Any iTunes Experts?

[Peter Stahl]

Can 2 different users of a PC use the same directory for their iTunes music. The directory in question is very large and I don't want to copy it to the other users area. There are actually many different users of this PC but only 2 want to share the iTunes music directory. Here's what I tried so far: In itunes, Went to Edit menu, selected Preferences, then clicked Advanced tab, Changed the iTunes Music folder location and clicked Ok then Ok again. Is this possible to do with iTunes? iTunes version is 8.0.2.20

[Craig Coney]

Peter,
I'm not an expert on iTunes, but I noticed that iTunes 9.0.1 has a share feature when I upgraded to the latest version.

I have a shared directory on a server that both my wife and I can access on different computers, so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to access the files between separate users on the same computer. I would just make sure they are located in a file accessible on both login accounts, such as the shared directory, rather than the user directories.

[Peter Stahl]

Not what I'm looking for. Just want to play whats in the directory not share or transfer like it says.

[Bob Coleman]

Peter,

The method Craig mentioned will work. Just copy all the music files into the shared folder in the users directory, then you'll have to re-import all the files into iTunes.

A quicker way to do it is to turn on sharing. Go to the sharing pane of preferences and enable "Share my library on my local network." You can select which playlists to share and set a password if you desire. The next person to log in to their account and open iTunes will see a "shared" section in the left pane of iTunes with your library listed. The only drawback is that the files won't appear in the main library.

Hope this helps!

[Glenn Clabo]

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking...but I'll tell you what we do.
We have one iTunes directory...but I syc all our iPhones/IPoda differently. My wife likes it sent up differantly than I do...so I don't syc automatically...I pick and choose each one corresponding to her's or mine.

[Peter Stahl]

What I want to do is just be able to access the music that's in Account "A" My Documents\My Music\iTunes folder. I don't understand why they make this so difficult!

[Greg Peterson]

What I want to do is just be able to access the music that's in Account "A" My Documents\My Music\iTunes folder. I don't understand why they make this so difficult!

Because it's Apple. In Itunes:

File | Add Folder to Library | drill down to the the users folder where the files exist | follow the prompts.

[Mike Cutler]

Peter

I don't have a PC, just Mac's, but it should be doable. Here are some links that may start you in the right direction.

http://www.marius.org/2005/10/28/sharing_itunes.php

http://www.cnet.com.au/how-to-merge-itunes-libraries-between-users-339293075.htm

This one is the search I started with.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Itunes+for+2+users+on+a+PC&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

[Peter Stahl]

I stumbled across something that worked in the info Mike posted. What I had to do after I changed where the iTunes music is I had to go to the file menu and click Add Folder to Library which I had thought would actually add the music to my iTunes folder. Because the music is already where I set the directory for it just gives you the Art work and stuff in iTunes. I think I got what I want so thanks everyone for the help. Any more info/help is still appreciated.

[Mike Cutler]

Peter

I know on a Mac it's a matter of moving the library into a common folder. I just don't know exactly how the same function is performed on a PC. I just got finished moving,and merging two iTunes libraries on two seperate machines into one, on both, so I knew what you wanted to ahcieve was doable.
From your success, it sounds very similar in practice.

iTunes is a very user friendly app on the front end, not so much on the back end. I just had to restore our iTunes library to a new Mac Mini, after my G5 failed. At least the HDD was still good.
I put the HDD into an external SATA enclosure and was finally able to move everything around. I had to transfer the iTunes to my laptop first,and then finally onto the new machine.
I now have the iTunes library stored on an external backup drive, and I am running Time Machine on the new Mac to back everything up. Hopefully it will be easier next time.;)

[Matt Meiser]

I do it and I even copy my iTunes library from our main PC to my shop PC so my playlists work. Back when we had a desktop for our main PC, I shared a folder and had iTunes look at \\pcname\musiuc which was the name of the share, even the the folder was local. Then when I copied the library it just accessed the music share across the network. Now we have a Windows Home Server and laptop and the music lives on the server, but the same applies.

Also, my wifes iTunes library looks at the same share for the music, but she has her own library files and therefore can have her own playlists, etc. Back when it was easy to do I converted the files to remove all the digital rights crap and now I don't buy music that has it.

[Paul Atkins]

Could you just make up separate playlists for each of you and then only go to your own playlist?

[Matt Meiser]

Could you just make up separate playlists for each of you and then only go to your own playlist?

Yes, but I like to rate the songs (1-5 stars) and use the automatic playlists based on genre and my ratings. If we were to do that, we couldn't have our own ratings.

When I first got my iPod I had an automatic playlist of all unrated music. While I worked, I'd listen and would (when I remember) rate the songs as they played which would move them off the list.

I need to set up the same thing for my daughter since we got her a shuffle this past spring. Actually it was mostly for me--got sick of trying to get music on her cheap MP3 player.