3

Is there a way for iTunes to have multiple distinct libraries?

The actual problem I'm looking to solve with this question stems from my desire to use iTunes Match. It would appear that I can't use this service because my library currently has approximately 32,000 songs.

Now, I have lots of playlists to differentiate many of the songs. (And this problem could be very easily solved if I could just use iTunes Match on a playlist-by-playlist basis.) But it's looking more and more like if I want to use this service then I'll need to remove approximately 7,000 songs from my library. (Even more as I continue to add to it.)

Finding 7,000 songs (or more) that I simply don't listen to and removing them is certainly doable. However, I don't want to completely and utterly remove them. They are a part of my library. And, even though I don't listen to all of them, other people might.

They don't need to synchronize to my iOS devices for my personal use, but my library is increasingly becoming a shared household resource for family members and guests. And I don't want to remove items from that selection simply because of my own personal listening habits. (For example, I'd probably end up removing a ton of children's music that I don't listen to, but my own children are getting to an age where they can make use of such a shared resource and listen to it.)

To that end, is there any other way I can divide or organize my collection such that I can use Apple's cloud services to synchronize more of my own music than my devices could otherwise hold without losing the family resource I currently have?

1 Answer 1

5

Hold down the Option key when you launch iTunes. You will be asked to choose an existing library, or create a new library. You can search the web for iTunes multiple libraries and find the answer.

I suggest that you create a new iTunes library, move songs that you don't listen on a regular basis over there. If you already have them in a play list, just export them from your primary library and import in the other library.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .