How to Manage Your Music Library: Pro Tips

Keeping the files on your desktop in an organized manner certainly has a lot of benefits, both for the user and the system. Systematically arranged files in specific locations not only makes it easy for users to locate them, but also keeps your hard disk function smooth without overclocking your system memory. Of all the dis-organized files one can find on an average user’s computer, the music library suffers the most. Regardless of the fact that you’re a professional musician or just an avid fan who just loves to listen and discover new music, your music library would be in an utterly bad shape. It would certainly take up a lot of manual effort to categorize music files according to artist/album/genre, unless you have a lot of free time on your hands. There are several ways how one can achieve a properly cataloged music library without having to manually searching. Listed below is a step by step guide on how to go about properly organizing your music folder.

• Cut Down Duplicates

Duplicate files are certainly the bane of modern computing and can really turn your storage space into a cesspool. Same is the case with a typical music library that can be loaded with duplicates. The first step to cleaning your music library is to locate and remove all such copycat files before proceeding. Manual search is certainly not the way to go and it is always better to use a duplicate song remover program. You could also try the Duplicate Music Fixer that is built specifically to locate and remove any duplicate music files from your system.

• Tag Your Music

Although you would rarely need this one if you purchase music online, adding metadata (title, artist, album, year of release, album artwork etc.) helps you categorize your music with ease. There might be several unnamed music files in your system that might lack this important data. The best way to go about this is by using the Windows media player’s inbuilt tagging feature, which searches the web for relevant metadata and adds them to the respective files. You could also try Media Monkey that uses a wider database to find relevant information for your music files and also allows you to make CD image files for albums or a custom playlist.  Easy manual tagging can also be achieved by using the iTunes software where you can also convert your music files in high quality AAC format. Once your music has been tagged you could do a final scan for duplicates before proceeding.

• Organize Folders

The quickest way to do this is by using iTunes software’s organize library option. Make sure you have all your music files in a single folder with or without their specific subfolders. Add your music collection to the iTunes library by going to iTunes preferences, and clicking on the ‘Advanced’ tab. There you can select the location from where you want to import music in your iTunes library. Once you’ve specified the location, check the ‘Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized’ option and click ok. This would automatically put all the files into folders based on their artist and album based on their tags. You could also create a backup for all your music by also selecting the ‘Copy files to iTunes Media Library’ checkbox in the Advanced Preferences.

• Creating Playlists

It might not be evident to everyone, but you can actually reap several benefits by creating playlists from your music library. Most music players for your system can create playlist files that can be shared with other installed media players. This keeps you from copying your music files to other locations and maintains the integrity of your music folder. A playlist file only contains the locations of specific songs and can be shared across various media players. Playlists not only save a lot of time, but is also a great way to keep your hard disk from being cluttered.

• Backing Up Your Music

This certainly doesn’t sound very important to anyone, but is actually very important to maintain your music collection and prevent any data loss. Keeping unorganized copies of your music files across various locations can somewhat save your collection, you can achieve the same with iTunes. As already mentioned, the ‘Copy files to iTunes Media Library’ option will make a copy your entire collection in a separate location, leaving your original collection untouched. You could further backup your library to a cloud server so you can recover it even after your system accidently loses all its data. You could also ensure a secure cloud backup by using Systweak Right Backup, which secures all the user data though Amazon Trusted services.

While this 5-step process might take some time, it still beats manually putting information and moving files in their specific folders. An organized music library with songs arranged and tagged according to title/artist/album and genre will certainly keep you from looking for your favorite tracks. So stop letting a messed up music library spoil your party and follow these simple tips for a great looking music collection.