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CommonMan

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 27, 2006
140
0
Midwest
I'm trying to copy large blocks of MP3 files from an external HD to iTunes. The only way I seem to be able to get these files into itunes is by clicking them individually. And, there's way too many files for this sort of tomfoolery. There's got to be an easier way! I already tried copy and pasting these files into the iTunes music folder. I did this and nothing happened. The iTunes music folder only contains folders (not individual songs) because (I guess) this is the way iTunes automatically organizes the songs. I also tried to select, and drag the files to iTunes. This did not work either. What am I doing wrong? What is the best way to get these files from the external hd (storage) to my iTunes library. Also, why can I not copy and paste files from an external source to an already established play list?
 
It is really very easy.

I assume that you have not changed your iTunes library location. Assuming that this is true, and you want to add these other songs to your library, here is what you do:

- Launch iTunes

- Under the FILE menu select ADD TO LIBRARY.

- Navigate to the folder on your external HD where your mp3 songs exist and select the folder. Or you could just select the external HD.

Now iTunes will add the songs to your library.

Oh, and before you do this, if you want to have all the songs arranged by iTunes in the iTunes library, make sure under iTunes preferences, under the ADVANCED tab, you have checked both of these:

- Keep iTunes Music folder organized.

- Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library.
 
If you want all these songs on your computer, you could also just navigate to the External HD with Finder, highlight all of the songs you want, and drag them onto the iTunes icon in the Dock. This will import them all into your local Music Library.
 
I don't see why a mounted drive wouldn't work, after all I migrated my music like that.

YATAMTI : Yet Another Way To Add Music To Itunes :
If you have a itunes music folder on an older pc or mac (you've upgraded to your brand new spanking 24incher iMac) mount that drive over the network, and just copy the whole music folder to your itunes, and then do 'Add to Library' and point to the Itunes folder.

It just reads all the information in there and builds up the xml file for itunes itself.
 
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