Is there a way for iTunes to have multiple distinct libraries?
The actual problem I'm looking to solve with this question stems from my desire to use iTunes Match. It would appear that I can't use this service because my library currently has approximately 32,000 songs.
Now, I have lots of playlists to differentiate many of the songs. (And this problem could be very easily solved if I could just use iTunes Match on a playlist-by-playlist basis.) But it's looking more and more like if I want to use this service then I'll need to remove approximately 7,000 songs from my library. (Even more as I continue to add to it.)
Finding 7,000 songs (or more) that I simply don't listen to and removing them is certainly doable. However, I don't want to completely and utterly remove them. They are a part of my library. And, even though I don't listen to all of them, other people might.
They don't need to synchronize to my iOS devices for my personal use, but my library is increasingly becoming a shared household resource for family members and guests. And I don't want to remove items from that selection simply because of my own personal listening habits. (For example, I'd probably end up removing a ton of children's music that I don't listen to, but my own children are getting to an age where they can make use of such a shared resource and listen to it.)
To that end, is there any other way I can divide or organize my collection such that I can use Apple's cloud services to synchronize more of my own music than my devices could otherwise hold without losing the family resource I currently have?
Best Answer
Hold down the Option key when you launch iTunes. You will be asked to choose an existing library, or create a new library. You can search the web for
iTunes multiple librariesand find the answer.I suggest that you create a new iTunes library, move songs that you don't listen on a regular basis over there. If you already have them in a play list, just export them from your primary library and import in the other library.