What's the iTunes Folder Structure in Monterey?

[Hrothgar]

Can someone tell me what the iTunes file tree is suppose to look like in Music on Monetery? Mine seems all screwed up, with various folders appearing twice, etc. For example, I've got two "Media" folders. And three "Music" folders. I'm guessing there should be one Media folder, with Music, TV, Podcast, and movies/tv/media subfolders? Something like that.

I'm thinking I should manually rearrange the folders in the proper structure. Delete the music library.musiclibrary file. Then Reopen Music with a blank music library.musiclibrary and re-import all of my music files.

I have my music files and my music library.musiclibrary file on an external hard drive. Somehow the structure got all mixed up, with folders randomly moved about. Music can't locate all of my music files.

My folder tree is:

External Drive>
iTunes
Audiobooks
Downloads-Music
Home Videos
Media
Automatically add to Music
Automatically add to TV
Downloads-Music
Media
Automatically add to Music
Music
Automatically Add to Music
Music
Music Library.musiclibrary
Mobile Applications
Podcasts
Tones
TV Shows
Movies/TV/Media
[La Cie Files]

Within that bottom Music folder (just above Music Library), are the individual folders for each artists. However, within that Music folder there is a sub-folder, also titled Music, which has about half of the artist folders. I have no idea when or how this folder was created. I don't know if I should just copy all of these files into one of the higher-level Music folders, or try to rearrange the whole thing.

This structure seems quite messed up. And the big problem is that I can't get music to locate all of the music files. when I change the location of the music files, it "Updates", but Music will only play some of the files, and they rest it says it can't locate. I'd like to get this into a proper structure.

 

[BigBlur]

I'm having a hard time following your folder structure since you aren't showing the hierarchy. Regardless, the mess is likely a result of iTunes rebranding and splitting into separate apps (Music, TV, Podcasts). Music and TV now have their own libraries. The iTunes folder has gone the way of the dodo. Mine looks something like this...

BigBlur (home folder)

Movies​

TV​

TV Library.tvlibrary​

Media​

Automatically Add To TV​

Movies​

Music​

Music​

Media​

Automatically Add to Music​

Music​

Music Library.musiclibrary​

I'm thinking I should manually rearrange the folders in the proper structure. Delete the music library.musiclibrary file. Then Reopen Music with a blank music library.musiclibrary and re-import all of my music files.

I would just rebuild a fresh new library rather than trying to rearrange the folders manually. Back up your current stuff and move it to a different location. Then open Music while holding down the Option key. You should see a screen to Choose Library, or Create Library. Click Create Library, and tell it where to create it. That will create a new empty library that you can re-import your music into. The various sub-folders will get created as you import or download content. You can do the same thing with the TV app as well. (Podcasts doesn't have a user accessible library.)

 

[dholaday]

BigBlur: If I follow you advice above to create a new music library, is there any way to import old playlist information?

Thanks

 

[BigBlur]

BigBlur: If I follow you advice above to create a new music library, is there any way to import old playlist information?

Thanks

You can export the playlist and import it after creating the new library. I'm not sure if it includes other information such as play count or not (guessing not).

Save a copy of a playlist in Music on Mac

In Music on Mac, save a copy of a playlist, or export it for use on another computer. You can also export song information only.

support.apple.com

 

[Hrothgar]

I took my Mini into the Genius Bar, and they also said to start over. I moved all my files onto an external drive and deleted all of the iTunes files. I held down option when starting Music, created a new music library and imported all the files. I lost much of my old meta data, which will be annoying, but I think it will be better going forward.