Apple Music library vs. linked iCloud folder?

[DJ_Boum_Boum]

Hi all,

I’m trying to decide how best to organize my music for djay Pro (iPad + Mac) before I commit to one approach.

My situation:

• Around 110 albums that I ripped from my own CDs years ago via iTunes (DRM-free files), currently only as files in a linked folder (iCloud Drive). I have not imported these into Apple Music yet.
• About 100 individual tracks bought via the iTunes Store over the past year — also DRM-free — already in my Apple Music library.

My main reason for considering Apple Music is search: with the linked folder I get no search function and no combined song list inside djay — only artist-folder browsing. With the Apple Music source I’d get proper text search, a full alphabetical song list, and easy playlists, which would make finding tracks during a set much easier.

My questions:

1. For a library that’s entirely DRM-free (ripped CDs + iTunes Store purchases), are there real advantages to importing everything into the Apple Music source in djay — especially for search and browsing — rather than keeping a linked Files folder?
2. Does the Apple Music source reliably play offline (airplane mode) in djay for these tracks?
3. Any downsides I should know about — duplicate handling, track analysis data, or cue point syncing across Mac and iPad?

Thanks for any advice!

[Slak_Jaw]

Hi @DJ_Boum_Boum, if you’re looking for a flexible way to manage your music in djay, we recommend using the native “My Collection” library source in combination with the Finder (on macOS), or Files (on iOS) library sources.

Regarding your specific questions:

1. Apple Music source vs. linked folder for search and browsing:

• You’re right that the My Files linked-folder view is browse-only — no search there. However, the Apple Music source carries a restriction you’ll want to know about: Neural Mix is not available for Apple Music tracks, and mix recording is also disabled when using Apple Music as a source — even for tracks that are personally owned and DRM-free. djay treats the Apple Music integration as a streaming source regardless.
• For your ripped albums (not yet in Apple Music), there’d be no benefit to routing them through Apple Music at all — you’d need to add them to Apple Music first, then you’d get search but lose Neural Mix and recording. Importing into My Collection instead gets you the search and browsing you want with no feature trade-offs. For your iTunes Store purchases that are already in Apple Music library, the same logic applies — you can drag those into My Collection too, so everything lives in one searchable, fully-featured place.

2. Offline / airplane mode via Apple Music source:

• The Apple Music source within djay does not currently support an offline mode. The My Collection approach sidesteps this entirely — djay reads the local files directly, so there’s no connectivity dependency.

3. Cue points, BPM analysis, and duplicates across Mac and iPad:

• There’s dedicated iCloud syncing in djay that automatically keeps cue points and loop regions consistent across your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Refer to these linked sections from the user manuals for more info: macOS: iCloud syncing | Algoriddim Support, iOS: iCloud syncing | Algoriddim Support
• Please note that BPM analysis data is not currently included in iCloud sync. You’ll need to run the analysis on each device separately. Waveform data is the same — it re-generates per device.
• The My Collection playlists also are not currently included in iCloud sync. However, you can manually copy the djayMediaLibrary database file from one device to another to update your playlists. Just let me know if you want to go this route and I can provide more instructions.

To get started with My Collection:

1. In the Finder/Files source , use the “+” icon to select the files or folders you’d like to make available in djay.
2. Create a playlist within “My Collection” where you’d like these tracks to live.
3. Drag and drop your selected tracks from the Finder/Files/Explorer source into your new playlist in “My Collection.”

• “My Collection” allows you to create custom playlists and folders that automatically index tracks from various sources within djay, including streaming services, djay Music, locally stored files, and files from external devices/locations.
• A byproduct of this approach is that it lets you work directly with your file sources, bypassing the need to use the Music app altogether. Since djay links to your files rather than importing them, it’s essential to ensure that your file paths remain consistent.
• It is also important to note that if you add new tracks to a source folder (like an external drive), those files will appear in the Finder/Files source within djay. However, they won’t automatically show up in your custom playlists in “My Collection” as you’ll need to manually drag them into the appropriate playlist to keep everything in sync.

OneLibrary Option:

• You may also want to consider using the recently implemented OneLibrary tool.
• Just keep in mind, that currently this only works in one direction: from macOS to iOS. In other words, iOS is read-only.
• So, if you do all of your prep on your Mac and want to quickly duplicate everything on your iPad, this could be a convenient option for you.
• OneLibrary | Algoriddim Support

I hope that helps and that some other users chime in and share their personal workflows.

[DJ_Boum_Boum]

Här är det uppdaterade svaret med en tydlig fråga om Serato Markers2 / CuePorter inlagd:

Subject: Re: Follow-up — “Local Music” source solves it (search + full features + offline)

Thanks again for the detailed reply.

I wanted to follow up, because after some testing I think I’ve found the solution myself — and it might be useful for other users with a similar setup.

For context: most of my library is songs I purchased from the iTunes Store, which live in my Apple Music app library (DRM-free, downloaded locally).

