Migrating from iTunes to the Music App

[@MartinGreen-p7r]

Great tutorial, helped me to move all my music from a 2010 iMac using iTunes to a 2023 MacBook Pro using music. Thanks

[@VinceVega303]

This is the best tutorial that I have watched whilst setting up 2 new macs.I am upgrading from an 11yr old imac.

[@waffleninja777]

Thank you so much for this! I was really scared to transfer my music from a windows computer to a new Mac but your instructions were super clear and easy!

[@easymactraining]

Wonderful! So glad to read, Hannah. Tell everyone you know!

[@thecolonel4551]

I have completely moved to the Apple eco-system, this month. Mac Mini, iPhone11, iWatch series 6, and iPad Gen9. Not everything has arrived yet, got the iPhone and the iWatch for now. Looking to transfer iTunes from my PC to iphone11 (if possible). This video did not discuss that directly, but you saved me when my Mac Mini is ready to fire up and transfer. Thanks!

[@dannymartial7997]

This is sooo helpful. You even provided edge-cases and future-proofing steps. Thanks!

[@Toebex]

I wish you made tutorials for every single tech-related issue. I sort of knew how to do this, but you cleared up a lot of questions I had. Im planning to essentially start my tech life from scratch. Brand new Mac Pro and iPhone after using the same mac pro for 12 years and iphone for 6 years. I was planning to restore my new computer from a carbon copy clone, then i thought maybe my time machine backup, but there are terabytes of messy very old stuff in there that I want to get away from, and doing the time machine restore would be unneccesary and unpredictable. I just want to copy of the essential files from my old mac, notably my iPhone backup (in MobileSync), my iTunes library, most of my premiere and after effects files+exports and a handful of applications (over 70% dont even work anymore on newer OS's). I think id rather just copy them over when its all new, rather than copy everything and then delete whatever I didnt want. This video clears up a lot for the iTunes side. I dont have any movies or tv shows, just music. Thank you and sorry for the long comment.

[@HH-mf8qz]

Thank you very much for the grat video! The only useful video I found on this topic

[@VatroslavHaramustek]

this didn't work for me... but i find solution. after copying itunes to external drive (as in video) just on mac hold "option" key when opening music app. it will ask you for database file. just find it on external hard drive (in itunes folder). it will import everything. now consolidate files as in video. that's it! :D

[@bighoss7437]

Wordddd this worked for me, thx bud

[@jbinroom2038]

Thank you so much, Vatroslav!

[@VatroslavHaramustek]

@@jbinroom2038 glad to be at help, you’re welcome. I lost 2weeks until i found this solution ;)

[@DJOZMET]

Libraries too?

[@VatroslavHaramustek]

@@DJOZMET yes. Library was most important to me ;)

[@swinstondc]

This was incredibly helpful while being super concise. Thanks a bunch!

[@moraditax]

This was simple, helpful, concise, and even relaxing. This is art. I will check your other videos :)

[@easymactraining]

Glad you liked it!

[@John_McFadden]

Great video, thanks. Easy to follow and exactly what I was looking for. Cheers!

[@vasudevnair9670]

I have been searching for like an hour, this finally fixed it. bruh thank you SO much😁😁😁

[@duchche]

Thanks buddy really helpful

[@jessevallado9508]

Can you detail how to migrate your playlists please? Thank you

[@AshishKunjachan95]

Though I'm not a Mac user I watched full and it's wonderfully explained.

[@digi0611ify]

Thanks for this! I was certain this would mess up my entire library for some reason. Glad to know it was this simple and I can keep all my music! you rock!!!

[@alanlarson9219]

Thanks for the posting. your video is the clearest explanation that I have seen. I have been having trouble with my extremely large Music library, {used to be iTunes, (1TB!!)}, like double entries, split entries, lots of red exclamation marks, etc., and I detailed it all and sent in a support ticket to Apple. They saw my ticket and before even talking to me, escalated it to a senior Advisor. She had me add a file, Music1, and I opened the Music app with it. All the double entries, split entries, etc disappeared, but the only music that appeared, at least not grayed out, was music that Apple Music, which I subscribe to has in its library, In other words, if I had something that Apple Music does not have, it appeared as grayed out and not playable on my computer. I told her that, and she is going to consult the engineering department and get back to me Saturday. I have been collecting CDs since they came out in the early '80s, and I would like to keep all of them in my library, but what I understand is that if you have Apple Music, then you can only have in your library what is in library. I guess that in order for me to enjoy my older music, I must quit Apple Music and restore my old library from backup Is this your understanding? By the way, I am saving your video in case I choose to restore my old library from backup. I assume this will work supposing that I wipe the drive clean reinstall OS 11.1, and it hopefully be just like adding to a brand new computer, which your video is about.

