User profile for user: abevans1
abevans1 Author
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Music Library Conundrum! Trying to recreate an old iTunes library file in Music, and transfer the supporting files

I'm hoping that turingtest2 sees this post. It seems they have the answers to all things Music.


My first Mac was a 2009 MacBook Pro (mid-2009). I brought over thousands of files from a PC and iTunes into that machine, and have A LOT of playlists on that machine. Then, I purchased a MacBook Air in 2018, and sometime not long after in 2019, I opted in for iTunes Match. It wrecked my playlists.


I have recently become the proud owner of a 2024 MacBook Pro M4 Max. What I would like to do (if possible) is to restore my iTunes library from the the 2009 Pro, and import all of my music (ripped and purchased) to restore the library to its original state. I haven't really created many new playlists on the Air, and am happy to recreate those few once it's all sorted.


I've reviewed extensively various threads on here, many answered very helpfully by turingtest2. I've been able to have the Pro 2009 library load on to the Pro 2024 machine, but the I'm stuck. The (20K+) files are not in the same directory, and therefore the library (and playlists) doesn't know where to find them. I vaguely remember there was once a function in iTunes that would en masse "find" files when things were moved, but that hasn't been offered by the 2024 Pro when I've tried to locate a few files manually. I've seen some users going into coding to find and replace. That's a little beyond my skill level I fear.


What recommendations will you share, please? And, if there's a much easier way of doing this that I've not found, please share those as well. I tried migration assistant, but panicked when I didn't have the option to choose only iTunes/Music. I've done a lot of work to set up the Pro 2024, and don't want to have to undo that. The reason I didn't use migration assistant to set it up from the beginning was a preference to start "clean."


Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 15.5

Posted on May 25, 2025 05:45 AM

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14 replies
User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
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May 26, 2025 08:18 AM in response to abevans1

Hi there. Consider yourself seen.


See Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community for general background on moving your library from one computer to another. When moving from iTunes to Music there are a couple of pitfalls. Music can only update a Mojave based iTunes library, and the Monterey build of Music in particular will normally stall during the conversion. Converting the iTunes library is the way to preserve the non-tag based details of your library, such as ratings, play counts, playlists, etc. If you import the media into a new library those details are lost.


If you've already done something like this, but Music isn't locating your files then see this post Locate multiple missing songs - Music - M… - Apple Community for ideas on fixing things.


See also Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community for more on organizing your media with the newer apps that have replaced iTunes.


tt2

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
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May 28, 2025 07:20 AM in response to abevans1

If the library content is only 150Gb then it should be possible to consolidate it to a different media folder on a drive that has at least 150Gb and change of free space. Something seems odd there. There used to be a feature where you select a group of tracks and then consolidate only those, which might have been a possible workaround. I may still pay to massage the library into a portable shape on the drive it is on so that you can then clone that Music folder to the internal drive and switch to the new copy.




If iTunes or Music show multiple instances of an artist or an album then what generally works is to select all related tracks and use Song Info to add say a trailing X to each of the fields that the tracks should have in common:

  • For an album; Album, Album Artist, and Artist (if artist is the same for all tracks) *
  • For an artist; Album Artist (and Artist unless there are guest/featured artists listed which should not be changed)

Apply the change which merges things together, then remove the excess characters. Occasionally it may help to close and reopen the app between the two renaming operations. Part of a compilation should also be set consistently.


* If tracks are to be synced to a non-iOS device there should be a common Artist and/or the album should be set as a Compilation.



Use the songs view and display the fields Album, Sort Album, Album Artist, Sort Album Artist, Artist and Sort Artist side by side so you see whether or not it is appropriate to edit Artist and if sort values could be causing any further problems. See Grouping tracks into albums for more help if required.



One further tip for really stubborn duplicates. At one point I had three lots of Various Artists in the artists view of my iTunes Match library that wouldn't respond to the usual trailing X treatment. What I found worked was to add the trailing X to start with, but then with each group that iTunes wanted to keep separate start typing a value and let it autocomplete from say Var... to Various Artists. Picking from the autocomplete lists seemed to work when pasting/editing the whole value didn't.



tt2

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User profile for user: abevans1
abevans1 Author
User level: Level 1
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Jun 19, 2025 07:54 AM in response to abevans1

WHOA! I just copied the music files from the external drive into the MacBook Pro Music\Media folder, and disconnected the external drive. I then went into Music and clicked on random tracks, expecting it to complain that the files were moved (because the external drive where they had been living was disconnected). It shockingly just played them. I've tried a small sample, and now issues. When I go into the info for a track, it shows that the file is on the MacBook Pro (obviously - where else would it be), in the correct folder structure. That was almost too easy...


