iTunes with Engine DJ

[mamomo]

Hello everyone,

I’m seeking an efficient way to keep my iTunes library automatically synchronized with Engine DJ, especially when adding new songs or creating playlists. Currently, after importing my iTunes playlists into Engine DJ, any changes I make in iTunes, such as adding songs or modifying playlists, are not automatically reflected in Engine DJ.

Is there a feature in Engine DJ that allows for automatic synchronization with iTunes? If not, what methods do you recommend to update my Engine DJ library without having to re-import everything each time I make changes in iTunes?

I appreciate any guidance or suggestions you can provide to optimize this process.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

[STU-C]

The hard truth is, it’s best not to use iTunes to organise your DJ music, do it in the application itself for best results.

[mamomo]

Thank you for your response. I understand your perspective on organizing music directly within the DJ application for optimal results. However, I prefer to use iTunes for several reasons:

1. Centralized Music Management: iTunes allows me to maintain a single, organized library, making it easier to manage and update my music collection.
2. Cross-Platform Compatibility: By organizing my music in iTunes, I can seamlessly integrate it with various DJ software such as Rekordbox, Serato, and others. This flexibility is crucial when switching between different platforms or setups.
3. Efficient Playlist Creation: iTunes offers robust tools for creating and managing playlists, which can then be accessed across multiple DJ applications without the need to recreate them in each software.
4. Hardware Integration: When working with equipment like the Pioneer CDJ-3000, having my music organized in iTunes ensures smooth integration and accessibility during performances. The CDJ-3000 supports playback from various sources, and iTunes helps me prepare and manage my tracks effectively for such hardware.

Pioneer DJ

I acknowledge that organizing music directly within the DJ application has its advantages. However, the versatility and centralized management that iTunes provides are essential for my workflow, especially when working with multiple DJ platforms and hardware setups.

I appreciate your insights and am open to any suggestions on how to optimize this process while maintaining the benefits of using iTunes.

[STU-C]

My issue with placing all your reliance on iTunes/Apple or any other 3rd party app for music management, they could just drop it one day and you will be hung out to dry.

A good example of this is when iTunes became Apple Music, and the Serato forum was flooded with people who could no longer access their iTunes playlists correctly.

Doing it independently means you never run the risk of being left in the lurch by a company who don’t really care about DJs and the software they use.

[Javito-n-Co]

It’s a multiple step process… but you will have options. Assuming you buy your music through apple (and convert to MP3 320) also load your own MP3 purchases from other sources. I use Mixed In Key to keep my music consistent by loading the apple playlist onto it Mixed In Key (have it replace the same songs once processed), then open Serato (create a crate and move the songs from your playlist there). By Using Mxied-In-Key and Serato your music cues are carried over to Denon NJ and you will have a back up system in Serato if you want to use Stems. Also other software such as DjayPro and Virtual DJ will pick up the cues and other data. IF anyone knows a better way… One drawback of using apple … if you start with music with non ASCII characters in the name of the MP3 metadata such as Tiesto or music with accents on its letters, it will not carry over to Denon DJ, Just rename the file with standard ASCII letters and also make sure there are no description text that contain non-ascii letters…

[mamomo]

@Javito-n-Co

th standard ASCII letters and also make sure there are no description text that contain non-ascii letters…

Thank you for your detailed response. I appreciate the workflow you’ve shared, especially the integration of Mixed In Key and Serato to maintain consistency across platforms. This approach seems efficient for managing cues and metadata.

However, I encountered a significant issue during my recent session. Midway through, my SD card suddenly became corrupted, leaving me without access to my music library. Fortunately, I was able to continue the session using TIDAL, which saved the day.

This experience has highlighted the importance of having a reliable backup system. I’m now considering alternative methods to ensure my music is accessible and secure during performances.

I would greatly appreciate any further insights or recommendations you might have on this matter.

Thank you once again for your assistance.

[yeltsin]

Use a music management software such as Lexicon or Mixo (cheaper) which pushes the library structure to all the other software, exactly as you wish, but that’s the pivot, not iTunes.

