Question about iTunes and importing music, please help!

[michaelsimmons]

Okay, so I have downloaded music that I have saved in a floder that I created (User - Music - Downloads). Also, if I go into my music folder and go into iTunes - iTunes Media - Music, copies of all my music are also in there. As a test, I went into my downloads folder and deleted something I didn't care too much for, Joan Jett, and then deleted it from my trash. I then went into my iTunes and it was still there and would play and was also still in my Music - iTunes - iTunes Media - Music folder. My question is when I import music into iTunes, does it make duplicates and get the information from there? Because I'm looking to clear up space on my computer, and if that were the case, I could clear up about 40gb of space by deleting my Music - Downloads folder seeing as iTunes gets all the information from the other folder. I want to be 100% sure first though, because if I were to lose all of my music I'm not sure I would live! Please help me, thanks!

 

[michaelsimmons]

Also, I forgot to mention. If I click on any song in iTunes and click 'show in finder', it brings me to the Music - iTunes - iTunes Media - Music folder, not the Music - Downloads folder that I have created.

 

[fungus]

Under iTunes Preferences>Advanced you should see a checked box labeled "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library". I believe this is enabled by default, which would be why all your music ended up where it did when you imported it. This is normal. Yes, you can delete the original files if you no longer have any need for them. Personally I keep all of mine because I have the storage space and I'm OCD like that

But please have some kind of backup solution in place for ALL your data, including your music. Once it's gone, it's gone forever.

 

[GGJstudios]

If you have the bottom box checked in iTunes > Preferences, iTunes makes its own copy, so you can delete the original. If you want iTunes to use the files you have without making copies, uncheck the box.

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[michaelsimmons]

Under iTunes Preferences>Advanced you should see a checked box labeled "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library". I believe this is enabled by default, which would be why all your music ended up where it did when you imported it. This is normal. Yes, you can delete the original files if you no longer have any need for them. Personally I keep all of mine because I have the storage space and I'm OCD like that

But please have some kind of backup solution in place for ALL your data, including your music. Once it's gone, it's gone forever.

Ahh, okay that makes sense. Thank you!