[@easymactraining]

Wow, 1TB of music is no joke! I can definitely imagine there being indexing issues over the years with a library of that size. The macOS Music app can absolutely support and play music that is not from the Apple Music streaming service. With the information you provided, I see the simplest solution being to go back to your older iTunes library and make sure it has been consolidated. The red exclamation marks in iTunes mean that those songs were imported at some point (on probably an even older computer or hard drive), but the library wasn't consolidated, iTunes no longer had access to the actual music files anymore. I'm assuming those songs without an actual file now show up in the Music app as the greyed out ones. Unless you have access to the older computers/drives where those songs used to be, you won't be getting them back, and Apple will not restore them for you because they weren't tied to your Apple ID. You honestly may be best off re-importing them from CDs and make sure your new Music app library is consolidated for future migrations. Lastly, even though it's no longer advertised, Apple still has iTunes Match which actually converts and standardizes music from unverified sources, such as CDs, and syncs them across all devices in the cloud. Look into that and see if it may be useful. Best of luck, man.

[@alanlarson9219]

@@easymactraining Thanks for the reply!

[@td807]

Fantastic presentation...

[@XauEsteban]

The issue I see as a DJ when taking the additional step of converting the iTunes folder to Music and deleting iTunes is that if you have an old MacBook that breaks down and you need to migrate the Music folder to the old computer while the new one is being fixed, it won't work. I believe it would be better not to convert it to Music if this is your case! Thanks, great video

[@easymactraining]

Fair point from a DJ perspective. Though, it’s only a matter of time before all computers able to support iTunes become too obsolete to work. It may be a good idea to begin preparing for the inevitable future with more appropriate tools such as Tidal. I appreciate you watching.

[@brennanspark]

Thank you excellent tutorial!

[@Manco654]

Very straightforward and easy to follow video! 👍 Apple just released the Apple Music and other apps officially for Windows through the Microsoft store. Could you maybe also make the same tutorial on how to properly migrate from an iTunes installation to the new Apple Music app on Windows 11? I think currently there does not exist a tutorial for this on KZbin! 🙂

[@easymactraining]

Thanks for the suggestion. Not a bad idea, I better get on it! 🙂

[@slicemadice]

I have a 2010 MacBook Pro(iTunes), transferring songs to a 2021 M1 MacBook Pro(Apple Music App). When opening the Music App, the songs did not automatically populate. But what did work after copying the files, in the Music App was simply clicking File and then Import. Choosing iTunes or iTunes Media folder.

[@easymactraining]

Glad you were able to figure out your import! Congrats on your machine upgrade, it's going to feel like night and day.

[@denisemc607]

Thank you very much. I am wiping my desktop and refeshing it after years of Time Machine reimaging that has caused some corruption. My iTunes has 10 years of CDs. BTW: Excellent delivery and pace as well as completely informative. Do you script it so it has no ums and awkward pauses? I am learning this for my job. Happy new year!

[@easymactraining]

Happy New Year to you, too, Denise! I don't use a script, though I plot an outline to ensure I cover everything needed. The pacing and lack of umms comes from years of public speaking, but years of speaking experience isn't as crucial as taking the little extra time to refine your editing. Have fun creating and learning!

[@robertrestifo2212]

Thank you I spent an hour with Apple support last night and they did not know how to do this

[@kristinevenneman1708]

me too. And they could not understand WHY I couldn't sync my library. I HAVE to use playlists because I have over 100,000 songs that I cannot deal with on my phone even if it could hold them, SO FRUSTRATED with them. I already pay for Apple music and I still can't play my own stuff

[@juandi89]

Great tutorial!

[@BeatsbytheSXMZ]

When I paste the iTunes library into the Mac music folder as you explained, the music in the Music App doesn't populate

[@marcusbarnes5929]

This was really a great tutorial man👍

[@joedadic4735]

I have purchased the new Macbook Air M1and want to transfer iTunes music from my Macbook Air 2013. Is the process steps the same as per your PC instructions or is it different. I have now subscribed as your tutorials provide some great information

[@easymactraining]

Congrats on your new machine, Joe. The migration process and steps are exactly the same to copy your library over to your new M1, so you'll have no problems at all. Thanks for subscribing!