The work to clean up, relabel metadata, etc. continues. But, at least this hurdle seems to be cleared. Thanks to all, especially tt2 for all the support and encouragement so far!

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User profile for user: turingtest2
turingtest2
User level: Level 10
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May 27, 2025 08:16 AM in response to abevans1

Hi,


Consolidating makes copies of any tracks that are outside of the designated media folder. Depending on the amount of data and the path to the media folder this can effectively duplicate the storage required for that media. Is that really what you want to do? Have you double checked the path to media folder listed under Music > Settings > Files? Perhaps it isn't what you expected it to be. I would normally use consolidate files to grab copies of files from odd locations like the desktop or download folders if those files had originally been added when the "Copy files to media folder" option was turned off.


Consolidation is not necessarily the best method for copying or moving the media from one location to another since it updates all the paths in the current library instead of creating a new independent library in a second location. At the very least there is housekeeping to do if the intention was to move media from one path to another as Music won't delete anything, just make copies.


Macs are generally fairly understanding if you move/rename files and folder with the same volume so if you want your updated library to use the current layout see Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community) then moving/renaming the media folder to say <External>/Music/Media should probably work. Backup the library database first and make a note of what you do so that you could reverse the steps if something goes wrong. Using this path in particular means that you could place a copy of the active the Music Library.musiclibrary package in <External>/Music (see Use multiple libraries in Music on Mac - Apple Support to change libraries) to make a portable library on this drive that can be cloned for backup and used on any other machine running the same build of Music/macOS.


If it then turns out there is sufficient space on your internal drive to host a clone of the library you can then copy <External>/Music to ~/Music so you can use the library there without the external connected. You can also investigate folder cloning tools such as FreeFileSync - https://freefilesync.org/ - to keep the two copies of the library up to date with each other. Note this isn't a tool I've tested but it would seem to fit the bill.


If don't know how much storage you have on the Air but if it is anything like mine your library sounds like is going to be too large to fit internally. Newer version of macOS should read Music libraries made by older versions, but not vice versa so if your Mac aren't running the same build you will need to be a little cautious moving the library between them. If needs be you can restore a pre-update backup of the .musiclibrary package from the Previous Libraries folder when switching to a lower version of Music, but of course you then lose any recent edits/additions to the library.


tt2

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User profile for user: abevans1
abevans1 Author
User level: Level 1
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May 27, 2025 06:16 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you tt2! You're brilliant!!


I had already found the first and third posts, and they were very helpful. And, in the meantime, the feature for which I was crossing my fingers kicked-in: Music offered to help find other missing files. That sorted most of them, and I was able to manually locate the remaining 50 or so. A lot better than 22K+! And, then I had Music "organize" the files the way it prefers them. "Keep my files organized," is now also checked in settings, as is "Copy files to Media folder when adding to the library."


So, now I have my old library, and all my files (including ones purchased since the old library was in use, which Ive downloaded). I've reorganized or recreated the handful of playlists that I have tinkered with since the old library file from the old Pro, and put them on to the new Pro. I feel good, and like a project I've had lingering for almost 8 years is nearly done.


Planned next steps:

  1. I'm waiting on a password reset, to authorize a very old (AOL - lol) Apple ID for some tracks in the library.
  2. The files for the library now on the new Pro are still on an external drive with a gross capacity of 5TB, and a current net capacity of 2.5TB. I tried to "consolidate" them to the new Pro's Music folder, but received the error that there's not enough capacity on the external drive?!
    1. In this case, my first thought is to try and consolidate again, now that the files are organized the way that Music likes them.
    2. Failing that, I thought I would just move the entire Music folder from the external drive (sans old library files), to the same folder on the Pro, and then let Music tell me the files have gone missing again. Then, point it to one or two, and hope it offers to locate them from me again? Should go more smoothly and seamlessly than the previous integration above. Or, is there another/better way?
  3. The next challenge will be syncing with my iPhone. Due to my disappointing experience with iTunes Match/Apple Music before, I prefer not to sync via iCloud. I have some tracks that are not standard recordings, and I'm worried it will mess up my library and playlists again. So, I think I should wipe the music off my iPhone, and then manually connect it to the Pro, and set the sync settings and let it rip. But, do I need to delete the music first? Just seems like a good idea to me.
  4. Once the library on the new Pro and the iPhone are in good shape, I would like to then copy the whole directory from the Pro (library + files) onto the Air, so that they match (moving the old library and files safely to the external drive first, just in case...). I will only ever sync my iPhone with the new Pro, but I plan to use the Air as a more mobile machine, and leaving the Pro on my (physical) desktop most of the time.


Does that all sound logical and relatively safe?


THANK YOU again for seeing me, and for your expert insight and advice. I really appreciate it.



