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Playlists not appearing after synchronization

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nolandgardners

21 Dec, 2019 02:50 PM

Hi,

My iTunes playlists are not appearing in beaTunes, despite repeated synchronization. The "Share XMLs" feature is on in iTunes, but it does not seem to be working.

Syncing playlists used to work fine when I was running iTunes on my Mac, but I recently transitioned my library from Apple's new Music app to an iTunes library running on the PC version of iTunes on Parallels for Mac (they took away the column browser that I've realized I cannot live without). I have not been able to successfully sync beaTunes to the playlists of this iTunes library running on Parallels.

Any help or advice you have to offer is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Nolan

1. Support Staff 1 Posted by hendrik on 21 Dec, 2019 02:54 PM

   

   Hey Nolan,

   which version of beaTunes and which version of iTunes are you using?
   Also, can you please reproduce the issue and upload your logs right afterwards (Help -> Upload Logs).

   they took away the column browser that I've realized I cannot live without)

   AFAIK, they have re-added it.

   Cheers,

   -hendrik

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2. 2 Posted by nolandgardners on 21 Dec, 2019 08:51 PM

   

   Hi Hendrik,

   Thank you for the quick reply! I am running beaTunes 5.2.3 on Mac OS 10.15.2. I think I successfully sent the logs.

   You’re right about the column browser. Does Apple’s Music App still work with beaTunes even though they did away with XMLs? Do you think it would it be easier to coordinate between beaTunes and iTunes on Parallels, or beaTunes and Apples’ Music App?

   Thanks again,

   Nolan

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3. Support Staff 3 Posted by hendrik on 21 Dec, 2019 09:52 PM

   

   Hey Nolan,

   it looks like you are using a folder-based library. By definition, it does not know anything about your iTunes or Music.app playlists. Please simply create a Music.app-based library and it should import your Music.app playlists. You can do so through the File menu or through the general preferences (the + button).

   beaTunes 5.2 and later work with Apple's new Music.app, so you should be fine. The XML file is not needed anymore.

   Do you think it would it be easier to coordinate between beaTunes and iTunes on Parallels, or beaTunes and Apples’ Music App?

   beaTunes and Apple's Music.app is definitely the better choice.

   Cheers,

   -hendrik

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4. 4 Posted by nolandgardners on 22 Dec, 2019 10:08 PM

   

   Hi Hendrik,

   As always thank you for your very helpful responses. I am not sure why Parallels' iTunes would have generated a folder-based library in beaTunes, but it does seems to have done so, even though It is using the same source folder as iTunes. Is there any way to change it to an iTunes-based library? What if I downloaded the Windows version of beaTunes? Would that be more compatible with Parallels’ iTunes?

   Just out of curiosity, why do you say that beaTunes in combination with Apple’s Music app is definitely the better choice? Despite the return of the column browser, I am very frustrated with the lagginess and regular crashing of Apple’s Music. There are other small frustrations and preferences I have in favor of sticking with Parallels' iTunes, but why do you vote so strongly against it? Are there other downsides, besides not having the playlists transfer over? For example, can I still analyze the BPM of songs in beaTunes and have it force overwriting of the BPM field in a folder-based Parallels iTunes library? Or will that only work in an iTunes-based beaTunes library?

   Thanks,

   Nolan

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5. Support Staff 5 Posted by hendrik on 23 Dec, 2019 01:48 PM

   

   Hi,

   I am not sure why Parallels' iTunes would have generated a folder-based library in beaTunes, but it does seems to have done so, even though It is using the same source folder as iTunes. Is there any way to change it to an iTunes-based library?

   iTunes didn't do anything.

   beaTunes can work with a folder-based or an iTunes/Music-based library. Please see https://blog.beatunes.com/2015/01/different-libraries-for-different... for details. In beaTunes, you have apparently chosen a folder-based library. You should create an iTunes/Music.app-based one.

   Just out of curiosity, why do you say that beaTunes in combination with Apple’s Music app is definitely the better choice? Despite the return of the column browser, I am very frustrated with the lagginess and regular crashing of Apple’s Music. There are other small frustrations and preferences I have in favor of sticking with Parallels' iTunes, but why do you vote so strongly against it?

   Apple has neglected updating the iTunes for Windows COM interface for a very long time. See for example https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/238560/has-apple-complete... It is also not making any serious money anymore with selling audio files, but instead sells a streaming service. Recently, Apple has started offering a web interface for said service (https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/5/20851576/apple-music-web-player-i...). iPhone etc. do not need iTunes anymore. All this adds up to iTunes for Windows being a legacy app. I would not be surprised, if Apple dropped it altogether in the next couple of years, simply because it costs too much to maintain.

   Just my 2c.

   For example, can I still analyze the BPM of songs in beaTunes and have it force overwriting of the BPM field in a folder-based Parallels iTunes library?

   Yes, you can do that, but iTunes/Music.app won't notice the change until you actually play the file.

   Cheers,

   -hendrik

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