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using a single itunes library with a NAS drive across multiple computers

Hi I am a Mac user buying an Imac ‘for the kids’ at Christmas, because of work I have always been a windows user- there I have said it ;).
Back to the point… I have a Synology NAS drive which i have all my photos and music on,I have my ,mac and a couple of windows pc’s.
I also have a couple of iphones and ipods in the house used by wife, me and the kids. I am also not a big buyer of downloads, most (99%) my music comes from imported CD’s
Ok thats the landscape.
I want all itunes accounts to look at the NAS drive as the default music library, so each computer/ user account can create their own play list. I also want to be able to load a CD on one account and that CD to be seen by all other accounts be they on the iMac or on the PC.
Is this possible?
By the way – love the show
—–
stuent

Comments: 3 Responses to “using a single itunes library with a NAS drive across multiple computers”

    13 years ago

    You don't want them to use the same "library" -- that would mean that more than one computer could be using and updating this library at the same time. Trouble.
    What you want to do is to use the same music files.
    So each computer has its own library, stored in the usual place on the hard drive inside the user's folder.
    But iTunes is set to not organize or copy the files you add to the library. You set it to use the files at their original locations. So you put all of your music files on the NAS. Then drag and drop them to the iTunes library to add them to the library, but it is only adding links to the original files, not the files themselves. So you have one copy of each file, and each iTunes library links to it.
    This also solves the problem where you might not want to have your kids' music in your library. And your kids may not want to have some of yours.
    See: http://macmost.com/moving-your-itunes-library.html

      Seb
      11 years ago

      Hi Gary,
      Thanks for your reply. I also checked out the video linked to above. I have the same issue: NAS with all the music, 1 PC and 2 MBA's. We all want to use the same files. So option 2 is perfect. But what if my wife buys a new album on her Macbook, that she wants to share with me (on my Macbook)? Ideally you would put that album on the NAS (where I want to keep ALL the music anyway), for everyone to use. How can I setup iTunes to automatically copy the new album to the NAS? Or should I manually copy this one to the NAS from her Macbook?

      Question 2:
      What if I add music to the NAS through one computer, will the other computers automatically update their libraries?

      A lot of questions, hope you can answer them.

      Thx

      Seb

        11 years ago

        I don't believe that there is a way to automatically have it do that.
        And the other computers won't update automatically either -- the iTunes library catalog and the files in that folder and not tied together. You would have to drag and drop them into iTunes to add them to your catalog of songs.
        On the bright side, that means you can be selective.

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