iTunes Setup (after 7 years)

[oo7ml]

Hi, i have been using iTunes for almost 7 years now however i seem to have it set up a lot differently than most users...

I have my iTunes NOT TO SYNC with my phone and i MANUALLY manage my music...

The reason i done this was because i do not want iTunes sorting my music...

When i am adding music to my iphone, i simply drag the music over and then the mp3's are are stored independently on my iphone and iTunes does not need to see if the files are on my laptop as well as on my phone

However i have just moved over to mac and i have been told that iTunes runs much better on the mac. I am also getting a new iPhone so i am thinking of using iTunes properly...

My Questions:
- how does iTunes manage your music... i have 40gb of music stored in a specific folder on my laptop... if i copy the music over to my iphone, will iTunes create it's own separate music folder and it's own iTunes copy of each single mp3 (apologies, i am sure iTunes is a lot different from when it first came out)
- what are the best setting for the iTunes... if i have it set to sync... can i untick the music in iTunes that i do not want to transfer to my iphone but at the same time keep them in iTunes... is that how it works, thanks in advance for you help...

Apologies, i am not aware of the latest features of iTunes as i have not really changed my set up since iTunes first came out
-

 

[saving107]

My Questions:
- how does iTunes manage your music... i have 40gb of music stored in a specific folder on my laptop... if i copy the music over to my iphone, will iTunes create it's own separate music folder and it's own iTunes copy of each single mp3 (apologies, i am sure iTunes is a lot different from when it first came out)
- what are the best setting for the iTunes... if i have it set to sync... can i untick the music in iTunes that i do not want to transfer to my iphone but at the same time keep them in iTunes... is that how it works, thanks in advance for you help...

Apologies, i am not aware of the latest features of iTunes as i have not really changed my set up since iTunes first came out
-

1. Well that depends, do you want iTunes to create a copy in a new folder? if not, you can turn this feature off in your iTunes Settings

2. Same as in Windows iTunes, you will have two options.

1. Sync Entire Music Library (this includes Music Videos)
2. Sync Selective Playlist, Albums, Artist or Genre.

With option two, you will be able to check or uncheck a specific box of what music you want to sync.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

i have 40gb of music stored in a specific folder on my laptop... if i copy the music over to my iphone, will iTunes create it's own separate music folder and it's own iTunes copy of each single mp3?

Only if you want it to. You can leave the music where it is if you prefer, go into Preferences - Advanced and uncheck "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library".

Personally I have those checked, I see no need for me to develop my own organizational structure when Apple's is relatively intuitive and very easy. I just drag my files onto iTunes and let it handle them, easy as pouring gravy on mashed potatoes.

if i have it set to sync... can i untick the music in iTunes that i do not want to transfer to my iphone but at the same time keep them in iTunes?

Yes. When you select the device in iTunes, go to the Music tab and check "Sync Music", then go to the Summary tab and check "Sync only checked songs and videos".

 

[Small White Car]

Make playlists and sync those playlists to the phone.

Then you manually manage what songs are in those playlists. You're still manually deciding what to put on the phone, but you can work on it while the phone is not currently connected. The next time the phone and computer talk, it will automatically update the manual changes you made.

 

[GraphicsGeek]

Hi, i have been using iTunes for almost 7 years now however i seem to have it set up a lot differently than most users...

I have my iTunes NOT TO SYNC with my phone and i MANUALLY manage my music...

The reason i done this was because i do not want iTunes sorting my music...

When i am adding music to my iphone, i simply drag the music over and then the mp3's are are stored independently on my iphone and iTunes does not need to see if the files are on my laptop as well as on my phone

However i have just moved over to mac and i have been told that iTunes runs much better on the mac. I am also getting a new iPhone so i am thinking of using iTunes properly...

My Questions:
- how does iTunes manage your music... i have 40gb of music stored in a specific folder on my laptop... if i copy the music over to my iphone, will iTunes create it's own separate music folder and it's own iTunes copy of each single mp3 (apologies, i am sure iTunes is a lot different from when it first came out)
- what are the best setting for the iTunes... if i have it set to sync... can i untick the music in iTunes that i do not want to transfer to my iphone but at the same time keep them in iTunes... is that how it works, thanks in advance for you help...

Apologies, i am not aware of the latest features of iTunes as i have not really changed my set up since iTunes first came out
-

There is a setting in the preferences that, if enabled, will let iTunes manage your music automatically by sorting music according to artist then each artist folder has a separate folder for each album by that artist. If your music is tagged correctly, it will sort out automatically. If your music is tagged correctly, you can just check the albums you want synced with your iPhone and it'll sync them automatically. Or if you enable iTunes Match, all of your music will be available on your iPhone automatically.

I wouldn't transfer your music via your iPhone to your new Mac. I'd find some sort of external drive or something and transfer them that way.

