iTunes 7 How to add new music and display it in iTunes?

I have music on my other computer in mp3 format. How do I transfer it over into my itunes folder and have it actually show up in iTunes?

The files are good. I put them in the same way the original files were I first transfered over but how do I have itunes refresh and find the new songs?

I just don't want it to make duplicates on my ipod or in the iTunes 7 software on the mac.

 

1) Copy your files to where you want to have them.

2) Open iTunes and go into the Preferences. There, under "Advanced", make sure "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" is NOT checked.

3) Import the files in iTunes.

I'm not 100% sure this was your question though, if not then please clarify what it is you are trying to do or are worried about.

 

iTunes doesn't "watch" any of its folders. What you need to do is add the files to your library after the fact. It's in the File menu, or you can just drag and drop to your music library.

As Starlight mentioned, check out your Preferences to define whether the files get copied into your itunes music folder or stay where they are.

 

As for the duplicates...

After you've added your mp3 files to iTunes, make sure Music is selected under Library, then use the Menu to select View --> Show Duplicates.

There you can see & delete any duplicates. Make sure you leave at least one of the files that is a duplicate. For example, if iTunes shows 3 duplicates, only delete 2 of them (Hopefully this is obvious ).

You can use the same procedure for other Libraries, like with Movies or TV Shows. It also works for iTunes Playlists. Although, I don't think you can do this directly with the iPod; but once you clean up your iTunes Library, then update your iPod, it should accomplish the same thing.

 

Is there anyway to set itunes to be more like a winamp/foobar when importing mp3s? I don't really know how to explain this but.....

itunes takes forever when you add a new folder of music into the playlist.

i like how winamp/foobar i can just add a directory and it loads nearly instantly.. the id3 tags will display/load when they are visible on the playlist.

sometimes ill try to add a directory (60+ gigs) into itunes from my external hard drive and it will take forever to import or end up freezing up/crashing.

basically i like to constantly have my library be refreshed/cleared.. especially when I move my external HD around.

(Yes, I uncheck itunes to organize folders / copy files into library.)

 

Not really... iTunes is more about keeping this library full of files and metadata and whatnot. It's not built as a lightweight player. When you play a song in it, it adds it to the library. It tries to look up album information, and, in the case of multiple tracks from an album, it tries to determine whether songs are gapless or not, which takes a bit of processing. I'd recommend using something else to play your random occasional mp3s, and only use iTunes in its capacity as a music library jukeboxey thing.