on Ipad: how to migrate from itunes/music sync to other ways to transfer files from mac

Questions
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1

I have various playlist that I’ve made on itunes/Music with mac, then synchronized on ipad to use with Djay Pro.

Now my Music library on macOs is corrupted, totally out of control, I’ve loose about 20.000 link to files, so I want to leave this app that became a nightmare.
If I made another Apple Music to ipad sync, I will loose all my actual playlists on ipad

Basically I would like to know any suggestion to transfer music files on iPad wihout usic Apple Music, and how to use it in djay.

Also I would like to know if there’s a way to transform the actual itunes playlists in internal Djay playlists.

Thanks for any help

2

iTunes is still the best way to manage playlists in djay Pro, it’s a pain in the butt and continues to go downhill, but iTunes integration is so tight with djay Pro, that I’ve moved away from iTunes and come back many, many times.

The main reasons for using iTunes:

  1. Save/restore static and smart playlists.
  2. Load library on iPhone so I can make playlists on the go.

There are other programs like DJCU, Lexicon DJ etc. which I tried. They are decent, but the extra subscription and hassle of library management outside of djay Pro was way more inconvenient than the issues I have inside iTunes. :frowning: So no good solutions just a better compromise.

I do use a helper program called MP3Tag for bulk updates and editing metdata. That’s a solid piece of my workflow. But it’s just a helper program, I still work mostly in iTunes.

CURRENT SETUP:

  • all files in single folder
  • top-level “genre”fields are all tagged
  • sub-genres are tagged in “comments” field
  • smart playlists are generated based on genre tags
  • spreadsheet to keep track of which genre tags I’m using plus rules for creating certain smart playlists
  • backup folder for static/smart playlists

TRANSFERRING PLAYLISTS

  1. You can drag and drop iTunes playlists into djay Pro.
  2. iTune Smart Playlists become static when dropped into djay Pro.
  3. The only way to transfer an iTunes Smart Playlist to djay Pro - you must manually re-create it. Thus my spreadsheet).
  4. You can export djay Pro playlists as .csv files but the functionality is completely broken. I recommend avoiding the export as .csv file option. Stick with iTunes for your playlists. AND WITH a little editing (Excel or Apple Numbers) those .csv files can be dragged into iTunes (thus completing the round-trip). I usually do this for archived sets that I’ve played. This way I can refer back to previous events where I had some good ideas “in the moment”. Please note - you cannot export Smart Playlist rules. djay Pro Smart Playlists will be exported as static playlists (.csv).

COMPROMISES
A lot of compromises in this setup, but the main thing is, with all files in one folder / properly tagged, the DJ Library is easy to manage on any DJ platform.

5 Likes
3

many thanks, your answer makes sense and I find a lot of useful infos and suggestions

4

When I use MP3tag the tags do not show up unless I play them in apple music first. It is so frustrating i purchesed the full version.

7

Since there is still no Search window for External SSDs on I pad pro… how do I transfer and manage all my music files from my ssd to I tunes on iPad Pro.

1 Like
12

I think there’s some sort of rescan tags option to help avoid this problem. I can’t remember exactly how but ill try and figure that out