iTunes Media location

[Diiiiips]

I have tried searching my query but I just can't work it out...

When I bought my MBP I transferred all my downloaded MP3s from my portable hard drive to the iTunes folder on my MBP.

I only realised recently that inside this iTunes folder there is another folder called iTunes Media which has a Music folder in it. This Music folder has all my music organised in a different fashion I'm sure you all know.

What I want to know is if I delete this iTunes Media folder will there be an effects on my iPod, etc? Because at the moment my music is being duplicated so instead of my music taking up 29GB of my HD, it's taking up 58GB.

I know this is probably a common question users are sick of but I just couldn't find my solutiion so thanks to anyone who helps me out.

 

[Diiiiips]

Someone must have an idea or is everyone too busy playing with Lion?

 

[obe1k]

When you first setup iTunes, did you elect to allow iTunes to organize your music? In which case it would have created it's own folder structure inside the iTunes media folder, and also created a copy of the song files.
In Preferences, on the Advanced tab there are a couple of check boxes dealing with the iTunes media location. I personally like to keep both the options unchecked so I have control over where my music files are stored.

If you let iTunes organize your music, you need to keep the Media folder (in which case you could probably delete the duplicates outside of this). If you don't let iTunes organize your music, then you can delete the music inside the Media folder (apart from any purchased music since the import).

Be aware that if you have purchased songs from the iTunes store, they will download into the iTunes media folder. You can always move them to a different location later.

So as long as you haven't purchased any songs since transferring the music to your MBP, and you unchecked the 'Keep iTunes media folder organized' option you can delete the songs inside the media folder.

Just make sure you decide how you want to organize your music (let iTunes do it, or have your own folder) before you start messing around with it.

iTunes is really just a list of shortcuts so if the library is messed up you can just delete songs and re-drag them in.

If you automatically sync your ipod, whatever is in the iTunes library will be reflected on the ipod.

 

[Diiiiips]

That mostly makes sense. I cant recall whether I let iTunes manage my music or not. However I'll untick it now and delete the folder now I think.


Recently I organised my album artwork and manually added some too. Where is this kept? Will I lose all the artwork if I delete the folder or is it kept on the MP3 file itself?

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

 

[obe1k]

There is a folder in the iTunes folder called 'Album Artwork'.