iOS How to copy music files from iTunes/iPhone

T

teche

Adept
I have a huge Music library on iPhone/iTunes, most music is MP3 not purchased from iTunes. I started using iTunes on 2nd Computer but concerned because iTunes there does not have the Music files.

Now how to copy Music files from iTunes in 1st computer & transfer to iTunes in 2nd computer or use otherwise ? I also want to do this because once earlier my computer crashed & I had to install ne iTunes, thus lost all my music files.

Basically this is a query on How to copy files, make duplicate of music files on iTunes/iPhone ?
 
If i am understanding it correctly, you want your music collection replicated in 2 different computers right ?
If yes then why not just copy all the songs from computer 1 and put that in computer 2 ?
So whatever computer you sync the music to, your collection will always stay intact ?
 
A small twist in the tale, the music library is in iTunes or iPhone, not on Computer. I want to COPY music from iTunes/iPhone. How to do that ?
 
raksrules said:
If i am understanding it correctly, you want your music collection replicated in 2 different computers right ?
If yes then why not just copy all the songs from computer 1 and put that in computer 2 ?
So whatever computer you sync the music to, your collection will always stay intact ?
Click to expand...
Not always possible / practical. What if they are at two different locations like work and home. Assuming they are connected to the internet there are bandwidth costs associated which would depend on the total file size. If one of them isn't connected, then it becomes an even bigger problem. Moreover, there might be cases where the music is collected from different computers on to iTunes, and then the consolidated collection needs to be backed up[DOUBLEPOST=1367140916][/DOUBLEPOST]On an unrelated note, I recently learnt from my colleague that copying images FROM iPad to the computer requires some effort. He was talking about having to mount it as a drive or something on Windows.
 
teche said:
I have a huge Music library on iPhone/iTunes, most music is MP3 not purchased from iTunes. I started using iTunes on 2nd Computer but concerned because iTunes there does not have the Music files.

Now how to copy Music files from iTunes in 1st computer & transfer to iTunes in 2nd computer or use otherwise ? I also want to do this because once earlier my computer crashed & I had to install ne iTunes, thus lost all my music files.

Basically this is a query on How to copy files, make duplicate of music files on iTunes/iPhone ?
Click to expand...

I can only tell you about the computer if that is your questions as I understood:
1) As you said the files were not purchased from iTunes so you must have added to iTunes Music Library by clicking the option of Add Folder from File Menu in iTunes at sometime in the past.
2) If that's the case then you need to copy all your Music (MP3) outside iTunes from PC1 to PC2 in Music Folder or Music Library by simple copy paste command.
3) iTunes only keeps a record of Music Files added to its Music Library in XML Files and doesn't store original Music Files in its Music Library, So after copying the original files as shown in Step 2 now you need to add the reference to those files in iTunes, for that you need to copy the iTunes folder in your Music Folder from PC1 to PC2.

Hopefully this will start showing the files in iTunes in PC2 else you can manually add them but I'm sure that Music library in iTunes itself doesn't store the Music Files which is not purchased from iTunes and is in MP3 format.

Please go through these images
http://imgur.com/a/EG8QN
 
Thanks guys for the wonderful suggestions, I think the query was not very clear to begin with, I'll again mention the concerns:

1) I have music on iTunes/iPhone

2) The music is not purchased from iTunes, I got/downloaded from elsewhere & transferred to iTunes.

3) There is no record of the music elsewhere, I deleted it after adding to iTunes. My mistake because I never knew it would be difficult to copy music from iTunes.

4) Now I want to copy the music from iTunes/iPhone to keep a record so that in case my computer on which iTunes is there crashes or something, I still have my music with me safe.

5) Simple COPY-PASTE job from iTunes is not working for me, or maybe Im not doing it right.

6) To begin with I'll transfer music from iTunes to Pen-drive.
 
@teche

Do this... I am assuming the music on your iPhone is what you always want as of now. Now say you go to computer 2 and need to first copy all your songs from iPhone to that computer...then do this..

1. Assuming computer 2 has iTunes already, download iFunbox app on the PC.
2. Connect the phone to the PC and close iTunes window if it opens, Instead open the ifunbox and ensure that the app detects your phone. When it does detect, go to the tab named "Quick Toolbox". It is pretty big and there are just 5 tabs, with iFunbox Classic being the first.
3. Now click the "Ipod Music" icon and select a random folder on computer 2, an empty one and press save on the popup window and all your songs from iPhone will go to the computer.

So now the music is there is PC 2 as well. I hope this is just to keep a backup right ? If yes then next time say you add more songs on iPhone using PC 1 then repeat the above process on PC2 to maintain a backup.
 
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@paarkhi

1) Yes the OP has all music on his iPhone
2) Music Player on iPhone is NOT called iTunes but it is normal MUSIC icon. iTunes on iPhone is sort of store front to buy media like TV shows, music, podcasts, movies etc from the apple iTunes store.

Copying music through iTunes to a different computer is easy ONLY if the music is officially purchased from iTunes. This mostly does not apply to all of us as we tend to just copy random MP3s from different sources and put on our phones.
 
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raksrules said:
@teche

Do this... I am assuming the music on your iPhone is what you always want as of now. Now say you go to computer 2 and need to first copy all your songs from iPhone to that computer...then do this..

1. Assuming computer 2 has iTunes already, download iFunbox app on the PC.
2. Connect the phone to the PC and close iTunes window if it opens, Instead open the ifunbox and ensure that the appOI detects your phone. When it does detect, go to the tab named "Quick Toolbox". It is pretty big and there are just 5 tabs, with iFunbox Classic being the first.
3. Now click the "Ipod Music" icon and select a random folder on computer 2, an empty one and press save on the popup window and all your songs from iPhone will go to the computer.