[@francochan]

Does this procedure also carry over ALL the playlists from the previous iTunes library?

[@geraldillo]

worked for me, thanks a lot!

[@blaynestaleypro]

WHAT ABOUT PLAYLISTS??? Will it preserve my itunes playlists???? That is crucial information.

[@easymactraining]

Yes. 🙂

[@samalons]

Thanks Bro, well simplified

[@FrayBentos72]

I'm having a total nightmare, followed your instructions but when I open music it asks me to choose a library, tried the .itl file, that didn't work so created a file now music only seems to show music from the cloud not on my main drive!!😤😡

[@sph33_]

This video was really helpful, but for whatever reason when I try it (going from an older macbook pro with itunes to a mac mini with the new Music app) when I complete the copy off my external hard drive to the music folder the Music app just doesn't read those files. It's really frustrating as I guess I'll just have to lose my metadata which sucks. Apple is very annoying lately.

[@pk_991]

same to me : (

[@michaeln9118]

Summary of what worked for me to keep play count and ratings: (for us dummies too deep in the comments already) 1. Quit Music app on new Mac 2. Make sure new Mac Music folder is empty. (No music sub folder) 3. Copy thumb drive iTunes folder to new Mac Music folder. 4. Hold option key and open Music app on new Mac 5. Click choose library 6. In music folder, then iTunes folder, select the “iTunes Library.itl” file 7. Click Choose 8. Click Save (it’ll “save as: Music”) 9. Click View, select “Show View Options” 10. Add checks to “Rating” and “Plays” and whatever else you want. Then drag columns to arrange in the order you like.

[@slackerno1975]

Hi Michael, I have been looking for a solution to this, and asked around, without any concrete answers. I'm going to try it your you, as I want the play count, ratings etc to remain. Thanks in advance!

[@slackerno1975]

Hi Michael. Can I ask you a couple of questions, did you connect an older Mac directly to your newer Mac, or did you transfer the music via an external hard drive? and which files (e.g xml) should I include with the transfer?? Thanks :)

[@michaeln9118]

@@slackerno1975I transferred from a PC to a new mac using a thumb drive.

[@DJOZMET]

​@@slackerno1975Save the whole Itunes folder from your old computer. Copy it to the Music folder on the new mac. Then hold option key on Mac and follow above steps.

[@a.j.cepeda4070]

How would I do this with an iPad Pro? I have been searching and trying to do this with my old HD from a PC. I have all my music and located it on the HD but am having trouble transferring it to my iPad Pro. Please advise if you can….

[@pavinova]

Thank you so much for this great tutorial. One more question: do the playlists remain the same or do they get lost during the transfer?

[@markpare4256]

Hello and MANY thanks for this - finally found here specifics of moving music from old mac to new, and it looks pretty simple. QUESTION: I have some music already on the new mac after time machine transfer, but the old mac is more complete. Is it possibly better to delete the music on the new mac first, and then do a full transfer?....or rather follow your example here which explains adding to existing library? Thanks again!

[@3rdegree491]

Thank you!

[@easymactraining]

You're welcome!

[@honey4xi]

What makes iTunes or Music app sometimes plays music videos show just black videos on Mac?

[@pascalhibon7928]

Very interesting! Do you know if it is possible to keep using iTunes on the PC and Music on the Mac on the same library? It seems that the Music app is able to read the iTunes database, but will it write to it as well or will new imported music on the Mac always go into the Music folder (instead of the iTunes folder)? FYI, my music files are all stored on a NAS. But the iTunes DB is still on my Windows computer. I wonder if I can continue using both iTunes on the PC and Music on the Mac on the same library if I move my iTunes DB to the NAS as well?

[@crishanabanana]

Pascal, this is a good question. I am wondering if 'copying' the music folder to the new mac means it is not all still stored on my NAS. Any idea? I don't want the music files taking up space on my laptop, I want it to just read the files from the NAS.

[@WellFedProductions]

I’m also trying to find out how to do this. Do we simply just point AM to the folder on the NAS?

[@pk_991]

great tutorial … but doesn‘t work for me. All I see (after doing the steps) are the songs which I bought at the iTunes Store but without metadata (play counts etc.). Any Tipp how to fix my problem?

