Setting up Music App to use media folder on another Mac

[Narked Diver]

Currently the Music app on my 2012 Mac Mini points to an old iTunes media folder on an external hard drive

I have just bought an M1 Mac Mini and am thinking on the best way to set up the Music app

I don’t want to waste a USB port on the new Mac mini so I’m thinking I can point the Music app to the folder on the external HD attached to the old Mac Mini

Is it as simple as setting up file sharing on the old Mac Mini and external HD and it’s sub folders available to share, then mounting the share on the new Mac Mini, adding the share to the start up items and changing the Music app to use the shared folder?

Should I point the Music app to the iTunes folder or the music sub-folder?

Will the Music App Library build automatically using the new share or is there something more that I need to do?

Thanks in advance

 

[appltech]

I think, this is what you're looking for.
Share songs from a shared media library in Music:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/music/muscadf6038/mac

 

[chabig]

That's right. Share the library. Don't try to mount and use the remote library as local. Or...just plug into the USB port on the Mini. I don't understand why you are afraid to use the USB port.

 

[Narked Diver]

Thank you for your replies - I should have explained my use case a bit further initially but I was worried about creating a wall of text

I actually want to share the media from my M1 Mac Mini as it has speakers plugged into it and I want to use the remote app on my iPhone to control the music when I’m working

I’d prefer to use the usb port on my 2012 Mac Mini as my mouse and keyboard are in the 2 usb b ports on my M1 Mac Mini so I don’t have a spare port for the hard drive

I could buy a usb c to usb b converter for the hard drive but I had hoped that I could save a bob or two by using file sharing

 

[chabig]

I think the best thing for you to do is buy a cheap USB hub ($10-$15) so you can plug everything into the M1 Mini.