 

[saving107]

Make playlists and sync those playlists to the phone.

Then you manually manage what songs are in those playlists. You're still manually deciding what to put on the phone, but you can work on it while the phone is not currently connected. The next time the phone and computer talk, it will automatically update the manual changes you made.

I agree with this.

I use Smart Playlist to only add tracks with 3 or more stars, and I only sync that playlist with my iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. If I get bored of a song and reduce it from 3 stars down to just 2, that track will also be removed from my other devices, its a nice way to keep everything in sync.

 

[oo7ml]

Thanks to all of you for your replies...

1 - if i let iTunes manage my music, will it create another 40gb of it's own version of music then

I agree with this.

I use Smart Playlist to only add tracks with 3 or more stars, and I only sync that playlist with my iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. If I get bored of a song and reduce it from 3 stars down to just 2, that track will also be removed from my other devices, its a nice way to keep everything in sync.

2 - thanks, can you elaborate on how i can set this up... are you saying that i load all of my music into iTunes, but only select it to sync playlists that have a certain rating... can you elaborate on this as this sounds the perfect set up, thanks again for your help

 

[HeatherA]

Hi, i have been using iTunes for almost 7 years now however i seem to have it set up a lot differently than most users...

I have my iTunes NOT TO SYNC with my phone and i MANUALLY manage my music...

The reason i done this was because i do not want iTunes sorting my music...

When i am adding music to my iphone, i simply drag the music over and then the mp3's are are stored independently on my iphone and iTunes does not need to see if the files are on my laptop as well as on my phone

However i have just moved over to mac and i have been told that iTunes runs much better on the mac. I am also getting a new iPhone so i am thinking of using iTunes properly...

My Questions:
- how does iTunes manage your music... i have 40gb of music stored in a specific folder on my laptop... if i copy the music over to my iphone, will iTunes create it's own separate music folder and it's own iTunes copy of each single mp3 (apologies, i am sure iTunes is a lot different from when it first came out)
- what are the best setting for the iTunes... if i have it set to sync... can i untick the music in iTunes that i do not want to transfer to my iphone but at the same time keep them in iTunes... is that how it works, thanks in advance for you help...

Apologies, i am not aware of the latest features of iTunes as i have not really changed my set up since iTunes first came out
-

My iTunes does just as yours does. I am a control freak and want to choose everything that goes on my phone or iPad. It's manual for me all the way. There's no right or wrong way to use iTunes, there's just your way.

 

[verwon]

Thanks to all of you for your replies...

1 - if i let iTunes manage my music, will it create another 40gb of it's own version of music then



2 - thanks, can you elaborate on how i can set this up... are you saying that i load all of my music into iTunes, but only select it to sync playlists that have a certain rating... can you elaborate on this as this sounds the perfect set up, thanks again for your help

Under file in iTunes, select 'New Smart Playlist', then just explore the stuff that pops up to set them up, there are a lot of options and it's pretty easy to understand.

 

[saving107]

thanks, can you elaborate on how i can set this up...

From my post above, if you leave the box checked "Copy files to iTunes media...", then yes it will create another 40GB of media on your hard drive. So you can either uncheck it or sync all of your media to iTunes, let iTunes copy and organize it, once everything has been copied just delete the original file.

Apple - iTunes - Tutorials - Learn about all things iTunes.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/how-to/#playlists-smartplaylists

iTunes: How to create a Smart Playlist
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1801

Like verwon said, just explore all of the Smart Playlist settings and mix and match to customize it to your liking (you can do it by ratings, genre, play counts, the options are almost limitless).

 

[dccorona]

Thanks to all of you for your replies...

1 - if i let iTunes manage my music, will it create another 40gb of it's own version of music then

if you set iTunes to manage your music, it will change the names of the files (so they read 00 Song Title.m4a, with 00, 01, etc being the track number), and organize them so they are within folders of their album, the album folders are within folders for the artist. This will make copies of the files if they are added from another folder I believe, though it may work on your external files as well (you can manually change the file path for the music files I believe...so if you wanted it on a different drive for example, but they will always be in a file called iTunes music if iTunes does the managing).

 

[rosemary1]

You don't want iTunes to manage your music. Uncheck that option, then drag the music folders you want to add to your iTunes library into iTunes and it'll all stay where it is. As someone else suggested, use playlists to sync specific music to your phone.

I can't stand the way iTunes "organizes" stuff; I have to use my own method. But there's no reason to avoid using iTunes all together.

 

[oo7ml]

Thanks again all...

I most definitely will not be allowing iTunes to copy it's own version... and not i am worried that if i drag my music into iTunes... iTunes will mess around with my files...

I DJ from this laptop and i have various other Apps that depend heavily on the exact file name and existence of each mp3... i think i will have to stick to my old ways...