Re-organising iTunes Music folder

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Mariusz

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Hello
I re-organised my iTunes music folder yesterday (Preferences > Advanced tab) and in result my old iTunes Music folder exists with all the old folders.
The only difference is that the files have been transferred to a new Music folder, and the old iTunes Music folder now contains the folders like Audiobooks, Podcasts, etc.
Not much logic in all that, I must say.
Is there any way to convert the folder structure to iTunes > iTunes Media where iTunes Media contains Audiobooks, Podcasts, etc.?
 

cjmnews

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Based on the article: iTunes: Understanding iTunes Media Organization

If you tell iTunes to use the new organization
File > Library > Organize Library
Then check Upgrade to iTunes Media organization.

That should move the Podcasts and Audiobook folders under the iTunes Media folder.

iTunes
-- iTunes Media
---- Audiobooks
---- Automatically Added to iTunes
---- Books
---- iPod Games
---- iTunes U
---- Mobile Applications
---- Movies
---- Music
---- Podcasts
---- Ringtones
---- TV Shows
---- Voice Memos

This is a one way trip. No going back.
 

Mariusz

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Based on the article: iTunes: Understanding iTunes Media Organization

If you tell iTunes to use the new organization
File > Library > Organize Library
Then check Upgrade to iTunes Media organization.

That should move the Podcasts and Audiobook folders under the iTunes Media folder.

iTunes
-- iTunes Media
---- Audiobooks
---- Automatically Added to iTunes
---- Books
---- iPod Games
---- iTunes U
---- Mobile Applications
---- Movies
---- Music
---- Podcasts
---- Ringtones
---- TV Shows
---- Voice Memos

This is a one way trip. No going back.
Thanks for the reply.
I had already seen that website before... :)
And wondered how I could get to "Upgrade to iTunes Media organization" as the only two options I have in "Organise Library" are: 'Consolidate Files' and 'Re-organise files in the folder "Itunes Music"' (the latter is now greyed-out).
No need to worry that this is one way trip. I have a backup copy with the old, (pre-9 version) folder structure. So if something doesn't work, I always have the option of return to my backup.
 

Mariusz

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Then check Upgrade to iTunes Media organization.
Aren't 'Re-organise files in the folder "Itunes Music"' and 'Upgrade to iTunes Media organization' the same thing?

Besides, the article you mentioned says: "If the option to Upgrade to iTunes Media organization is not shown, you have already upgraded to it."
 

cjmnews

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You are correct, that is why it is greyed out.

Can you see if the Podcast and Audiobook directories are empty in iTunes Music?
They may have just been left behind.
 

Mariusz

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Can you see if the Podcast and Audiobook directories are empty in iTunes Music?
The Audiobook and Podcast directories are still in 'iTunes Music' directory (I would expect they should be transferred to the 'Media' folder) and are correctly filled with folders and the audio files.
Quite interesting that during the 're-organization' of the 'iTunes Music' folder, iTunes created 'iTunes Media' folder, but didn't move anything there, as, apart from 'Automatically add to iTunes' folder, it's completely empty...
Or did I miss something before starting re-organization???
And why in the re-organization process didn't iTunes delete the empty directories (Artist and Album folders) from the 'iTunes Music' directory after moving the audio files and copying their respective directories to a newly created 'Music' directory in the 'iTunes Music'? They're still there and I think I'll have to delete them manually (having checked they're really empty).
And why doesn't iTunes rename the old 'iTunes Music' directory to 'iTunes Media' and leaves other media (like Audiobooks and Podcasts, etc.) in the 'iTunes Music' directory?
 

cjmnews

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It really sounds like the reorganization got botched. Like iTunes was closed in the middle of it.

I would set the preferences you changed back to they way they started and restore my backup of the iTunes folder. Then try again.
 

Mariusz

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It really sounds like the reorganization got botched. Like iTunes was closed in the middle of it.

I would set the preferences you changed back to they way they started and restore my backup of the iTunes folder. Then try again.
Well, the only preferences I checked before starting re-organization were "Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized". The option "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" had already been checked. Is there anything else I should be aware of?
 

Mariusz

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Why doesn't the checked option "Keep iTunes Media folder Organised" change with shifting libraries?
In some libraries I want it checked and with some other I want it unchecked.
 

Mariusz

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So now I've tried again. Itune re-organized my library but this time I ended up having at least half my over 100GB library with paths lost (exclamation marks). Itunes transfered some music to a newly created directory "Music" inside "iTunes Music folder" but the rest got left in the old "iTunes Music".
And those items still 'hanging' there have exclamation marks.
Apparently I am not the only one having this type of problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/10257962#24471966

I wanted to follow the option 'B' from that thread ("keeping the existing library") but wasn't able to choose the option 'Consolidate files' as I don't have enough space on my external HD, and creating an 'iTunes Media' folder manually disabled the option "Re-organise files in the folder 'iTunes Music'". So I just made sure that the 2 options in Preferences were checked ("Keep iTunes Media folder Organised" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" and went ahead with re-organisation. And the result was just what I described above.
Well, I think I'll be much better off using the old folder structure in iTunes and doing other things as I'm not going to spend the rest of my life trying to find solutions to the intricate iTunes folder structure.
I don't think Apple has published any manual (in any format) on re-organising the folders the right way.
 

Mariusz

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That "re-organisation" of the "iTunes Music" folder makes a big mess in result.
It leaves it full of empty directories which need to be deleted manually (after making sure they're really empty)...
Which with really big libraries (mine is over 100 GB) it's a hell lot of work!
 

Bitman

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Same problem.

Hello
I re-organised my iTunes music folder yesterday (Preferences > Advanced tab) and in result my old iTunes Music folder exists with all the old folders.
The only difference is that the files have been transferred to a new Music folder, and the old iTunes Music folder now contains the folders like Audiobooks, Podcasts, etc.
Not much logic in all that, I must say.
Is there any way to convert the folder structure to iTunes > iTunes Media where iTunes Media contains Audiobooks, Podcasts, etc.?
Wondering if you ever resolved this issue. I'm in the same boat. Tried reorganizing but nothing changes in the iTunes Media folder.
 
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