[@BlaineHuffmancom]

Is there a way to get my Apple Music library to show up on my phone? Only my iTunes purchases show up but none of my CD imported music is there. It’s only in my macbook

[@sva3042]

This is a great tutorial - unfortunately it doesn't work for MacOS Monterey. :-(

[@haych27]

this was looking so promising but music app isn't reading files. I've tried this 4 times with no success. Does anyone have any troubleshooting suggestions on how to fix?

[@vanillagoose4444]

Same for me on a brand new 27” imac , i get an error 13010 The music library cannot be saved

[@poppinpinkchampagne4948]

can you move back to itunes? windows user btw or copy the library from the apple music app to itunes library

[@Gauthinours]

Thanks!

[@phuvo8734]

I don‘t know why it doesn‘t work for me. I‘ve followed all the steps till paste item to music. When i open music app on macbook pro, i don‘t see my any music transferred to music app. Can you help me?

[@purpleeggkyu1032]

thanks so much!

[@marcusbarnes5929]

I have some album art work missing after moving from iTunes to music app. I have tried "get album art work" but it doesn't work. Is there a way to get the art work back for albums ?

[@garychung6682]

Great Tutorial!!! But I'm having a Problem.... I can't seem to get my Playlists to Migrate to the Music App... I have 2 Macs and I'm a DJ, so my Playlists are Crucial..... My Main Mac is Running Sonoma and it isn't friendly with creating and adding playlists... The Name of the Folder doesn't change or it'll Delete newly added music... I went ahead and purchased another MacBook Pro M2 Max 2023... I Rolled back and Installed OS Ventura 13.7... This Version works really well as I can Create Playlist Folders and Sub Playlist folders.... I followed your steps in Copying the Current Sonoma Music Playlists and Tried everything to save to my Ventura Machine with NO Luck..... The Music Files were copied But NO Playlists were populated...... It stated that the Files being copied are from a Newer Version of OS and cannot be saved to the Ventura..... Any Help will be Grateful... Thanks in advance, Gary

[@easymactraining]

Thanks for watching, Gary. With each current and future version of macOS and Apple Music, I do think creates more opportunity for certain migration functions to break, such as playlist and rating data. If you still have the intact iTunes library folder with your playlists, I would recommend launching that on your older machine with iTunes and purchase iTunes Match via Apple (I believe it's also built into the Apple Music subscription). It's a function that syncs your library online and across devices, retaining your metadata. Once fully synched to iTunes Match, you can create a fresh Apple Music library on your new hardware and tell it to sync with your Match account, which would then pull all your playlists and music. After everything is downloaded from the Match cloud into the new Apple Music app, you can then cancel the Match service if you choose to. Songs matched onto the cloud remain DRM free, so they're good for external applications such as DJing. Best of luck.

[@Ernie1]

Where do I find my iTunes library? Everything is in Music.

[@CP-le4wc]

Okay, so what if I do not want to transfer the songs to the Music iTunes. I just want to have it read from my external hard drive. I have old iTunes on my desktop. Transferred all the music to external hard drive. When I try to open in it says,

[@NicholasAYam]

Just. Plain. Simple!

[@Mendendorff]

I don’t have iTunes on my new Mac24, should I install it and then follow the different steps you suggest? Thanks

[@perrypereyra6671]

I want to revert back to iTunes because Apple Music UWP apps does not support or has feature to convert my music. Such a shame and deal breaker because it was one of the best feature I always use. Can you help me?

[@easymactraining]

Hello, there. You can still download older versions of iTunes from Apple's website, support.apple.com/en-us/docs/software If you're using iTunes for Windows, it's a matter of time before future versions of Windows will no longer support it, so I recommend converting your song files to a modern audio format using any variety of free converters that are available. Happy listening.

[@vizzo7]

great tutorial. i wonder if its normal that if youa 400gb it will take longer to show everything?

[@sarajanehaven]

Can you please clarify the 'however' statement at 5:52 about previous playlists and ratings not migrating over. Does this mean only the sound files migrate and I would have to then recreate the iTunes playlists in the Music app? Also, can you confirm that in this process, existing Music playlists will not be overwritten? Thanks!

[@41vids]

Playlists can be exported from old iTunes, then imported into new music/iTunes on different device

[@Jeremyleivers]

Open Music with Option Key: Close the Music application if it’s open. Hold down the Option key and click on the Music app to open it. A dialog will appear asking you to choose or create a library. Click on Choose Library... and navigate to the Music Library.musiclibrary file in your ~/Music/Music/ directory. Select and Open: Select the library file and click Open.

