Maximum songs in the library

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Hi All



just wanted to confirm what's the maximum songs itunes can handle. if heard a while back that it was 30 000 but thought that with the few updates to itunes since then - if this issue has been fixed.



my collection is nearing 25 000 and i wasn't sure if i should slow down or just keep going!!



that many songs can really choke your machine. i'm running it on a powerbook 800 with 512mb ram and all my songs are on a 160GB external which i back up reguarly to a 300GB external.

i just noticed that when i went past 15 000 songs, editing songs in itunes gets the spinning candy striped ball of thinking alot now. i know it's an old machine - i'm getting a duel 2.5 powermac with 2GB ram very soon! but i'm going off on a tangent here - just wanted to know if i could go past 30000



thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    maritziomaritzio Posts: 31member
    doesn't anyone know the maximum songs itunes can handle?? c'mon guys!!
  • Reply 2 of 10
    dcqdcq Posts: 349member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Maritzio

    doesn't anyone know the maximum songs itunes can handle?? c'mon guys!!



    I honestly didn't know there was a limit. I know that they (Apple) talks about a usability limit with the number of photos in iPhoto (smooth scrolling with 25000 photo thumbs, I believe). I've never heard of any issue with an upper limit with iTunes songs. After all, it's just really a db. It should only be limited by the comp (more specifically, the amount of system memory). You also might get the beach ball of waiting because it's on an external drive.



    But I'm just guessing.



    By the way, impressive library dude. I thought I had a good number of songs/audio files. About 25 gigs, with roughly 6000 "songs" (about 500 are talks/spoken word recordings/etc). 25,000 is just dang impressive.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    uh i just assumed that past a certain point, there would be no way someone could that much *legal* music. (not ripped from friends' cd's)
  • Reply 4 of 10
    gene cleangene clean Posts: 3,481member
    Ripping from friends CDs is illegal now? According to what law?
  • Reply 5 of 10
    All I can tell you is that I currently have about 11,000 songs and 60gig, and everything is working fine. (It's all legal, by the way. I have a bit of a music habit.)
  • Reply 6 of 10
    trydtryd Posts: 143member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Maritzio

    Hi All



    just wanted to confirm what's the maximum songs itunes can handle. if heard a while back that it was 30 000 but thought that with the few updates to itunes since then - if this issue has been fixed.




    There used to be a limit of 32000 songs but that was fixed quite a while back. I don't know if there is a limit now. Maybe 64000?

    My library is currently at 46070.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    spcmsspcms Posts: 407member
    This is unrelated to the original post, but whatever



    Here's my problem: I really want to use iTunes, but somehow it has problems getting all my mp3's. Yes, i'm on a lousy Windooz PeeCee, and over the years i developped the habit of ordering mp3's in maps by artist, than album, than disc. When there are more than 3 levels, iTunes simply refuses to fetch those files. Anybody knows what's happening here?



    Oh, also, in Windows Media Player you can choose the format of your file names. For example i use

    01 - Artist Name - Song Name.mp3

    Is there a way to modify this in iTunes?



    Finally (and i know this is a lot to ask), is there a way to extract song information from file names and automatically put this into file info? I ask because i have a few Gigs of bootlegs with 'correct' file names, but with no file info (ID3tags).



    Any help is welcome
  • Reply 8 of 10
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    Ripping from friends CDs is illegal now? According to what law?



    um copyright laws. it's totally fine to rip your OWN cd's, but not a friend's.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    dcqdcq Posts: 349member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ipodandimac

    um copyright laws. it's totally fine to rip your OWN cd's, but not a friend's.



    [rant]

    Actually, that's not been decided yet.



    A few things to consider (forget the RIAA's propaganda claims):



    It's is perfectly legal to record a tape of a friend's CD (or tape or album or whatever). The idea is that it is a degradation in quality from the original, and therefore not an exact copy. The Supreme Court ruled on this back in the 80s when the RIAA tried to get tapes and tape recorders outlawed. (Yes, the RIAA lost its case when it actually went to the SC.)



    Ripping a CD to MP3 or AAC or whatever is analogous to that, if not exactly like it. (Even Apple Lossless would be protected since it is throwing away some of the original information; I suppose it raises a few questions, from a legalistic standpoint, but not one most people are interested in.)



    Now, I haven't followed this closely in a while, but I haven't heard of any major decisions being handed down lately. So, AFAIK, you are perfectly entitled to rip a copy of a friend's CD, just as you are free to make a dub tape.



    While on its anti-P2P crusade, the RIAA threw in a whole bunch of hooey and FUD, about "stealing" and "breaking the law" and (I think deliberately) wanted people to take home the message that, if they didn't have the receipt, proof of purchase, UPC code, and actual CD that was the source of the mp3s on their computers, then they were somehow breaking the law.



    Things are a lot less clear than that. Being generous towards the RIAA, one could say the legal staus of these "recordings" (mp3s, AACs, etc) has not yet been decided. Stepping outside of the RIAA's RDF into the real world, we should all be willing to admit that something is legal until it has been declared illegal. Right?



    [/rant]
  • Reply 10 of 10
    gene cleangene clean Posts: 3,481member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ipodandimac

    um copyright laws. it's totally fine to rip your OWN cd's, but not a friend's.



    You need to get a better grip of copyright laws. Going around and just randomly saying 'oh this is illegal, oh that is illegal' does not equate to being familiar with copyright laws.



    I understand that that's what RIAA wants you to think, but RIAA is not the law.
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