Apple Music (i.e., iTunes) playlist paths differ from Roon's paths

[phantomtides]

Core Machine
Roon Server runs on a NUC 8i7, with no issues in general. Music is stored on a Synology NAS.

Network Details
Everything connected by copper to an Orbi (Netgear) router.

Library Size
c. 105K

Description of Issue

I’m trying to import to Roon playlists created in Apple Music (that is, the MacOS app that’s replaced iTunes, not the streaming service — I’m just gonna use “iTunes” for the sake of clarity).

The iTunes playlists are saved in .xml format in a “Playlists” folder on “MAINSTREAM” (get it?!), which is the main volume that Roon has access to. However, to discover those playlists, I believe Roon requires that all directory paths are identical, and I think the difference in path formats is screwing me up.

In the Apple-generated .xml file, the file path to one song — Allison Russell’s “Persephone” — appears thus:

file:///Volumes/MAINSTREAM/Allison%20Russell/Outside%20Child/03%20Persephone.m4a

But in Roon, that same file’s path appears as this:

/roon/sys/storage/smbmounts/RoonStorage_df873763a75d9083635aaa9ca6e6f5817b654598/Allison Russell/Outside Child/03 Persephone.m4a

Cleary Roon is creating a submount of its own — I’m experienced enough to see that but not smart enough what it means! I suspect this is not a complicated problem, but it’s past the edge of my knowledge, and I’d rather not screw it up. Is there a setting in Roon that would make this easier? If not, what am I doing wrong?

Many thanks to anybody who has an angle on this.

[dylan (Dylan Caudill)]

Hi @phantomtides

It’s expected that Roon paths will look a little different from the path you’re seeing in the XML file, but the path itself appears to be the same (Share > Allison Russell > Outside Child > Track).

Can you share a screenshot of Settings > Storage as well as a screenshot of the location of the XML file via Finder?

Thanks

[phantomtides]

Hey, Dylan, thanks for the quick reply. Yeah, as I maybe didn’t say, I can see that the path is correct, but I wonder if the nomenclature is throwing Roon off. Maybe not?

Anyway, here you go. Note that the “Playlists” folder is first alphabetically, because it begins with a space. I deleted the space and forced a rescan, but it didn’t change the behavior.

Thanks again.

[phantomtides]

Hey, @dylan. Hope all is well. Wondering if you have any thoughts on why Roon doesn’t pick up the playlist given the locations in the screen shots you requested — or if I can supply any further information. Thanks!

[phantomtides]

Hey, @dylan … checking in again. Wondering if you make anything of the screen shots. Thanks.

[phantomtides]

Hey, @dylan. Feeling a little frustrated here. I hope all is okay with you. If you have time, I’d appreciate a reply after I posted what you requested. Thanks!

[phantomtides]

Roon exported playlists do not import properly in iTunes (i.e., Apple Music app on MacOS, not the streaming service), and iTunes playlists are not seen by Roon, even when they are on the root level of the folder share that is linked in Roon. Would be grateful for any help. Thanks!

Core Machine
Roon Server runs on a NUC 8i7, with no issues in general. Music is stored on a Synology NAS.

Network Details
Everything connected by copper to an Orbi (Netgear) router.

Library Size
c. 105K

Description of Issue

I’m trying to import to Roon playlists created in Apple Music (that is, the MacOS app that’s replaced iTunes, not the streaming service — I’m just gonna use “iTunes” for the sake of clarity).

The iTunes playlists are saved in .xml format in a “Playlists” folder on “MAINSTREAM” (get it?!), which is the main volume that Roon has access to. However, to discover those playlists, I believe Roon requires that all directory paths are identical, and I think the difference in path formats is screwing me up.

In the Apple-generated .xml file, the file path to one song — Allison Russell’s “Persephone” — appears thus:

file:///Volumes/MAINSTREAM/Allison%20Russell/Outside%20Child/03%20Persephone.m4a

But in Roon, that same file’s path appears as this:

/roon/sys/storage/smbmounts/RoonStorage_df873763a75d9083635aaa9ca6e6f5817b654598/Allison Russell/Outside Child/03 Persephone.m4a

Cleary Roon is creating a submount of its own — I’m experienced enough to see that but not smart enough what it means! I suspect this is not a complicated problem, but it’s past the edge of my knowledge, and I’d rather not screw it up. Is there a setting in Roon that would make this easier? If not, what am I doing wrong?

Many thanks to anybody who has an angle on this.

[I posted this a few months back. @dylan replied and said he would get back to me, but despite several reminders, I still haven’t seen a response. Still having the same problem, and grateful to anybody who has an idea to address this. Thanks!]

[dylan (Dylan Caudill)]

Hi @phantomtides, sorry I missed this before. I’ve merged your recent post so we can keep everything in one place. Pending.xml isn’t quite what I’d expect for the XML file name. Normally it would be could iTunes Music Library or Apple Music Library. Did you export the entire library library XML as outlined here:

iTunes

[phantomtides]

Thank you for the reply, @dylan.

