While it’s not entirely possible to completely merge two or more _Serato_ databases together it is possible to create a NEW database containing most of the information from multiple databases.
For ease of following, I’ve broken this into three separate parts; Consolidating Libraries, Consolidating _Serato_ folders & Loading Everything.
PART ONE - CONSOLIDATING LIBRARIES.
First things first BACK UP YOUR DATA. Just to be safe, it’s better to have done it, and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
You’ll want to get all the tracks from your library in one location to prepare for the move. - If your music library is already organized like this (not across multiple folders around your computer) you can skip this step.
The best way to do this is to generally keep all your music stored in one root folder. For the purposes of merging libraries, I’ve named this folder Music libraryA (with sub-folders for artist, see: Lowering Memory Usage & Keeping a Tidy Serato Library)
This will need to be repeated on all drives/computers with Serato libraries you’re wanting to merge. Once these files have been moved around you’ll need to use RELOCATE LOST FILES before moving on to the next step.
To do this;
- Open Serato DJ without hardware connected
- Open the files panel
- Find the music libraryA folder through the folder tree
- Click and drag this folder to the relocate lost files button
Now that this is done you will need to get the contents of each library into a new .crate file. To do this;
- Open Serato DJ
- In the 'setup' window under 'library + display' uncheck the 'show iTunes library' option (if you use iTunes)
- Create a new crate named libraryA
- Navigate to the all.. crate, highlight the entire contents of the all.. crate (CMD + A on mac CTRL + A on windows) and copy these files into the libraryA crate that you've just created
- Close Serato DJ
Navigate to the music folder on your computer and find your _Serato_ folder, rename this _Serato_A (to match up with the LibraryA crate you made earlier)
Repeat the above steps for all libraries you’re trying to consolidate, naming each library/_Serato_ folder LibraryB / LibraryC - _Serato_B / _Serato_C etc to make it easier to keep track of which libraries have been merged.
PART TWO - CONSOLIDATING _SERATO_ FOLDERS.
You’ll want to create a new, ‘Master’ _Serato_ folder to which all info from the other libraries will be copied.
Easiest way to do this is to open then close Serato DJ after you’ve renamed the _Serato_ folder on the internal hard drive of the computer you’re working on (This is to rule out the possibility of any corrupt files within the _Serato_ folder causing issues with your new, most likely much larger library)
Serato DJ will build some (but not all) of the required folders when launched, some folders are built as they are needed. (See Screenshot above for default folders)
Now to start copying the contents of the _Serato_A folder to the new _Serato_ folder.
The first thing you’ll want to move across is the Subcrates folder: This contains all .Crate files made in Serato DJ, as well as the LibraryA.crate file created earlier. If nothing else, make sure you copy this folder and its contents across.
You shouldn’t see a subcrates folder in your new _Serato_ folder just yet, so just copy and paste this folder and its contents into your new _Serato_ folder and you’re done. (for the subcrates folder in _Serato_B / _Serato_C etc you’ll want to open the folder and just copy the .crate files across into this folder)
Now open the SmartCrates folder within _Serato_A and copy the contents to the SmartCrates folder within your new _Serato_ folder.
Next folder you’ll want to copy across is your Crate folder.
This exists for legacy purposes, this folder contains .crate files that were made in older versions of Scratch live/itch, if you have never used Scratch Live / Itch, you can skip this.
Then copy the Metadata folder from _Serato_A to the new _Serato_ folder. Again, much like the subcrates folder, this folder shouldn’t exist in the new _Serato_ just yet so you’ll need to make sure you move the folder as well.
This should cover the library side of your _Serato_ folders, there are some other folders you could merge, if you choose to do so. These are;
Imported: The contents of this folder need to be copied across to the Imported folder within the new _Serato_ folder if you use the AUTO IMPORT folder, WHITELABEL.NET or have installed the LOOP MASTERS sample pack from our free DJ content you will need to move this folder across.
MIDI: Contains mapping files (.XML files) for custom mappings of Serato DJ hardware & third party devices, if you’ve mapped these on another computer you will need to copy these across to maintain your mapping files.
RECORDING: Contains recordings from within Serato DJ. Merge the contents of these folders if you want to keep your recordings.
**Repeat the above steps for all other _Serato_ folders you’re merging.**
Now you need to move the folders containing all your tracks to one hard drive. : You’ve come this far, this should be easy enough to do.
Copy the folders containing your music (Music LibraryA / Music LibraryB etc) to the new hard drive.
PART THREE - LOADING EVERYTHING.
Open Serato DJ, down the side you should see all crates from all databases you’ve just merged, in alphabetical order. Scroll down this list and find the crate called libraryA, click and drag this folder to the rescan ID3 tags button.
**Repeat for LibraryB / LibraryC etc.**
After doing this, the majority, if not all of your tracks should show as missing, to relink these files you’re going to need to relocate lost files again, to do so;
- Open Serato DJ without hardware connected
- Open the files panel
- Find the music libraryA folder through the folder tree
- Click and drag this folder to the relocate lost files button
**Repeat for all other Music library folders from other computers/drives.**
Footnote(s):
- History sessions can’t be merged, you won’t have previous play history after doing this, to maintain history sessions try uploading them as Serato Playlists!
- Due to a new database V2 being written, the date added field will be changed to the date you finished this process.
If you have any issues doing this, or don’t feel confident enough to do this yourself, reach out to the support team by opening a help request and someone will be able to guide you through this process.