Question

external library on macOS

  • 28 October 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 135 views
W

I have an iTunes/Music library that is stored on an external drive.  Running Catalina, up to date (10.15.7).  Running Sonos macOS app, up to date (12.1).  I try to add the library using the recommendation here but, while the internal drive albums are appearing, none of the external albums appear.  I’ve tried closing Music removing the libraries from the Sonos app in various ways with no luck on getting the external albums to appear.  There are only around 3k files in there, organized by Artist, as per Music’s scheme.  

 

Thanks.

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5 replies

Krishma M
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi @whythelongface, welcome to the Sonos Community! I appreciate you reaching out here and the efforts. Just to let you know that Sonos categorizes your music files based on how they’re tagged in the metadata. Most of the file formats supported by Sonos support metadata, but AIFF and WAV formats do not have full metadata support. A music file’s metadata specifies organizational labels like the title, artist name, album name, and more. In most cases, a music file that is missing a metadata tag will not appear in the Sonos app where it’s supposed to. For example, if a file is missing its “Artist” tag, it won’t appear when you browse or search for that particular artist in the Sonos app. You’ll need a media library management tool like iTunes to view and edit the metadata on your music files. After making any changes to metadata, make sure you update the music library index. You can also copy the songs to your internal drive if it will make any difference but most likely it’s the metadata. Hope this helps. We and the community are always here to help.

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W

All of the tracks on the external drive were imported and managed by iTunes/Music and all of them are m4a/mp3/have metadata so it sounds like at least those should show up, right?

Krishma M
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi @whythelongface, thanks for your response. Yes, it should work. Try my other suggestion of copying it to the internal drive and see how will it go. Keep us posted here. We and the community are always here to help.

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W

Hi, @Krishma M .  I don’t have the space to move everything from external storage internal but I do have a few tracks on internal storage that appear fine.  I’ve also moved a few tracks and they too appear fine.  

Krishma M
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi @whythelongface, thanks for the update. If it’s fine from the internal storage, you may need to check your external drive’s settings or permissions about the issue. We and the community are always here to help.

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