[@robbshaw7425]

How do I get the ratings back? I have old ratings that I've lost over the years. Is it the .itl files?

[@jzondo961]

I want to use apple music and my current itunes library but dont want all of my library to transfer as it is way too much music. Is there a way to only transfer selected songs and migrate that with apple music?

[@MIGGZMUSIC]

What if you don’t have an external drive can you transfer the old iTunes library still???

[@galaxi4857]

i have done all the steps but when i go to paste it says "the operation cant be completed because an unexpected error occured - error code 50"

[@easymactraining]

Hey Galaxi, there are a myriad of reasons why that error would appear, but the most likely in this context, may be permissions based. There's no one direct answer I can provide, but a solution may be to try a different external disk that has first been reformatted. Try doing a web search of your error to find a solution that closely matches your situation. Good luck.

[@feelmegamen7745]

Hi, the ranking with star, * to *****, is lost in the migration. it is possible to restore that in music ?

[@TheShan2s]

Followed the steps and copied the full library onto a thumb drive and then to the new Mac, but new Mac will only show outdated, partial library. My iPhone has my full iTunes library with every song I’ve either bought or downloaded from a CD. Must I subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes match for the new Mac to have the complete library as well?

[@easymactraining]

Nope. Any purchases you've ever made with your Apple ID will always be accessible once you're signed into the Music app by going to the Account menu at the top, and signing in. Music from other sources than Apple, however, will not become available on your new Mac this way. If your entire library didn't migrate over from your flash drive, chances are you missed a step in consolidating your library before copying, or your drive didn't have enough space to store everything. Also, another reason could be that the missing songs aren't actually on your old computer, even though they may appear to be listed in iTunes. To test, try playing one of the missing songs, and if you see an exclamation mark, then it may have been misplaced/accidentally deleted a long time ago.

[@alanlarson9219]

By the way, I am not asking for free tech support. What I can't seem to figure out is the Apple Music, older music relationship. I can not find any info on how this all works. Thanks!!!

[@theedgeofbreakup5192]

My problem is I have different versions of libraries on my external hard drive. I plug into Mac and have a different library than when I plug into MacBook. I need to merge them but not sure it can be done. Any ideas? Thx

[@easymactraining]

Libraries can’t be fully merged, but you can copy the songs from one library into the other. Follow the steps in the video to copy the library from one of your two computers into an external drive, then drag the Music folder within the library folder on the external drive, onto the Music app icon on the destination computer’s library. Those songs will be added, but any playlists won’t transfer.

[@ervinisimo]

Hi, I have an external hard drive with all my music as Itunes media and I want to link it into my new macbook pro by going to music>system preferences>Files and changing the location but nothing happens. Am i missing something? thank you

[@easymactraining]

Hey Erwin, you have to select the library as you open iTunes, not after. On Windows, hold the Shift key as you open the app, or on Mac, hold the Option key. Select "Choose a different library," then simply point to the location on your external drive.

[@ervinisimo]

@@easymactraining Ok thank you, will give that a try!

[@LadyYo]

Hi there, will my created playlists come across also?

[@recessionproof7744]

Hey, how can I copy songs from an old iPod nano and add them to my MacBook Pro without deleting the songs that I have on my MacBook Pro ?

[@Nitrotix1]

I've been using iTunes on windows since 2007, still on the fence about going to Apple Music...

[@DoSomethingProductive]

So let me ask you this, is that music folder basically a reindexed copy of all the files that were inside the “iTunes” folder you dragged over? I.e. you have 10GB of files inside the iTunes folder and a copy of that 10GB folder named music totally 20GB of used hard drive space? I have 40GB of music I’m transferring so I can’t afford to have 80GB worth of storage taken up on my 512Gb SSD.

[@easymactraining]

Hi, Aj. Correct. The consolidated "Music" folder is a reindexed copy of the older "iTunes" folder. Once the process is complete, you can delete the "iTunes" folder to reclaim your space, because it's of no further use.

[@vyachad]

So, to be clear, using this method the metadata of the library I'm trying to migrate also gets transferred? Such as "date added" "plays" and playlists? Thank you!

[@jason-basin]

It didn't for me. Super frustrating.

[@lensarticulate]

Rather than use an external storage device, would it be possible to prepare my old iTunes in the way that you’ve described then boot my old iMac in target disk mode and drag and drop the file containing iTunes from my old iMac onto the new one?

