Using the same media folder with different libraries

PowerTunes allows you to easily store music in a single media folder, but still split it up across multiple libraries for organizational purposes.

New Libraries

If you're creating a new library and want it to use an existing media folder, simply select the "Use same media folder as:" option in the new library configuration sheet, and choose the existing library whose media folder you want your new library to use.

Existing Libraries

If you have an existing library that you want to change so it uses a different media folder, the easiest way is to use the "Switch Media Folder" command in the Library menu. This will redirect that library so that it uses the media folder you chose to store its music. iTunes will automatically update its database to point to files in the new media folder.

Consolidating Music

If you do want to switch a library's media folder, but that library has references to some music files that either don't get updated correctly by iTunes, or the files live somewhere else on your hard drive outside any media folder, you can copy any stray files into the library's new media folder by opening the library in iTunes, going to the File menu, then the Library submenu, then selecting "Organize Library…". In the window that comes up, click the "Consolidate Files" checkbox, then click OK. This will copy any stray files into the library's media folder and update iTunes' database to point to the files in the media folder. Alternately, if you only want to consolidate specific files and not everything in the whole library, select the tracks you want to consolidate, then control-click on one of the tracks and select "Consolidate Files..." from the contextual menu that pop up.