Best was to archive iTunes music?

[James.1]

I have quite a lot of music in my iTunes library that I no longer listen to and I'm looking for the best way to remove it but not permanently delete it. I was thinking I should just delete it from the library but not send it to that trash, that way the music files would remain in the iTunes folder. Ideally I would like to be able to just hide it in the library, just like you can hide photos in iPhoto.

Any suggestions?

 

[alanrob]

Why bother if your not trying to free up disk space?

Could you not just make a new folder in iTunes called Old Music (or something) and move all your unwanted albums in there?

 

[Tenex]

You could just create a secondary Library.

Hold down the option key when clicking the iTunes icon until you get a menu which will ask you to choose or create a new library. I use this to keep audiobooks separated. iTunes will always boot to the last used library so use option again to change.

The library can be anywhere eg. on an external drive if necessary. Now how you export to it I'm not so sure.

 

[James.1]

I like the idea of a second library but what about importing music, does it just get added to the currently used library and are two libraries happy sharing the same iTunes folder?

The main reason I want to thin out my library is for when browsing in Front Row, it's just easier to browse with less.

 

[Tenex]

It will be added to the currently selected. No probs with 2 in one folder I believe, the second will be called "iTunes Library 1" or similar. I had one briefly before deleting it and locating on an external. You can create as many libraries as you like.

 

[James.1]

Thanks Tenex. I have just had a go at creating a new library and I was able to see for myself what you explained and it's all clear to me now. I was under the impression that it would just create a new Library xml file and not an entirely new folder based library.

What I plan on doing now is removing all the music I don't want in my current library and then creating a new library and add that music to it. This way will work out better actually because I can then easily listen to it again if I want just by swapping libraries.

 

[Tenex]

That should suit your iTunes needs. A pity the Apple remote doesn't have a Mighty Mouse ball so you can whizz through Coverflow