[@dandonna852]

close to 200 songs out of 2400 was missing from the transfer don't know some of songs left behind.

[@jamesfitzgerald1840]

Except that after I drug my iTunes library to Apple Music and then opened Apple Music, it wasn't there. Tried multiple times - no luck.

[@paulandersson2358]

I’m a bit thick, and new to Mac, so I’ll have to ask this. The 500+ CDs that I spent a month ripping with iTunes on my old PC, and then, among other things, successfully transferred to my iPhone, won’t transfer from my HP/iTunes combo to my new MacBook Pro (Big Sur, Music app)? I tried the recommended method, but the only thing that got sent over was 3 albums that I had purchased from iTunes Store. If I bite the bullet and re-rip all the CDs in the Music app on this MacBook, will they still not transfer to a (hypothetical) new Mac a few years down the line, becsuse they were ripped instead of purchased from Apple?

[@easymactraining]

Hi, Paul. You are correct that music from any source other than Apple (even CDs), will not transfer from your iPhone onto your new Mac. You have four methods of getting your existing music from CDs onto your new Mac; either re-import them as you've mentioned, follow my steps in this video to migrate using an external drive, subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match, or purchase 3rd party software that can import everything from your iPhone. To future-proof your sanity whenever you get a new computer, jump to 3:21 and follow the steps there to consolidate your new library once you're all done.

[@arthurmcclendon5674]

Is there any way to sync my iTunes playlists to Apple Music ?

[@easymactraining]

Hey Arthur, Apple Music merges any existing playlists from iTunes and makes them available across all your devices, so it's all automatic!

[@The.iLLusionaryGOD]

i tried this but my music app still doesnt read the songs and library

[@jessevallado9508]

Will the all my playlists migrate as well with the procedure you laid out?

[@kristinevenneman1708]

Apple told me I had to export each playlist I wanted as its own file and then move them to my phone. I still don't know how to do this and their tech support didn't know either.

[@davidberman1310]

Is this the best way to transfer all my music I purchased from iTunes from my iPhone to my new MacBook Air?

[@easymactraining]

Hi David, the method in this video is not. All your iTunes purchases are tied to your Apple ID, so simply open the Music app, go to the Account menu at the top, and Sign In. All your history of purchases will show up and become available without any syncing with your iPhone. If you don't see anything after signing into the Music app with your Apple ID, go to the Music menu > Preferences... and ensure the Sync Library box is checked.

[@alexanderduncan815]

Take out an I tunes match subscription and put everything up on the cloud easy

[@easymactraining]

Can't argue with this. Definitely the simplest solution.

[@susanneommanney6476]

But why should you when untill now you have been able to tranfer with no problems between computers and phones no problem and then we "get" Music and everything gets prblematic

[@kristinevenneman1708]

@@easymactraining I can. Itunes Match STILL only works if you sync library. Some of us would be syncing for 3 days and still not have any playlists. :(

[@shadowmich]

Do u know how to do this the other way around? I don't want apple music app and i tried and deleted it yesterday and now all my music is gone from my itunes.. would've been nice if someone told me that was going to happen. stupid apple.

[@EmpyreanLightASMR]

If I have my organized iTunes folder on an external drive (always have done this), but the iTunes library database file is on my old Mac, should I just copy the library database file onto my new computer? I want to keep my music on an external drive, but my understanding is the library database file has to be on the actual computer hard drive.

[@easymactraining]

Hello. Your music library database can definitely be on your external drive. Once it's plugged in, hold the Option key on your keyboard as you open the Music app. A "Choose Music Library" popup will appear. Click "Choose Library..." and navigate to its location on the external drive, and select your iTunes folder. The Music app will update it and read from it as long as the external drive is connected.

[@EmpyreanLightASMR]

@@easymactraining ahh i didn't know the library database file could be in the external drive too. Excellent thank you.

[@ZumbaAga]

But my playlists still didn't copy. I did this 3 times :(

[@adamrylands2375]

Hi mate, I'm having a bit of trouble getting this to work. Is there a better place I can contact you for a bit of help?

[@TechGuerrero]

I have about 50,000 songs in an old hard drive (all legit, I was in the music & media biz). I have to convert from flac to Apple's competing format. I pay for Apple Music. 3 questions: 1) Is there a benefit to using the included feature Music Match? (besides the cool interphase on Apple TV) 2) Do you have a video for batch conversion of flac to Apple's best format with Music Match in mind? 3) Do you have a video guiding the upload of this music to Apple Music? - thanks for your well explained videos and valuable time.

