Transfer itunes library to new mac big sur

I did a clean install of Monterey both on my Mac mini and MBP. On my Mac mini, I copied of the iTunes Media folder and all worked fine after I chose the Library with option-open.
On my MBP, I avoided copying over the iTunes Media folder and dragged my Music folder (from Big Sur) into my Music Media folder created in Monterey (no iTunes). No music and no playlists when starting up the Music app. Any ideas? Am I going to have to copy over the old iTunes Media folder and choose that for my Library?

Hi csonni,

Yes, I believe you will have to convert your iTunes library from the iTunes.app format to the Music.app format. When I did this I exported my iTunes playlists so that I could import them into Music just in case the conversion did not go smoothly and as expected.

Once you have converted your iTunes library, say on your Mac mini, to the Music.app library, then you should be able to just copy the entire Music.app library to the Music folder on your MBP -- that is, you won't need to perform another conversion step, but you must copy your new *.musiclibrary over to the MBP instead of just copying your Music/Music Media folders.

I know this works as I have done this with about a hundred different iTunes libraries, each generating a new Music library.

Good luck,
Solouki

Hi csonni,

Yes, I believe you will have to convert your iTunes library from the iTunes.app format to the Music.app format. When I did this I exported my iTunes playlists so that I could import them into Music just in case the conversion did not go smoothly and as expected.

Once you have converted your iTunes library, say on your Mac mini, to the Music.app library, then you should be able to just copy the entire Music.app library to the Music folder on your MBP -- that is, you won't need to perform another conversion step, but you must copy your new *.musiclibrary over to the MBP instead of just copying your Music/Music Media folders.

I know this works as I have done this with about a hundred different iTunes libraries, each generating a new Music library.

Good luck,
Solouki

Not sure what is meant by “convert.” I’m not at my Mac mini right now so I can’t see If that’s an option in the menu. The Music app is working fine on my Mac mini but that’s also with the old iTunes folders. I’ll try dragging over the Music Lirary file over to my MBP when I get home.

Not sure what is meant by “convert.” I’m not at my Mac mini right now so I can’t see If that’s an option in the menu. The Music app is working fine on my Mac mini but that’s also with the old iTunes folders. I’ll try dragging over the Music Lirary file over to my MBP when I get home.

Hi csonni,

I don't believe your old iTunes libraries will work without first being converted to the new Music.app format (the databases are different in the old iTunes and new Music apps). The Music.app itself does this conversion when you first attempt to load an old iTunes library into the new Music.app. Once this conversion is performed, then you can simply copy the newly converted *.musiclibrary from one machine to the other (don't copy the old iTunes Music Media folder).

Solouki

P.S. EDIT: Whoops, I mixed up the Music.app with the Photos.app, the Music.app does not rename all of the oriiginal sound files with hash code names while the Photos.app does rename the original photos with hash-code names and maintains the original names in a database file.

Hi csonni,

I don't believe your old iTunes libraries will work without first being converted to the new Music.app format (the databases are different in the old iTunes and new Music apps). The Music.app itself does this conversion when you first attempt to load an old iTunes library into the new Music.app. Once this conversion is performed, then you can simply copy the newly converted *.musiclibrary from one machine to the other (don't copy the old iTunes Music Media folder).

Solouki

P.S. While the old iTunes library included a folder containing the original sound files, the new Music library renames these original sound files with some sort of hash code naming scheme -- I assume to make certain that the filenames are unique -- and then builds a database to keep track of the original names, artwork, and other attributes.

EDIT: You can "Export" the original sound files, however, from the new Music library.

So, I copied over my Music Library (3.2 megs) from my Mac mini clone to my MBP. Got all the folders in the same places. Start up the Music app on my MBP and am missing lots of songs in my list, along with no Playlists. The Music Library file also sharing to 256 KB. Tried several times with no luck. The Music folder which contains all my song files is the same count on both computers.

Strange....All my music media files on the Mac mini are in a Music folder in a Music folder (not Media as it shows in my Files tab in Preferences. I changed my MBP settings to the Music folder and now no music is showing at all.

Well, I moved some things around and imported the Playlist.xml and all is good.....I guess.
I'd love to know the folder Music folder hierarchy in Monterey. Right now I have Home-Music-Music-Media-Music (the 3rd Music folder contains all my songs.

Well, I moved some things around and imported the Playlist.xml and all is good.....I guess.
I'd love to know the folder Music folder hierarchy in Monterey. Right now I have Home-Music-Music-Media-Music (the 3rd Music folder contains all my songs.

Yes, this is proper. Sorry, but I had been thinking about the Photos.app which does rename the original photos to hash code names and keeps the original names in a database file while the Music.app just moves the originals to a new directory.