# Fully sharing a single itunes library across multiple user accounts on a single mac



## BobbyFett (Jan 12, 2005)

Is there a way to share a single itunes library across two user accounts on the same mac?

And I mean sharing it in the truest sense, so that if either account imports new cds, the changes are reflected in the other account's library?

Right now I have it set up so that the iTunes Music folder is in an account's public folder, and I dropped an alias to that folder in the other account's music folder.

But obviously iTunes wants to create an individual xml database file in each accounts respective music folder.

I haven't tried it, but I imagine that whilst the mp3s will be deposited in the single directory in the public folder, only the importers xml file will be updated, meaning the other account's iTunes won't see the new mp3s.

Is there a way to do this so that accounts on a single machine can not only share mp3s but also update the same library xml files?


----------



## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

So you have put your music folder in public sharing folder and aimed all the itunes to target said folder and it isn't working as you like it?


I have a similar set up in my house. I have an external drive that all my macs are hooked up to wirelessly (via wireless router) or wired. My itunes is on there and I have all my iTunes targeting that drive and it works for me...


I have no advice from there.

Some brainy will be along shortly...don't fret.


----------



## BobbyFett (Jan 12, 2005)

Not sure.

Both account's iTunes see the music, but obviously they maintain their own database's of play counts etc. 

And also if either account adds music to the central library, via a cd import, the other account won't see those new songs.


----------



## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

What your trying should work.

Are you sharing the entire iTunes folder? I had one of my systems set up this way in the past and it worked just fine. I don't remember whether the play counts were independent but I don't bother with that stuff anyway. With the iTunes folder in a place accessible to all user account, I dropped an alias called "iTunes" in the music folder of each user. All users saw the same music library and when new music was purchased or added it was available to all users.


----------



## BobbyFett (Jan 12, 2005)

Macified said:


> What your trying should work.
> 
> Are you sharing the entire iTunes folder? I had one of my systems set up this way in the past and it worked just fine. I don't remember whether the play counts were independent but I don't bother with that stuff anyway. With the iTunes folder in a place accessible to all user account, I dropped an alias called "iTunes" in the music folder of each user. All users saw the same music library and when new music was purchased or added it was available to all users.


Are you saying you did it at a level higher than me, so that the central folder ALSO contained the xml files? I haven't done that. Maybe I should.


----------



## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

Don't alias just the iTunes Music folder, alias the entire iTunes folder inside your Music folder. Also, you don't need to put it in a Public folder, just give permissions to the other user. There's nothing magic about the Public folder - it's just a folder with permission for everyone.

If the alias doesn't work, try a symbolic link. It's a UNIX based alias. To do this:
1. Remove the iTunes folder from the Music folder in the other users account (the one without the music)
2. Switch back to the account with the music.
3. Put the iTunes folder back in the Music folder where it used to mbe.
4. In the terminal enter this:
cd Music
sudo ln -s Music /Users/otherusername/Music/iTunes
- enter your password when asked.
5. Get Info on your iTunes folder, add permission for the other user to read and write.

That should be it. It works for me. I have a home and work account on my MacBook and use it like this every day - I just can't remember if an alias worked or if I had to make a symbolic link.


----------



## i4detail (Mar 11, 2008)

Macbreak tech just did an hour long discussion on sharing music, but they didn't really get into this, other than just a real surface discussion.

I've recently got an email from...ooh, some company, but I junked it, sorry. Something Ranger...Tune Ranger? That might have been it. Review - TuneRanger at MacSparky.

If you don't want to spend the money, then it is difficult to do this efficiently. You can, if you want to, have one library, but you'll need to have different library XML files; you can keep them in the same directory, but two computers can't access it. 

There have been multiple solutions proposed, all of them extremely ugly. If you don't care about ratings and that sort of thing, you can have a master computer that you do all your importing from (lets call it a master file), and then have a short script that duplicates the master file to all the other iTunes users folders.

If you do care about ratings and playlists, it gets really ugly, as you have to copy the library, then import each person's ratings into each of the other libraries...

I haven't heard any more elegant solution than that, other than Tune Ranger, but I'd love to hear, as I've banged my head against this one, too. And yes, I am too cheap to spend the money.

What I'd love is if you could have your laptop function like an iPod. Hey, I see you have multiple computers. We're going to make one the master. Each time you connect your laptop to the network, you will have the option of copying over certain playlists, and all the new rating and playlist data syncs back to iTunes, just like you were syncing an iPod. The trouble is, of course, my iTunes library is larger than my laptop hard drive. 

Right now, I have it set up as an all or nothing affair. All my music is on my home server, and when I take my laptop away from there, I got nothing. Except my iPod, which has enough memory to hold the entire library, so that's okay. 

My wife's iPod, on the other hand, doesn't. And she'd prefer just to listen to the computer at times, not have to break out the iPod. So when she's away from home, she has nothing on her laptop, and then she gets mad at me because she doesn't have any music.


----------



## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

BobbyFett said:


> Are you saying you did it at a level higher than me, so that the central folder ALSO contained the xml files? I haven't done that. Maybe I should.


Yes, the whole folder. It will probably mean that play counts will be shared and new items won't be listed as new once viewed by any one of the users.


----------



## madgunde (Mar 10, 2006)

I'd recommend putting it in the /Users/Shared folder. That's a more appropriate place to put it, and you don't have to mess around with permissions.


----------