[@easymactraining]

Hi there, I am a huge fan of Music Match. The largest benefit is that it wirelessly makes your library virtually accessible across all your Apple devices, and it's already included in the cost of your Apple Music subscription. I don't yet have a video explaining this process, but seems like it's time that I do. 🙂

[@TechGuerrero]

@@easymactraining - To think about this correctly: I do need to have all the music stored in a local/external hard drive correct? It is not like I upload them all (as in KZbin Music) and then need no local hard-drive to sync, correct? Kindly clarify. Any chance you can answer question 2 as well? a software for batch-conversion? I am talking about thousands of FLAC files ....and which format do you reccomend converting to? mp3 or which of the two apple-owned formats? which? Thanks for your valuable time ....and yes a video would be handy for your community of viewers/learners. Thx.

[@easymactraining]

​@@TechGuerrero Apple Music doesn't support FLAC, your files would have to be converted into either ALAC, or a lossy format. Once they are in an MPEG format Apple Music likes, the app doesn't actually upload the files to a remote server, rather, it tags and associates the song with your Apple ID. So when you play, sync or download across your devices, it's just playing Apple Music's version. However, Apple Music WILL upload only the compatible format songs that doesn't exist within the Apple Music service. As for conversion, there aren't any "free" converters, most will have you pay after a certain amount of conversions, unless you happen to have access to Adobe Audition or Logic Pro which can do batch conversions. Good luck!

[@TechGuerrero]

@@easymactraining Thank you so much for taking the time, I saved the email version of your reply for future reference. I was hoping that Music Match would accept mp3 besides ALAS & lossy (and AIFF, I assume) since about 1/3 of my songs are mp3 (the rest are FLAC) -it would save some work. I may just keep all uploaded on KZbin Music for backup and use a NAS-hard-drive & Sonos to play locally (FLAC & mp3). As a steady subscriber of a) Apple Music & b) KZbin Music (via KZbin Premium), I sometimes wonder if this is all too much work for a little music-ownership-peace-of-mind, with little use, since most of my music consumption is "via rental" in other words, streaming. Thanks again your replies above, following your channel now.

[@LKnze]

Thanks for this video! Super useful. You mentioned that this method won’t allow you to carry over song play counts, ratings etc. Do you know how this would be possible? I recently purchased the M1 MacBook Air. Thanks

[@easymactraining]

Hey there, LKnze. The method of consolidating and migrating your library will indeed keep song metadata such as play counts and ratings. Only if you have to merge two libraries by dragging the old library's music folder into the other, will result in the dragged songs not maintaining your metadata. Hope that makes sense. If you need further clarification, slowly repeat through the video.

[@LKnze]

@@easymactraining thanks! Yeah - there was an existing “Music” folder (for Apple Music) in the Music folder so had to follow the second example in the video. I was unable to delete the existing Apple Music (Music) folder and replace it with my transferred iTunes folder as the Music folder would reappear as soon as I opened Apple Music. Do you know if it’s possible to replace the Apple Music Library file with the old iTunes Music Library.itl ? I know the extensions are different so maybe that’s why Apple Music can’t see my iTunes folder? Hope that made sense

[@easymactraining]

@@LKnze Mm, I see. Quit out of the Music app, and delete the Music library folder. Then, copy your old iTunes library folder into the system Music folder (the one within your Home folder). When re-opening the Music app, it should read the iTunes folder and read your old library with all the metadata. You'd then organize and consolidate the library using the method the video shows, and when that's done, you can finally delete the older iTunes folder that you copied into the system Music folder. It's tricky explaining since there are three different things all using the word "music." 😅

[@poppinpinkchampagne4948]

how do you move back to itunes?

[@jayg639]

Greatly appreciated but what if I have all my music on my iPhone and no longer have my old computer to transfers the files to my new computer? Can you help? I just purchased a M1 MacBook and it has Apple Music not iTunes.

[@easymactraining]

Hey there, Jay. Congrats on your new M1. Music purchased from Apple using your Apple ID, is always accessible, even in an empty Music library. Within the Music app, go to the Account menu > Authorizations > Authorize This Computer, and sign in with your Apple ID used to purchase content. Then, go to the Music menu > Preferences, and check the box next to Sync Library to import any purchased media. An additional note, the Music app (nor iTunes) would import music from an iOS device that wasn't purchased from Apple. So if your iPhone has old music imported from CDs, you would have to find a 3rd party app that can extract those songs from your phone. Best of luck.

