

Again, so far so good.

The problem is that Apple Music then automatically imports all the .mp3 tracks into the Music Media Library (MML). I end up with multiple versions of almost every track. Many of us have many thousands of tracks and ridding the MML of duplicates is a fearsome and often frustrating task.

Apple Music doesn't work with AppleScript in any meaningful way so that isn't an option.

What is needed is for the folder defined by MMF to be respected. Imho.

I don't see why tracks in a Playlist that derive from actual files outside of the MMF should be hoovered up.

If I wanted the mp3 versions included I could create a folder(s) that are in or under the MMF definition.

I don't think I've missed anything but am very happy to be disabused. My suspicion is that this is an "undocumented feature".

Anyone?

Many thanks in advance

Mac Studio (2023)

Posted on Mar 7, 2025 08:05 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

277,729 points

Mar 7, 2025 10:53 AM in response to head4heights

Music doesn't scan the media folder for new files, nor any other location apart from the Automatically Add to Music folder inside your media folder. There are two options that control Music's behaviour when new content is added to the library, Copy files to Media folder when adding to library, and Keep Media folder organized. The first tells music to make new copies inside the media folder of anything added from outside the media folder, the second lets Music update file and folder names within the media folder in response to metadata changes. These options are found under Music > Settings > Files. Music keeps no records of what folders or playlists are added to the library. Reimporting a particular folder or playlist made with some other software can easily lead to duplication.

Music can only play content that has been added to the library. Adding a playlist to the library adds every track referenced by the list, if it can be found (and no error messages if not). If it is already a part of the library (by absolute file path) then it can be referenced on that path. If it appears to be a new file then a new file copy might be made, inside the media folder, when appropriate. Turning off Copy files... may help here, but then complicates the process of backing up or moving the library because it may then be connected to files outside of the media folder that might not be captured/migrated correctly.

See Duplicate songs in iTunes/Music - Apple Community for advice on duplicates. See also Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community for some background on the layout of the library, particularly if you still have some legacy content from iTunes.

tt2

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Music Media Folder in Apple Music is not respected

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