iTunes - Apple advanced support couldn't fix

[Drag'nGT]

The set up:
rMBP with 16tb OWC Thunderbay 4 via Thunderbolt connection
OS 10.11.3
Latest iTunes
My iTunes library size is +400gb

Situation:
You would think that this is such a common issue that there would be something written about how to fix or accomplish this simple task. I'm newly married and my wife and I would like to have one iTunes library where all of the music is stored and yet allow us to have access to it with different profiles (Apple IDs). One Library of music but our own ability to create separate playlists per profile.

We share the rMBP with different user log ins. We have Family Sharing turned on. That doesn't solve this issue. I just tried to get the Apple reps to explain and solve the issue I have with Home Sharing. We were not able to come up with a solution. At the moment they wanted both accounts to point to the same iTunes library located on the external drive. That lets them see the music but it still shows my playlists and preferences. If she changes anything it changes it on both sides.

Can iTunes create separate profiles and source one music library?


The obvious solution is to duplicate the library and tirelessly manage it under both profiles and I'm sure you can see the issue there.

The second option is to conclude that the OWC Thunderbay isn't what I need and buy a NAS.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Couldn't you set it to sync only selected playlists/artists?

 

[simonsi]

I think the mechanism for this is to have two seperate libraries of your own music on the external drive and share them to each other, then have your own seperate iTunes setup under each user account. Then when you login with your own iTunes you will get your own playlists etc from your library but be able to see the others content from the other library.

All IMHO and AFAIK, I don't have this actual setup.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

From the beginning, iTunes had to be built to satisfy the record labels - otherwise, they wouldn't "play." Sharing was (and is) the last thing they wanted to see. After all, "file sharing" sites like Napster were the enemy. Merging of libraries, ditto - from the labels' standpoint, just another way for an army of teenaged "friends" to spread music around without paying for it. That's why iTunes doesn't let you sync music from an iPod or iPhone onto a computer (and why the music on that iPhone/iPod will be erased if you sync to a new computer). "Here, let me connect my iPod and I'll give you my music" was the last thing they wanted to have happen.

That's the heritage, and it's been hard to shake. Apple only began offering Family Sharing about a year ago. And if you look at the rules for Family Sharing (maximum number of family members at one time, maximum number of different family members within a 12-month period, limits on how many different families you can join in a 12-month period, etc.), sharing by friends/acquaintances is still a major concern. Even the fact that Family Sharing requires a master credit card is a way of limiting sharing outside of legitimate family - "Let my friends use my credit card????"

Family Sharing also works in somewhat strange and mysterious ways. Family members can indeed share purchases, but the only place that shared music appears is the iTunes Store > Purchased list (a separate Purchased list for each family member). Unlike your own purchases, which appear in My Music automatically and can be streamed, you have to actually download shared music to the computer or iOS device before it appears in the Music app (iOS) or iTunes (Mac/PC) > My Music.

Home Sharing can allow you to switch between two separate libraries (one on each User account), and you can copy songs from one library to the other. So, one of your libraries could effectively become the master library, but you would be wasting disk space by copying the music. You could move one or both of those libraries to an external drive.

Here's what you might try (can't promise it'll work 100%): Using Home Sharing or Family Sharing, download all purchases from one of your accounts into iTunes on the other account (say, download your wife's purchases to your library). Your wife will continue to maintain her library separately. Put your iTunes library into Home Sharing. Your wife could then access the Home Sharing library when she's signed into her user account (so she doesn't have to copy your music to her library).

 

[Partron22]

I keep my wife's playlists in a separate Folder within a single library for the both of us. I suppose I could put my playlists in a folder too, but I'm lazy.
It's not a proper fix, but it's more tolerable than having everything mixed together.