[Engell]

I use iTunes to manage my library, and first I used the star-ratings in iTunes to create my playlists.

That was a bad idea since iTunes then dedicates an “average” star rating (grey stars) to an entire album if enough stars are given to tracks on that album.

That messed up my initial method.

Now I’m using the composer field for tags and then making smart-crates based on those tags and its works perfect for me.

[Javito-n-Co]

I think critical USB and SD card quality can have an effect on your gigs. Look at Sandisk Extreme Pro SDXC U30 10 - works for me. Yes, I have corrupted the library when I was not patient enough to unload the drive… Have a back up USB, tried a few… so far impressed with the speed and flex of this one… Accessories - DJ TechTools. Also on Mixed in Key web site, seems they have their yearly black friday sale … try also Platinum Notes 10… worth it for me. Also try to import and move files in small batches, I do around 20 to 100… in playlists. Very large imports on some USBs or even using them can corrupt db due to the nature of the memory. Per Yeltsin’s recommendation I have heard good thing s about Lexicon and their ability to keep the ISO SCII Standard thus removing the random ASCII accents character issues… but have not used it to provide insight.

[mufasa]

If you are doing this professionally/getting paid, i would suggest investing in Lexicon, its a subscription based service and can be a business expense. You can save a bit with the yearly sub.

Lexicon can go back and forth between itunes and most dj solutions out there. Think of it as a DJ Itunes but can write directly to the libraries of rkbx, serato, vdj, traktor and itunes. Djay is not supported but you can use itunes/serato for that.

its a near complete suite for library management - still missing export to usb for cdjs

No other DJ software library feature comes close to it.

[mamomo]

@Engell

Now I’m using the composer field for tags and then making smart-crates based on those tags and its works perfect for me.

Thank you for sharing your experience, it’s very interesting! I’d love to understand more about your method.

1. When you say you’re using the composer field for tags, could you explain exactly how you’re doing this? Are you manually entering keywords into the composer field in iTunes for each track, or are you using some sort of automation?
2. How do you set up smart crates based on these tags in Engine DJ? Are there specific steps or settings I should follow to make this work effectively?
3. Also, did you find any limitations or challenges with this approach, especially if you have a very large library?

Your method sounds like a great solution, and I’d really appreciate it if you could expand a bit on the details so I can try implementing it in my workflow. Thanks again for your insight!

[Engell]

@mamomo

Its actually quite simple.

Always in iTunes start out with ONE main folder. And from there build you sub directories inside that folder

I have my main library (The Music Bank) with 2 subfolders.

A. The Music Bank 1. Hits. 2. Back-catalogue.

In Hits I have the most played tracks in different sorts of smartlists, all controlled by tags made in the composer-field.

In Hits I have additional subfolders sorted as:

Top Edits

1. Youth parties
2. Decades (60s, 70s, 80s, 90’s, 00s etc.)
3. Weddings (Reception, Dinner, Dance)
4. Garden parties (do alot of these with a sax player)
5. Events (based on sort of event eg. Christmas, beerfest etc)

And inside those folders, there are more subfolders. (Sound complicated, but is actually really easy)

My playlists that are based on years, are sorted with (imo) the biggest hits in the decades (1960-69, 1970-79, 1980-89 and so on…) In those decades, they are sorted in:

1. Club Hits
2. House Hits
3. Radio Hits
4. Smooth Hits (RnB, Hip-Hop etc)

A couple of examples:

A House track from 2022 gets tagged H22 and gets automatically placed in the 2020’s - House list

A RnB track from 1998 gets tagged S98 and gets automatically placed in the 1990’s - Smooth list

A common Radio Hit from 2006 gets tagged R06 and gets automatically placed in the 2000’s Radio Hits list.

But a track can also get 2 or more tags, and via the rules that I have put up in the smart-lists, end up in several lists

For an example Avicii - Levels are tagged C11, AllPar, R11, WD and ends up in:

2010s → Club Hits (C11),

Allround → Party Hits (AllPar),

2010s → Radio Hits (R11),

Wedding → Dance (WD).