So now the music is there is PC 2 as well. I hope this is just to keep a backup right ? If yes then next time say you add more songs on iPhone using PC 1 then repeat the above process on PC2 to maintain a backup.
Click to expand...


Yes the music on my iPhone & iTunes in computer 1.

Yes Computer 2 also has iTunes.

Downloading iFunbox.

If it works as hoped, I would be able to transfer music from Computer 2 to iTunes on Comp 2 ?


I Googled in the meantime & came across this : http://www.getsharepod.com/

Is this same as iFunbox ?[DOUBLEPOST=1367143670][/DOUBLEPOST]
paarkhi said:
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2009/10/22/transfer-music-from-iphone-to-computer/
http://www.imobie.com/support/music-from-iphone-to-computer-free.htm
http://www.getsharepod.com/
Click to expand...

Thanks Parki, I too got same responses from Google![DOUBLEPOST=1367143751][/DOUBLEPOST]Raks on different note, your suggestion regarding an IMEI unlock worked like a charm, many thanks...
 
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iFunbox is more like a file manager to manage your iDevice where you can backup your apps also and perform some other stuffs or operations
getsharepod is purely for Music and Video backup...

I think you were able to solve your probs by Raksrules help :)
 
@teche

No idea about that. But see you have 2 computers and you have synced your music using PC1 always right ?
You want the music to be backed up to PC2 right ? For the just in case scenario when your PC1 goes bust.
For the PC2 to iTunes on PC2 we shall take care of it later, don't worry about that.

But for your info consider a scenario where your PC1 has crashed, so now all your music is there on your iPhone as well as PC2 then there is no need to worry as your music is there in iPhone anyways and you just got to copy them to PC2 using iFunbox.
Now since your PC1 is crashed and you now HAVE TO USE ONLY PC2 to sync your music, you open iTunes and do a ADD FOLDER and add the entire folder to iTunes on PC2 and then sync your iPhone with PC2.
But remember when you try syncing the iPhone with PC2 it might give you a warning that "this iPhone is synced to another computer and you will lose everything if you sync here". Dont worry since your music is already there in PC2 you won't lose it (if it wasn't there and you tried syncing in PC2 then you will lose everything in iPhone).

Sorry if i am sounding confusing...so i suggest you forget about the "PC2 to iTunes on PC2" part for now.
Just copy songs on regular basis to PC2 using iFunbox.
 
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Yes no confusion now & crystal clear, you guys got to the root issue, its precisely that.

I will also add music on iTunes in Computer 2 because these days Im downloading music on Comp 2 from Net.

Yes Raks I tried syncing iPhone to iTunes in Comp 2 & got the same reply you quoted! I was afraid to move ahead after that fearing I shall loose all my music!

Raks also many-many thanks regarding your earlier suggestion on IMEI Unlock, worked like a charm. You are a true genius.
 
When you sync your iPhone to PC2 ensure that you remove the tick for "Sync apps" else you might lose the apps from your phone. Also once you know how to use iFunbox you can use your phone as general USB storage too. Then i suggest you NOT TO use PC2 for syncing iPhone until and unless something happens to your PC1 (hope nothing happens).
I am telling you this so we don't end up messing up things. So if you download music on PC2 then just use the GENERAL STORAGE section of the phone (iFunbox Classic tab -> expand the phone's name and you will get something as "General Storage", use this as copy paste area)
Copy music from PC2 to phone (general storage) and then copy back in PC1 and delete from the phone (general storage) and then sync that music the usual way so it starts appearing in the MUSIC player of iPhone.
So you always SYNC music using PC1 only.
 
@raksrules, ^That makes sense as in that way OP's iPhone will not be messed up, the other way can also be to manual Sync instead of Auto Sync, isn't it? Sorry just asking out of curiosity to learn something new ;)
 
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Raks, I've transferred my APP purchases to iTunes. That way I guess Apps should stay safe, but not sure!

General storage feature is cool. Instead I will use a Pendrive to transfer data from Comp 1 to 2. I could have Bluetooth also but as it turns out Bt does not work on Comp 1 because it cannot locate drivers!
 
@teche

I believe you did the "Transfer Purchases" in PC iTunes right ? If yes then your apps are safe ? Also you need not worry in case you lose them as you can always download and install them again from app store. Also the .IPA are stored on your PC somewhere i know. You need to locate it.
Btw for using the GENERAL STORAGE, the copy from PC to phone works using normal copy paste but from phone to PC, you need to use the "COPY TO PC" button as i wasn't able to use the keyboard ctrl+c,ctrl+v for Phone to PC.
 
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I guess transferred to iTunes online from PC. Still I will not tinker with the Apps. on PC2.

Yup one would have to use those keyboard shortcuts.[DOUBLEPOST=1367150621][/DOUBLEPOST]Raks, Im running Funbox, from where to Copy music ?
 
teche said:
Im running Funbox, from where to Copy music ?
Click to expand...

BTW - the files are located in​
Click: Raw File Systems​
//var/mobile/Media/iTunes_Control/Music​
​
​
use ifunbox - go to music (encrypted) copy to pc - ** don't worry with the naming of the files. Just transfer it back to itunes music library and it will automatically change back to its original filename. Note: you have to be jailbroken :)​

Courtesy


You can also try http://www.iphone-mac.com/how-to-transfer-and-copy-music-songs-from-ipod-to-pc.html
 
@paarkhi

If you use iFunbox then jailbreak is not needed for sure i believe. Also the earlier solution is better (using the quick toolbar) as the file names are retained properly rather than actually going to /var/mobile...... and copying them.
 
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