Un-duplicating MP3 Files

[CowboyTurbo]

Ok, so here's the dilemna...

When I first bought my PB G4, I created a Music folder on my desktop. Within the folder are 8 sub-folders of mp3's divided by genre. This is the type of setup I had on my PC.

Unbeknownst to me, Itunes created its own Itunes Music folder where it stores a copy of all my mp3s. (I only use Itunes for playback.)

Now I've discovered that there is an overlap between the MP3s in my Music folder that sits on my desktop and the MP3's that are in the Itunes Music folder.

What would be the best way of cleaning up this mess such that I'll only have one copy of each mp3?

 

[karenflower]

Where would you prefer to keep your mp3s?

If you want to stop iTunes from creating its own music folder and organizing it, you can go to Preferences > Advanced > General. From there you can select your current music folder to use, and deselect 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' and 'Copy files to iTunes Music folder'.

To delete the copies it made of your mp3s, find the Music folder in your home directory (there should be a link to it in the Finder sidebar), and it's located under iTunes > iTunes Music. Just drag it to the Trash.

If you do this, the duplicates will still be shown in iTunes - however there's a script here that removes them: http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scripts01.php?page=1#removedeadsuper

Otherwise, if you decide you like the iTunes Library, you could just delete the folder on your desktop and run the above script.


Or, a simpler way, you could delete everything from within iTunes (Edit > Select All and press the Delete key, sending it to the Trash), then choose your music folder preferences and reimport the whole lot. ^^

 

[CowboyTurbo]

Thank you for that. What does the script you linked to do exactly?
I'd like to move everything that's in my music folders over to the Itunes Library folder. However, since the Itunes music folder has everything split up by artist, this would take me forever.

Also, I believe there are instances where I have a duplicate copy of the same mp3. One in the folders I created and one in the Itunes Library Folder; it only shows up once in my Itunes Music playlist though.

 

[rhett7660]

Karen...

Thank you for the tips and the script. Helped with what I was trying to do.