And simply by removing one or more tags, the tracks get removed from the smart-list with that tag but are still present in the others lists or in my back-catalogue if I remove all tags, if someone should make a wish for it. (If its good enough to even stay in the back-catalogue)

In my Back-catalogue I also have some smartlists, eg. “No Tags” (blank composer field) and there I can keep an eye on all tracks thats not sorted yet, and choose to keep them there, give them a tag, or simply delete/ remove them from my library.

There might be better ways to do it, but this works for me.

[mamomo]

Thank you so much for sharing your detailed workflow—it’s incredibly inspiring! Your method seems very well-structured and actually similar to how I organize my own library, but with a few key differences.

I also base a lot of my organization on decades, and within each decade, I sort tracks by different styles or genres (e.g., Club Hits, Radio Hits, Smooth Hits). This allows me to quickly find what I need depending on the type of set I’m playing or the audience. I’ve found that having a structure based on decades works really well for creating versatile playlists that span different types of events.

However, I had initially thought you were tagging tracks internally within the Denon Prime Go after syncing, which I’ve been debating doing myself. I’ve been trying to figure out whether it’s better to do the bulk of my tagging and sorting within iTunes (like you’re doing) or to handle this after syncing directly on the Denon Prime Go. Your explanation has given me some new ideas, though—it seems like doing this entirely in iTunes might be a cleaner way to manage everything and avoid syncing headaches later.

One thing I love about your system is how tracks can have multiple tags and automatically end up in multiple smart playlists. That’s brilliant! I’ve been handling similar cases manually, but using composer fields for tagging and letting smart playlists handle the sorting would save me so much time. I also like the idea of having a “No Tags” list to keep track of unsorted tracks—it’s a great way to stay organized while gradually building the library.

I’m curious, though: once everything is organized in iTunes, do you ever find any challenges syncing these smart playlists with your Denon Prime Go? Have you had any issues with large libraries or certain smart playlist rules not syncing correctly?

Thank you again for your insights! It’s really helpful to see how others approach library management—it’s definitely given me some ideas to refine my own process.

[Engell]

Thank you for the insights in your thoughts as well

The first and most important lesson I learned when trying to keep my Engine Dj synced with my iTunes, was that i needed to have only 1 main-folder.

I have gone from approx. 60.000 tracks to around 10.000 tracks now, by removing dublets and tracks that I never were going to play again, and 10k tracks for an open format dj as myself, is more than enough.

I still have some cleaning to do.

Other than that with only 1 main-folder, I have not had any issues at all, doing it this way.

My workflow is as follow:

1. Add/ Remove tracks in iTunes. Close iTunes.

2. Open Engine Dj and update from iTunes, then sync to Collection. Close Engine Dj

3. Open SoundSwitch and create lightshow to new tracks. Close SoundSwitch.

4. Open Engine Dj and connect my T7 usb. Then A: Sync from T7 usb to Engine Dj to import changes from last Gig (Cues, loops, etc) and then B: Sync the updated Collection to my T7 usb

Best Regards Engell

[mufasa]

I use a similar process as @Engell

But I do all my tagging in Lexicon.

I have all the tags I use as clickable options

Mapped to T key on my keyboard

Once I acquire a new track, i do all my missing data search in lexicon

Then I add my specific user tags which are hashtags and written to comments and composer field.

I then save my work by doing a write tags to file action.

As a safety measure the tags are not written by default. They are initially saved in lexicons database.

[mamomo]

What advantages would it have if I pass from iTunes to Mixo and from Mixo to Engine DJ?

[yeltsin]

Mizo sits in the middle as your music management software, and you just pass it to whichever one you wish to use. Set up your folder structure (or export from iTunes) and then if you are using Engine, pass it to Engine, pass it to Serato, pass it to Rekordbox, all done in the one place, and it pushes the cues loops etc as well.