Two iPods, one computer, two musical tastes - how does it work?

Mrs. Piper has had an iPod for a while and has loaded quite a lot of tunes onto the iTunes of our Mac.

I recently got an iPod and want to use the Mac for my tunes.

Is there a way to set up separate libraries in iTunes, one for her, one for me?

It’s not hard to set separate playlists, and tell iTunes to only sync Mrs. Piper’s playlist(s) to her iPod, and your playlist(s) to your iPod.

I don’t think what you want to do is possible directly, other than by setting up playlists. They can be as simple as auto-playlists like:
Genre is Showtunes
Genre is Opera
Genre is Jazz

or:
Genre is not Electronica
Genre is not Pop

You could create a separate user account for her (or you). The only issue there is that all your files will be kept separate, not just your music. Of course, you don’t have to put anything but the music in the separate account.

Alternatively, you can just switch the library directory in iTunes back and forth, though this can be a bit clunky. Go into iTunes Preferences and click the Advanced tab. There is a button there that lets you change the library directory to something new.

Maintaining separate playlists is probably the easiest solution.

In the comment field, put your name on songs you like and her name on songs she likes. Create a playlist with “Comment contains piper” and a playlist with “Comment contains pipette,” and sync iPods separately as noted in posts above.

This way, you don’t have to mess with genre descriptions or anything else, AND it allows songs that you both like to go on both iPods, regardless of their genres (just put both names in the comment).

While the other ways may be more useful to you, it is possible to set up multiple libraries. You can only access one at a time though.

Hold down the shift key (option on a Mac) as you start iTunes, then you can create a new library or select one you’ve already created.

Create a playlist with just your music and you can update your iPod from that playlist rather than the whole library. I’m not at home at the moment and can’t remember how I set mine up to do this, but I’ll check on it and post later. :slight_smile:

Smart playlists are another option. I’d suggest setting up two, one for her, one for you.

Put your name (or some other word) in the comments field for your songs, her name (or some other word) for hers. Any song you both like, leave comments blank.

The songs that are already in iTunes might be tedious to do (I haven’t found a way to alter the comments field for multiple songs (though some AppleScript master might be able to help)) but whenever you add a new song you can do it easily.

Then set up your smart playlist to look in comments for your value plus blank, hers for hers plus blank, set up your iPod to download your playlist and hers hers, then you are off to the races.

Pssst, Squeegee. See post #4.

When you hook your iPod up to your PC, there is an autofill option that should come up when you access the iPod. This is where you can indicate if you would like the iPod sync’d with the main library, or if you’d like to use a specific playlist. Since my husband likes country and I don’t, I use this feature to restock my iPod with only my music.

This seems like a good use for the “Grouping” tag.

thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I’ve puttered around on it, and I think separate libraries would be the easiest for us, both in terms of music and tempermentally.

I’ve gone through her library and haven’t seen very much there that I want to have on my iPod, and the things I want to load on mine (e.g. - several CDs of bagpipe music, particularly some piobaireachd) aren’t quite to Mrs. Piper’s taste.

If we had a lot in common, I might do the playlist/comments route, to avoid taking up memory with duplication, but since there won’t be much overlap, I think separate libraries will be easier. I won’t mess with her stuff, she won’t mess with mine, and there will be shared-use computer harmony Chez Pipers.

Darn me and my slow typing!

I just wanted to mention that I always thought you were a girl, until I saw that post.

Well, I suppose you still might be.

HA!

We actually bought a new iPod because Mr. Athena wanted to put his damn piobaireachd on my iPod. It was a 4Gig Nano, and let me tell you, there is not enough room in 4 Gig for fookin’ piobaireachd!

Well, I am posting from Canada, where we have more options…

But nope, traditional boy-girl arrangement. :stuck_out_tongue:

Quite right. The non-piobaireachd stuff would clearly have to go!

One month update - the separate library option is working well. Mrs Piper at first was a bit surprised when I explained I had a separate library. She said, “do you not like my music?” I said, “No, not really.” Some hmmf noises, as she assimilated this comment on her taste. I then said, “but you’ve browsed my library - how much of it would you want on your iPod?” “None”, she admitted, with much the same tone of voice as Athena’s post.

So, iPod harmony has been achieved, and piobreachd contentment as I putter in my study with my ear-buds firmly implanted.