The key discovery: in djay’s source list there are two separate sources, “Apple Music” and “Local Music”. When I reach these tracks via the “Local Music” source instead of the “Apple Music” source, everything works the way I wanted — and none of the restrictions you mentioned apply:

• Search works — full text search for songs, artists, and albums, plus a combined song list and playlists (this solves the browse-only limitation of the My Files linked folder)
• Airplane mode / offline works
• Neural Mix works
• Mix recording works

So it appears the restrictions (no Neural Mix, no recording, no offline) are specific to the “Apple Music” streaming source, while “Local Music” reads the locally downloaded files with full features — even though both point at tracks in the same Apple Music library.

A few questions to confirm my understanding:

1. Is “Local Music” indeed the recommended source for DRM-free tracks stored locally in the Apple Music library, to get search/browsing plus full features (Neural Mix, recording, offline)?
2. For my ripped CD albums that aren’t in the Music app yet — if I add them to the Music app library, should they appear under “Local Music” in djay with the same full features and offline support?
3. Cue points via Serato Markers2 / CuePorter: I’m considering pre-analyzing my library in Mixed in Key and then using a tool (CuePorter) that writes the MiK cue points into the files as Serato Markers2 tags. My question: does djay read embedded Serato Markers2 cue points from files accessed through the “Local Music” source? Or does djay only use its own cue points stored in its local/iCloud database, meaning embedded Serato Markers2 tags would be ignored when a track is loaded from Local Music? I’d like to know whether running CuePorter on my ~100 albums is worthwhile, or whether I should just set cue points directly in djay and rely on djay’s own iCloud cue-point sync between Mac and iPad.

If Local Music gives me search, full features, and offline, then it’s the ideal source for my whole library — I just want to clarify the cue-point question before processing everything.

Thanks for the help — and hopefully this clarifies the Local Music vs. Apple Music distinction for others too.

[Slak_Jaw]

You’re welcome @DJ_Boum_Boum. Actually, I was going to suggest the Local Music source as well, but you specifically asked about Apple Music and my response was already pretty long. So, it’s great that you found this on your own.

Regarding your specific questions:

1. Is Local Music the recommended source for owned files?

• Yes, you’ve got it exactly right. It reads your locally downloaded tracks directly from the Music app as audio files, bypassing the streaming layer entirely. The restrictions (no Neural Mix, no recording) are specific to the Apple Music streaming source. Once you’re reading via Local Music / Music (local files), all of djay’s features are available.

2. Will ripped CDs added to the Music app appear in Local Music?

• They should, yes, as long as the tracks are actually downloaded and stored locally on the device. The key thing to check is that your tracks in the Music app show a downloaded status (no cloud icon) — in the Music app on Mac; on iPad you’ll need to explicitly download them from iCloud or sync them via the Mac Music App while your iPad is connected. Tracks that are only available “in iCloud” but not downloaded to the device may not show up under Local Music in djay. Once they’re physically on the device, they should appear normally. I recommend you test a few playlists first to confirm.

3. Serato Markers2 / CuePorter cue points

• I can’t really speak to this question as I have never used this app personally.
• Does djay read Serato Markers2 tags? Seems like yes, based on what the community has shared. CuePorter seems to be built specifically on this mechanism: it writes Serato Markers2 tags that djay picks up natively for tracks it hasn’t previously catalogued.
• The critical priority rule: again, I’m not 100% sure on this as I haven’t personally tested it, but djay stores its own cue data in an internal database and that database takes priority over embedded Serato Markers2 tags. This means the embedded tags will only load for tracks djay encounters fresh — if djay already has a database entry for a track (even a blank one from analysis), the embedded tags won’t override it. So if you plan to use CuePorter, run it before loading tracks into djay.
• I recommend you do some tests before fully committing to this workflow or ask other users for their experience with it first.

I hope that helps!

[Slak_Jaw]

You might also want to check out this topic and user video:

Connection between Mixed in Key and djay pro

NOTE: Please use the search function above before posting to avoid creating duplicate topics. I made this video to share a killer workaround for getting your music and data from Mixed In Key 11 straight into djay Pro, since there isn’t a direct, built-in way to do it right now. In the tutorial, I’ll walk you step-by-step through analyzing your tracks, using a Rekordbox XML file as a bridge, and leveraging the “One Library” USB feature to move everything over smoothly. If you’re a djay Pro user,…

[DJ_Boum_Boum]

Thanks so much — this is really helpful, and it clears up exactly what I needed.

Confirming Local Music as the right source for my owned files (with full features and offline) makes the decision easy. And the note about djay’s internal database taking priority over embedded Serato Markers2 tags is exactly the detail I was missing — that explains why CuePorter would need to run before djay ever catalogues a track. I’ll test a few before committing either way.

Appreciate you taking the time to lay it all out so clearly. This thread should help others weighing Local Music vs. Apple Music too.

Cheers!

[Slak_Jaw]

You’re welcome @DJ_Boum_Boum. Happy to help!