Sync iTunes libraries between 2 computers?

I've used a lot the software mentioned in here but I have still yet to find anything that's decent.

I've used TuneRanger and it was terrible. Bug ridden and didn't work half the time.

I simply keep my master iTunes library on my desktop. Every month or so I do a direct firewire copy of my master library to my MacBook Pro. It takes a few hours but I find it easier then dealing with poor software.

Even though I prefer the method above, Home Sharing with iTunes 9 makes keeping libraries a bit easier if they are on the same network.

more complicated options

Hey guys, this is a bit of a long shot but I hope someone is still out there!

I'm about to set up this script/automator thing (http://guides.macrumors.com/Keeping_2_iTunes_Libraries_in_Sync#Automating_The_Process) and thanks to this great writeup it all looks fairly straightforward.

However, I want to add an extra level of complexity. I don't want to sync my entire library.
I have an iMac as the source with the 'master' library which contains a wide variety of music from classical, spoken word to ambient and club related tunes. I have a MacBook that I use for DJ'ing, so I only really want to sync the club related media; playlists & files.
Theoretically I'm supposing this could be done by metadata. Either by genre on a general level; i.e. exclude 'classical' & 'spoken word', but I'm thinking more specifically inclusive per track since it may be that an album has only 2 club-playable tunes, so there's no real point in syncing the whole album (space on the MacBook is limited). Whether this needs to be done at a metadata column level or whether it can be done via perhaps a comment e.g. '#sync', I have no idea. I'm not familiar with Automator or terminal commands, so any suggestions on how, or even if this is possible would be greatly appreciated!

Automator-Script Log Error

I made the Automator Script in the very useful Guide, but I keep getting an error when it tries to write to the Log-File. First it did not write any File at all, although I created the Folder the shell-script points to.

Now I saved the Log-File from within Automator and now I have got a permission problem:
** Automator Workflow Log: /Applications/synciTunes.app **

2011-09-13 19:54:07 +0200: Angegebene Finder-Objekte abfragen abgeschlossen
2011-09-13 19:54:12 +0200: Shell-Skript ausführen fehlgeschlagen - 1 Fehler
2011-09-13 19:54:12 +0200: -: line 1: /Users/tomasio/Documents/AutomatorLogs/synciTunes.app.log: Permission denied (126)

solved

i overlooked the ">" in your shell script. After that everything works as expected. Thx again for putting this together!

Hello,

**1**

Syncing itunes from PC to MAC: How can I sync a Win folder with a mac folder if their folder structure is different?

On my PC (Win7): My music is stored in D:\MP3 with a manual classification (15 folders for 15 musical genres, then inside each folder the mp3 is dispatched by artist name or some compilations names).
When I add this folder to my itunes on windows, it didn't copy the content to the "itunes media\Music" folder, it just created the itl and other library files that point to the mp3 files.

Now on the MAC, I copied the entire D:\MP3 to the local hard drive, then when I ask itunes to import the folder, it copies everything to the "itunes media\Music" folder, but this time, every artist gets an individual folder.

The final result is: My Windows folder "D:\MP3" and my mac folder "itunes media\Music" have different structures.

Running an "RSYNC" command to synchronize both folders seems irrelevant.
Synchronising the meta files seems even more impossible.


**2**

The RSYNC guide/tutorial that every forum points to has been removed: http://guides.macrumors.com/Keeping_2_iTunes_Libraries_in_Sync
Does anybody knows if it has been saved elsewhere?


**3**

I tried the MEDIAROVER application, but it seems that the MEDIAROVER website is down, does it affect its functionnality?
Anybody using it right now?

Thanks for the help!

You've resurrected a very old thread with solutions that probably are no longer useful.
Quite worrying about folder structure. That's a very "windows" way of managing things. Just let iTunes manage everything. How the music is stored in folders is irrelevant.
Spend $25 and turn on iTunes match and be done with it. That will keep everything in sync.

Ever since Home Sharing was added to iTunes, this thread has been pretty much obsolete

Thanks for your answers.

Please note that I mainly use my WIN7 desktop PC, then I use my Mac Book Air (MBA) while traveling.

To Odinsride: Home sharing is fine, but i guess i can't use it to listen to my favourite new additions on my MBAir while in the plane for example.
It's something useful in a home network only in my opinion.

To Dangerfish: iTunes match is interesting. But, regardless of the amount of money Apple is asking for, I'd rather do my syncing through a script instead of paying for a thing as "basic" as copying datas (and metadatas) from a machine to another.
Plus, I shorten some titles, or I mix them, so if iTunes match replace them with unaltered ones from the itunes catalogue, That's no good.

My (maybe temporary) solution goes as the following:
- Schedule an automatic syncing from PC to External HD using a free syncing software. So I have everything backed up in case one HD crashes.
- Before going on a trip, I will wipe out my entire mp3 collection on the MBA, then use a migration software (CopyTransTuneSwift) to have an exact copy of my PC collection on the MBA, so I have it all updated for the journey.

This way, I can enjoy my music on a 4 hours car trip in China, without worrying about my 3G data limits or signal coverage!

One day, when one can get 3To of cloud storage for 5 bucks a year (!), and iTunes will be able to connect to any cloud storage service + make a local syncing, then I'll think about quitting the local backups and "complex" syncing solutions.

Cheerio!

djwaas said:

To Odinsride: Home sharing is fine, but i guess i can't use it to listen to my favourite new additions on my MBAir while in the plane for example.
It's something useful in a home network only in my opinion.

Click to expand...

One of the features of Home Sharing is the ability to copy songs from a remote iTunes library over the network.