Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. I guess I'm reluctant to give everything to iTunes completely because, sometimes, I'll play songs in vlc so I can more easily skip through them (iTunes does not include keyboard shortcuts for jumping around a file) and so I can, if necessary, change the key or playback speed (useful for long podcasts I want to speed up). Giving iTunes my media would mean a long trek into the heart of the folder structure to use an alternative player when I want to. Would I still have the ability to view by genre, articst, and album if I did not add my folders to the library but just told iTunes where they are? That is, does it stil build a database, or do folders have to be copied into the library to do that? Aside from that, I suppose I must now do some thinking and figure out what my best course of action is. Thanks again for your answers. On Oct 5, 2012, at 2:07 AM, Nicholas Parsons <mr.nicholas.pars...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you don't want iTunes to organise your music into folders for you, you can > do the following: > 1. In iTunes Preferences under the Advanced panel make sure the "Copy files > to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" button is unchecked, that is, > not checked. > 2. Then you can add the folder where you keep all your music files to the > iTunes library by going to the File menu in iTunes and selecting add to > library. The songs and their locations will be added to the iTunes database > so it knows where they are and can play them, but the actual files won't be > moved. > > The disadvantage of this is that you may end up with music in a bunch of > different locations. Some in that original music folder, some in your iTunes > Media folder if you download any music through iTunes, and some in your > Downloads folder etc. This could be a hassle when you have to transfer files > to a new computer etc. but So long as you're happy to keep track of all your > files it shouldn't really be a problem. > > The other way you may be able to keep your current set up is by: > 1. Ensuring that the "Keep iTunes Media folder organised" button is unchecked > in the advanced panel of iTunes Preferences. > 2. Copying your music folders into the iTunes Media folder manually and > adding them to the iTunes Library, then deleting the original folders. > > Though personally I think you'd be better off using a ID3 tagging application > to tag your files with their relevant genres and then letting iTunes manage > your music files for you. If you tagged all your practice music as belonging > to the genre of practice music then you could always access these songs in > iTunes through the grid view by selecting the genre practice music. > > Also, you may like to read the book Take Control of iTunes 10: The Frequently > Asked Questions available from the Take Control Books website or the iBooks > store. > > And perhaps Esther will weigh in here and tell you a much better way of > achieving what you want. > > Cheers > Nic > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > Have a great day, Alex (msg sent from Mac Mini) mehg...@gmail.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
