With macOS 10.15 Catalina, Apple upgraded the iTunes application to the Music application, and changed the way third-party application's (like Serato software) interact with that library.
If you're simply updating your computer from macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier, to macOS 10.15 Catalina or later, the iTunes application and associated library will generally convert from iTunes to Music without too much of a hiccup, but if you're moving from an older computer with macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier, to a new computer with macOS 10.15 Catalina or later - the process isn't super clear, and Apple has removed instructions for how to do this from their website.
It's important to remember that the following steps have been simplified as much as possible. It's easiest to follow, if you have not yet started the process yourself. If you've tried and had issues, it might be best to start the process again from step 1, if you can. They also assume you mainly store your iTunes library on the internal storage device in your M
- Ensure the iTunes app is closed, then connect a USB storage device to your older, macOS 10.14 Mojave (or earlier) computer, where you still have access to iTunes, and not the newer Music app.
- Navigate to the directory where your _Serato_ folder, Audio files folder, and iTunes folder are located, and copy or move all 3 folders onto your USB storage device.
For most users this is as follows:
Mac HD>Users>USERNAMEHERE>Music - Connect the USB storage device to your new Mac (with macOS 10.15 Catalina or later installed) then copy the _Serato_ folder, Audio files folder, and iTunes folder into the same, equivalent directory as specified above:
Mac HD>Users>USERNAMEHERE>Music - Hold the alt/option key on your keyboard, and click on the Music app, then click Choose library when the dialog box appears:
- Locate the iTunes Library.itl file, then click Choose:
- You'll be asked for a location to save the converted Music Library file. Choose the same iTunes folder from above, give it a name like Converted, then click Save:
- The Music app will now launch and being loading all of your content. For large libraries this make take a long time. Keep the Music app open while it does this, and ensure your Mac's AC adapter is connected. Disrupting this process can cause issues when later importing the library into Serato software. At this point you may like to ensure the recommended preferences are correctly set as per our Using Apple's Music application (formerly known as iTunes) on macOS 10.15 Catalina, macOS 11 Big Sur, macOS 12 Monterey & macOS 13 Ventura with Serato DJ Pro & Lite software article, particularly before you later add new content to your Music library.
- Launch Serato DJ Pro or Lite and ensure the Setup > Library + Display > Show iTunes library preference is enabled. This part can take the longest out of the entire process, and closing Serato DJ software during the process, or before it's complete, can cause major issues. Some users have reported needing to leave their computer on overnight, with both applications open for large or complex libraries.
At this point there are two indicators of progress to be aware of:
The first is the Preparing your Music app (iTunes) library pop-up - this should remain until the process has completed, even though you can minimize it before it's actually complete. This pop-up should only disappear once the process is complete:
The second is the orange status bar Loading: Music app Library message that appears near the bottom of the Serato DJ Pro or Lite main screen:
While these are displayed, please continue to be patient - Once the import is complete, the pop-up will disappear, and the orange status bar message will change to iTunes library import complete:
- As an optional final step, if you're using Serato crates as well as Music playlists to populate your Serato DJ library, you may also like to use the Rescan ID3 Tags feature to identify files in your library that are now missing (having just been moved) then the Relocate Lost Files feature to rectify this.
IMPORTANT: Disable the Setup > Library + Display > Show iTunes library preference temporarily before Relocating Lost Files to ensure duplicate file entries are not created, then re-enable the preference once your crates and all contained tracks are no longer missing.