iTunes has a mind of its own...
Ok, I had an organized music library for a while, and I decided that I didn't want it to be organized anymore. So I made an automator workflow to take all the mp3s out of the folders and sub folders and put them in a new one. Now I had all of my mp3s in one directory.
I then updated my OS to leopard and took my library and put it into iTunes with the "organized my..." turned off. It didn't organize my library at first, but now when I import new music via download (LEGAL live sets) by dragging the mp3 into the window, it puts it in its own folder. Why is this happening? I want all my music in one directory, I don't want a million sub folders. I guess it really shouldn't bother me, but it does! How do I fix this? Anyone know?
I then updated my OS to leopard and took my library and put it into iTunes with the "organized my..." turned off. It didn't organize my library at first, but now when I import new music via download (LEGAL live sets) by dragging the mp3 into the window, it puts it in its own folder. Why is this happening? I want all my music in one directory, I don't want a million sub folders. I guess it really shouldn't bother me, but it does! How do I fix this? Anyone know?
Comments
Why is this happening?
Unfortunately for you, this is impossible to stop, sorry. Newly imported stuff will always be put into an "artist:album:" directory hierarchy, regardless of the "keep iTunes music folder organized" setting.
That setting is so that if you make changes in iTunes, they are automatically made to your directory hierarchy and filenames on the HDD. Let's say you import an album, and when you import it, it has album name "X" and artist name "Y", when you import, the files will be put in a "Y:X:" directory hierarchy.
Now, if you have the "keep iTunes music folder organized" setting checked, and you change (in iTunes) the album name to "A" and the artist name to "B", the files on the HDD will be moved from "Y:X:" to "B:A:". If the "keep iTunes music folder organized" setting is unchecked, the files will stay in "Y:X:".
Hope that made sense.
I want all my music in one directory
Just out of interest, why? Surely it's easier to find stuff if it's organised in some way. I could understand if you wanted to go with something other than an "artist:album:" hierarchy, e.g. "genre:artist:album:" or "genre:year:artist:" or some such, but a flat directory with all your music files in it? I don't get it. But, it's your prerogative. Sorry you can't get iTunes to do what you want.
edit: having said all that, I just realised you were talking about files you are downloading rather than importing off CD. For stuff you import off CD, you can't stop the folder hierarchy being created. For files already on your HDD but not in iTunes, simply turn off the "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" option. Drag the files to iTunes to add them to the library, then move them to your music folder if they're not already there.
Unfortunately for you, this is impossible to stop, sorry. Newly imported stuff will always be put into an "artist:album:" directory hierarchy, regardless of the "keep iTunes music folder organized" setting.
That setting is so that if you make changes in iTunes, they are automatically made to your directory hierarchy and filenames on the HDD. Let's say you import an album, and when you import it, it has album name "X" and artist name "Y", when you import, the files will be put in a "Y:X:" directory hierarchy.
Now, if you have the "keep iTunes music folder organized" setting checked, and you change (in iTunes) the album name to "A" and the artist name to "B", the files on the HDD will be moved from "Y:X:" to "B:A:". If the "keep iTunes music folder organized" setting is unchecked, the files will stay in "Y:X:".
Hope that made sense.
Just out of interest, why? Surely it's easier to find stuff if it's organised in some way. I could understand if you wanted to go with something other than an "artist:album:" hierarchy, e.g. "genre:artist:album:" or "genre:year:artist:" or some such, but a flat directory with all your music files in it? I don't get it. But, it's your prerogative. Sorry you can't get iTunes to do what you want.
edit: having said all that, I just realised you were talking about files you are downloading rather than importing off CD. For stuff you import off CD, you can't stop the folder hierarchy being created. For files already on your HDD but not in iTunes, simply turn off the "Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library" option. Drag the files to iTunes to add them to the library, then move them to your music folder if they're not already there.
hmmm, I guess it doesn't matter to me. I got into the whole one directory and use smart folders bit for everything. All my design stuff in one, photos, music, movies, docs, etc in it's own directory and then organized with smart folders by project, and stuff. So after opening my music directory I freaked for a minute, but I guess I'm over it. I'll just let iTunes organize it I guess. With all those directories doesn't slow down anything needing to go through so many sub folders? I have no idea, I just thought the less directories the better.