[@mitchrodee]

@@easymactraining , way back in 2009 or so, I spent many hours copying my family’s CDs into iTunes on my family’s desktop iMac. Whenever we pickup a new CD we’d upload it and sync our iPod Classic to listen through the home stereo or out in the car. My wife and kid have bought a handful of songs through Apple; most of our music is from our CD collection. When we bought a MacBook Air three years ago I was confused as to how transfer my collection over into Music on the laptop and I gave up. Then we bought a new(er) car last and discovered the file format of the iPod isn’t recognized by car (a Honda). So, from your response to the person above, you’re saying that folks like me are simply not going to be able to transfer our old ITunes collection into Music because the collection consists of music not bought through Apple’s music store?!

[@easymactraining]

​@@mitchrodee Correct. Music on old iPods/iPhones that were from CDs and other sources outside of the Music/iTunes Store can not be imported back into the Music app. Apple must verify those old songs were purchased from iTunes for it to import them. However, there are 3rd party apps you can purchase on your Mac that bypasses the Music App/iTunes, and will allow you to import music from your old iPod, which you can then copy into the Music app. Just perform a web search, and you'll find several options to purchase from.

[@mitchrodee]

@@easymactraining , thanks for the response. After writing the above, I tried using the Family Sharing feature to connect my newer laptop with Music to my older iMac with iTunes and my music library - and it worked! I’m in the middle of the slow process of importing the files, one-CD’s-worth at time, synching my phone every so often. I figure I might by 1/10th of the way done. Even if all of them play properly I am very disappointed in how bad the Music app is. But then again, iTunes was only getting worse with each upgrade. The good old days of the easy-to-use Apple computers are long gone.

[@susanneommanney6476]

Why do I not get my playlists in Music ?

[@nickk298]

why don't work for me ?? :( :( I need your help

[@41vids]

Am I the only one that doesn’t get the “plays” transferred??

[@scottt9382]

Has anyone found/used an effective video for moving to Music from iTunes from WITHIN a Mac?

[@easymactraining]

Not much of a process needed, my friend. The Music app automatically reads any existing iTunes library in your Music folder and converts it for you. If it didn't, quit the Music app and hold the Option key as you launch it, then choose your old iTunes library within the file browser.

[@reelFUTURE]

Sadly my C drive does not have enough space for the iTunes Media folder, which is why I had to put it on my G drive. I’m in a tough spot of losing 17 years of playcount and playlists …

[@easymactraining]

As long as you followed the steps exactly, it wouldn’t matter which drive the Music folder is copied to, as long as you point the Apple Music or iTunes app to it

[@reelFUTURE]

@@easymactraining It didn’t work for me right away but I managed via another advice here! STILL I have to THANK YOU for even guiding us to this possibility!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@donkowalski7676]

I am working through the steps - when I connect my external hard drive - I am not seeing the iTunes file from my pc. Did I make the transfer incorrectly?

[@easymactraining]

Hi Don. If you don't see the iTunes folder, chances are it weren't copied to your external drive. I would repeat the steps in this video, and try copying and pasting the consolidated iTunes folder, instead of dragging it to the external drive.

[@LKnze]

I am having the same issue - some of my folders on the external drive are not showing up when I connect the drive to my Mac. I’ve followed the steps in the video, however when I connect the drive to the Mac, the Music folder appears but it’s contents is empty. It’s almost as if the drive isn’t formatted to enable the Mac to see its files

[@donkowalski7676]

Hi again - I went through the steps again - when I update the old iTunes onto the mac I see all my music - however, when I go through the final steps: library/ consolidate files - I lose a ton of my music. It's still showing on the external drive. Would this be related to most of my music coming from CDs? Any other suggestions?

[@dandonna852]

And all playlists is missing too.

[@simoncampos4662]

Help, it's not working for me :(

[@TheDjelements]

i cant find any of my music now

[@rguz89]

Will play count be transfer over too?

[@easymactraining]

Yup, as long as you follow these steps, all of your library's metadata is migrated over.

[@wbnfnet]

Any suggestions for those of us (me) on PC? 🙏🏻

[@easymactraining]

The process is the exact same, my friend. Consolidate your iTunes library, and copy it from the My Music folder of one PC, into the My Music folder of another. Good luck.