Help - How Can I Get Two User Accounts Reference the Same iTunes Library?

[fensterbme]

My wife and I just got a new Mac and are looking to each have their own login for mail, web/bookmarks, etc. but we want to have our media shared so that both users can login and see the same iTunes Library.

Additionally I want to make sure if say one person buys something from iTunes that the other would automatically be able to see it in their library (and wouldn't have to manually add the files/folders).

Lastly, we both use Lightroom and Photoshop and I need to make sure that we can access each other's files in a single location and that we won't get locked out.

Any help would be fantastic... it's crazy IMO that Apple/OS-X doesn't seem to think that if you have two users on a machine that they might want to have a single iTunes library, etc.

 

[Hal Itosis]

My wife and I just got a new Mac and are looking to each have their own login for mail, web/bookmarks, etc. but we want to have our media shared so that both users can login and see the same iTunes Library.

Additionally I want to make sure if say one person buys something from iTunes that the other would automatically be able to see it in their library (and wouldn't have to manually add the files/folders).

Lastly, we both use Lightroom and Photoshop and I need to make sure that we can access each other's files in a single location and that we won't get locked out.

Any help would be fantastic... it's crazy IMO that Apple/OS-X doesn't seem to think that if you have two users on a machine that they might want to have a single iTunes library, etc.

Why do you assume that?

In the (original) basic brute-force method, we would move our media files out from each user's home into a common folder accessible to all. E.g., "/Uses/Shared/Media/" (or some similar name of your choosing).

One thing to decide on is whether the personal stuff (like playlists and ratings) should be "unified" or kept separate. There are many articles out there describing various other methods... and I believe the new built-in "Home Sharing" feature might also satisfy your requirements.

BTW, even if one chooses a method wherein we have to "manually" add songs which other user accounts have recently purchased or ripped... it takes all of 3 seconds to do: launch iTunes, choose "Add to Library..." (or type ⌘O), and select the shared folder. iTunes scans the entire folder hierarchy and finds the items missing from your library.