Transferring iTunes library on Windows 11 to Apple Music on Mac Catalina

Hi,

I'm pretty sure the issue here is that your iTunes for Windows library is too new to be converted to the nearly 6 year old version of Music on Catalina. If date added doesn't matter to you then you can export the iTunes library as an XML file, edit the location data for each track in a suitable text editor, then import the XML file into Music. (If I remember correctly you may also need to remove carriage returns from the Windows generated XML.) All tracks get the current date & time as their date added values. You should be able to retain the original information if you instead take out a temporary subscription to the Apple Music service, upload/match the library from your Windows computer, then download the cloud library to the Mac. You should backup the originals from your Windows library in case you discover any mismatches, e.g. clean vs. explicit or some other variation. Once everything is downloaded you should be able to turn off Sync Library, and cancel the subscription renewal, and the data should be retained.

tt2

Yes, use something like BBEdit. A Windows path will start something like file://C:/Windows/Users/<UserName>/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/<etc> and you want to modify that to reflect the new path on the Mac which is more like file://Volumes/<DriveName>/Users/<MacUserName>/.. etc. Music's default media folder is ~/Music/Music/Media, where ~ is your user's home folder, so you probably want to put the iTunes Media folder there and rename it, unless you are going to put it on an external drive. One global search & replace should do the trick. If needs be import a single track into an empty Music library on the Mac and then export an XML version of the library so you can compare the two side by side.

See Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community for more on the layout of the Music library.

tt2

lexwithbub wrote:

And I gather I can't just switch the PC over to Apple Music, and just transfer the old fashioned way either as the Catalina version of music also won't read the windows 11 version of Apple Music library, right?

Exactly. The Apple Music for Windows library isn't compatible with the Mac.

Unless I export as XML and do the same file path edit anyway?

Apple Music for Windows lacks many features of iTunes, playlist export and import among them.

ie. newer versions will read older libraries, but older versions won't read newer libraries.

Correct. At least in general. There are some exceptions to the first half of that statement, but not the second

tt2

It seems like the issue might be with the compatibility between the different versions of iTunes and Music. The format or structure of the iTunes library file might not be recognized by the Music app on your Mac. You could try using the "Import" feature in the Music app on your Mac to try and bring in your music library from the external hard drive.

lexwithbub wrote:

I've done the edit, not sure how to import the XML now. Do I just import from within music? The "hold option while starting the app" way didn't work as all XML files are greyed out.

File > Library > Import Playlist.

tt2