Need help with iTunes library

[CnoteMD]

I am a longtime PC user and recently made the switch to Mac (and won't be going back). This is my first post, but thanks to the "search button" of this forum, I have successfully shared my iTunes library between 2 accounts on my iMac (mp3's are in the shared folder with an alias of the iTunes library file copied to my account and my wife's account).

Are we able to have separate playlists and settings, or will those always be identical between the accounts. The major problem is that I have a 30gb iPod and her's is 80gb. Since our music collection is about 50-55Gb, I have many of the songs unchecked. Whenever she "checks" a song, it is becomes "checked" on my account, which exceeds the capacity very quickly.

Is there any way to continue sharing the library between the 2 accounts, but still keep these types of settings separate? Thanks for any help with this problem.

 

[mad jew]

Not really... I think a better option might be to recheck everything (hold OPTION as you check one of the items and from memory, it will recheck everything) and then using Smart Playlists to sync your iPods. Set size limits to your playlist as to how big your iPod is, and you should be right. Sync by playlists instead of syncing the entire library. 🙂

 

[CnoteMD]

Thanks for the suggestion. If I use smart playlists, will both accounts be forced to use the same playlists? For example, if I choose to sync my ipod with certain playlists and my wife comes along on her account and chooses different playlists, will those become the playlists for my ipod, too?

Prior to using the alias method, I had all of the mp3's (a combination of my old windows music folder and the itunes library) in the shared folder. Each of the accounts created an individual itunes xml file. All of the music would go to the shared directory, but each account seemed to have a different set of album art and newly imported songs wouldn't show up on the other account, but we were able to have separate playlists, etc.

I am still open to whatever suggestions are available for the ideal setup.

 

[mad jew]

The problem with running separate XML files is that any change made to the library from one account will mess with the XML file's knowledge of the library in the other account. If you both use the same library (and XML file) then you can sync to it differently such that she gets her playlists and you get yours. You won't have to sync her playlists and vice-versa. 🙂

 

[swiftaw]

Thanks for the suggestion. If I use smart playlists, will both accounts be forced to use the same playlists? For example, if I choose to sync my ipod with certain playlists and my wife comes along on her account and chooses different playlists, will those become the playlists for my ipod, too?

All playlists would be available to both accounts, but the choice of which playlists to share with an ipod is ipod specific, thus each ipod can have different settings.