# Damn You iTunes... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 20, 2004, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-itunes/240999 "2004-04-20T10:37:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-itunes/240999/21 "2005-02-27T08:28:43Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Wait, I had a question while we are on the subject. My original iTunes Music directory has some purchased music in it. I recently setup an music server on a different machine. This server does not utilize the “Share Music” option in iTunes. I basically just physically dumped all of the music files that my family has collected in their various individual Music directories into one big centralized directory. I fixed up the permissions and created the appropriate symlinks to make iTune happy in all other aspects except when it comes to purchasing music from the iTunes store. The iTunes music store is not happy with my new choice of Music directory. What do I need to do in terms of rectifing this situation. I’m not sure if it’s applicable for having your library on a server, but why do you need to dink with symlinks and all that, given that iTunes has a preference where you tell it where your music library is? I stick my family’s music in a shared user account, point everyone’s iTunes preferences to it, and we’re all good to go. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-itunes/240999/22 "2005-02-27T13:58:52Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > I’m not sure if it’s applicable for having your library on a server, but why do you need to dink with symlinks and all that, given that iTunes has a preference where you tell it where your music library is? I stick my family’s music in a shared user account, point everyone’s iTunes preferences to it, and we’re all good to go. Like I said, I tried this and it didn’t work. What’s the secret? I tried it on the hard drive, in the shared folder, and on another disk. Nothing worked (I can change the folder, but the music doesn’t show up in the library). ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-itunes/240999/23 "2005-02-27T13:59:38Z")
This seems to be as good a place as any, so here goes. I have several soundtracks and other things where the compilations tag is very useful to clean up my iTunes library. Unfortunately, that didn’t carry over into the iPod. It’s really annoying, as not having the compilations tag adds about 300 artists I have to go through in the artists menu. Any way to get that to carry over? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-itunes/240999/24 "2005-02-27T20:06:56Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > I’m not sure if it’s applicable for having your library on a server, but why do you need to dink with symlinks and all that, given that iTunes has a preference where you tell it where your music library is? I wish I knew. I set the preferences to point to the remote directory but then every time I would start iTunes it would create a new, empty directory in my local account. Putting an alias there pointed to the remote directory seemed to make iTunes happy. Is your shared directory on the same machine? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-itunes/240999/25 "2005-02-27T22:46:58Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I wish I knew. I set the preferences to point to the remote directory but then every time I would start iTunes it would create a new, empty directory in my local account. Putting an alias there pointed to the remote directory seemed to make iTunes happy. > > Is your shared directory on the same machine? The aliases don’t work for me… iTunes says the file is locked or some damned thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-itunes/240999.md?page=1)