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User profile for user: abevans1
abevans1 Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

May 27, 2025 11:19 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you again tt2. The main reason for using the consolidation function is to "automatically" transfer (copy) all the song files in their folder structure from the external HD (net current capacity of 2.5 TB) to the HD on the MacBook Pro (net current capacity of 3.5TB), thus preserving the Library's integrity as it relates to file locations. The total size of the files in the library is a little less than 150GB, which is why I'm befuddled by the error message, "the [external drive] doesn't have the capacity. I wonder is it simply that the overall size is too large for Music to manage? There should be plenty of space I should think on both the external drive and the MacBook Pro for these files to be "consolidated [copied]," no?


Once I have everything (library and files) on the MacBook Pro, I'll remove the external drive unless I need to restore or fix something later. It was more of a workspace that wasn't on any of the actual laptops while I was tinkering with the library and files that I was trying to bring together.


Good point about the potential macOS limitations, if not for now, then in the future. The MacBook Air is currently running Sonoma 14.7.6, and won't upgrade beyond Sonoma per Apple. The MacBook Pro is running Sequoia 15.5. I'm doing a lot of cleaning up and purging on the Air, but it currently has a net capacity of 550+GB, and that's with the old music library and files already on there (about 150 GB as above).


I've come across a new puzzle. Some tracks from the same album (even the same import from CD ages ago) aren't associated with the same album in the library. I've tried "Get info," and changed meta data that I can there, including when relevant the "compilation" tag, but some are still separated. Is there other metadata that can't be edited that might be causing this? Are there known work arounds?


Thank you again for your thoughtful, detailed but easy to understand suggestions, and of course for your time and patience with a novice.


Best,

abevans1

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User profile for user: abevans1
abevans1 Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

May 28, 2025 10:50 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you tt2! I have the same chin-scratching response to the push back from Music to consolidate from the external drive to the internal HD of the MacBook Pro. I tried it again yesterday, just in case,... of insanity. Same thing, same result. I'll have a go at moving the whole directory (of files) this weekend, and see how that goes.


I had tried something similar to your proposed solution for album combining, but I was only adding a "space" to the end of the album name. I just tried the use of the "x" and it worked like a charm!! Thank you again! I will carry on with that for a bit, and see if I run into any other anomalies or unique scenarios.


I can't say enough how much I appreciate your depth of knowledge, your user-friendly explanations, and your responsiveness. I may not be as big a devotee of Music as I once was of iTunes, but odd as it sounds to most rational humans, maintaining the order of things in the library especially on my new baby (the MacBook Pro) is extremely satisfying to me.


I'll keep you posted, but really, immense thanks again!!


abevans1

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User profile for user: Sidwelon
Sidwelon
User level: Level 1
14 points

Jun 10, 2025 01:18 AM in response to abevans1

Yeah, this is a classic mess after years of iTunes/Apple Music upgrades! Easiest way: copy your entire old iTunes folder (with the iTunes Library.itl or Music Library.musiclibrary file and all media files) into your 2024 Mac, then open Music while holding Option and select that library file. If paths are broken, you can try “Consolidate Library” in Music app (File > Library > Organize Library > Consolidate). That pulls all files into the right place, if it can find them. If some files are still missing, the only real “en masse relink” is scripting, but honestly, sometimes it’s just faster to fix a few by hand or re-import the tracks and rebuild playlists. No one-click magic, but consolidating usually helps a lot!


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User profile for user: abevans1
abevans1 Author
User level: Level 1
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Jun 11, 2025 10:06 AM in response to turingtest2

Hi tt2,


Just an update. I've not been brave enough to move the files from the external HD to the main drive on the MacBook Pro yet. But, I think I've detected the main issue with the meta data on the files that's breaking albums into bits and pieces of albums, and in turn contributing to the album art matching issues, etc. I don't know if it's new, or how new, but there seems the "Album Artist" field for many of the tracks is missing, or missing for half of the tracks for an album. Not sure if this iTunes Match related or not. If I was a betting person...


Anyway, for anyone else facing similar struggles and reading this thread, you might want to sort your library by "Album" and then go through methodically each track (or group of tracks per album), and adjust the "Album Artist" as you prefer, or in cases of soundtracks and other compilations put "Various Artists" in that field, perhaps.


Thanks everyone for your support and suggestions!

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User profile for user: abevans1
abevans1 Author
User level: Level 1
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Jun 13, 2025 04:08 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you tt2! Yes, I have the column browser visible, and have tried to go at this a number of ways. May just be how my brain works, but sorting by Album + Artist seems to be one of the best ways. You have given me an idea though - I could simply sort by Artist, change the "Album Artist" for all tracks for the same Artist, and that might be quicker. Thanks again and have a great weekend!


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Music Library Conundrum! Trying to recreate an old iTunes library file in Music, and transfer the supporting files

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