I have a NAS drive on which music resides. It connects via CAT cable to the same router as my NUC that runs Roon Server.

I have generated playlist files from iTunes (the app, now called Apple Music) for both individual playlists and for the iTunes library as a whole. They are generated in the Music folder; Roon sees all of the other files in that folder. The exported files are called “playlistname.xml” or, for the entire library, “Music.xml”. They open and display as expected in a text editor.

In Roon’s preferences, “Import iTunes Playlists” is toggled on. I don’t know if the “Shared Playlists” option on Roon’s Playlists page is only for Services (Qobuz, etc.), but it’s toggled on as well. I don’t see any reason “Import Other Playlists” should make a difference, but it’s on too. I have forced a re-scan of the folder.

Still nothing. Happy to send you the .xml files or to do anything else that you think would be helpful. Thanks again for your attention.

[phantomtides]

Hi, @dylan. As I posted last week, there is a file called “Music.xml” which contains all of the playlists. (It used to be called “iTunes Music.xml,” but as you know Apple changed the name of the app two years ago. The “Music.xml” file is generated by default in the media folder, which is the folder that Roon points to.)

I am happy to give you any additional information, but I’m frustrated by the difficulty of obtaining support for an expensive piece of software. I’m not saying this is Roon’s fault — just that I need help.

Do you have any suggestions? Thanks.

[beka]

Hey @phantomtides,

We are terribly sorry for having missed on your replies for this long. Please, accept our most heartfelt apologies for only getting back to you today

I was wondering, could you please send us a screenshot of Settings → Storage from Roon, as well as a screenshot of the folder containing your Music.xml file in Finder?

Thank you for your incredible patience

[phantomtides]

Hi @beka. Thank you very much for picking this up. I’ve been bewildered by the lack of response.

Here is a screenshot of Roon settings:

Since 2018, Apple Music (the app) no longer creates “master” Music.xml files, either automatically or by export. The equivalent “master” file is now a .musiclibrary file. A .musiclibrary file cannot be read by a text editor, and thus it would seem that the format is proprietary and cannot serve the same purpose for Roon, i.e., importing playlists.

There is still a way to create .xml files, however: by exporting playlists manually from Music. The (PlaylistName).xml files that Music generates are generic format, as one would expect, and they can be opened normally in a text editor. It’s not as convenient — as far as I know, a user may only export a single playlist at a time — but I could live with that restriction.

Here is a screen shot of an .xml file called “Beginnings.xml” that I exported from Music. (The playlist is called “Beginnings,” duh. It contains around 100 songs.) You can see it in the folder “Mainstream” that Roon points to. All of the other music in that folder is seen by Roon, as expected.

After exporting, I verified that “Import iTunes playlists” was toggled on for “Mainstream,” and I forced a rescan of “Mainstream” in Roon. (“Shared playlists” is also toggled on in the pop-up menu under “My Playlists.”) The “Beginnings” playlist does not appear in Roon.

That’s where I am now. I am happy to provide any additional information. Thanks again for your attention.

[phantomtides]

Rebeka,

After your heartfelt apologies for Roon’s ignoring me, another week has now passed with no response since I posted the information you asked for.

Roon is not freeware; the company has an obligation, both implicit and stated, to support its customers. I posted my request over four months ago. I am frustrated, but I have tried to marshal, as you say, incredible patience.

I would be grateful for some help here.

Thank you.

[beka]

Hey @phantomtides,

It looks like in all this time, you’ve done everything right. One final thing to check: in iTunes’ Advanced Preferences, is Share iTunes Library XML checked, like so?

Also, your expectation is more than reasonable. Would you please use @rebeka in your reply? That sends a notification to me directly the moment you reply

[phantomtides]

@beka Thanks for the reply. My bad for not tagging you — I assumed a reply would achieve that but I appreciate knowing it’s more of a manual operation.

I’m afraid that Roon’s information regarding MacOS is out of date by a couple of years. The option you mention was indeed part of iTunes, but Apple Music (the app) handles it differently. The option to share a library now resides in System Preferences > Sharing > Media Sharing. More to the point, it’s been toggled on.

Does that help any?!

[beka]

Hey @phantomtides,

Thanks for the quick reply and clarification. Clearly, you are extremely familiar with iTunes (and Apple Music) . Also, many thanks for your willingness to collaborate.

It seems like every setting in the book is correctly selected. I believe one thing worth trying would be to backup Roon, just in case.

Then, remove the folders in Settings → Storage. Navigating to Settings - > Library - > Clean Up Library - > Clean up. Then, reboot your Core: this involves quitting Roon, turning off the Core, unplugging it for a few minutes. Reverting the steps: plug the Core in, turn it on, launch Roon.

Finally, adding iTunes again.

I really hope we can try this

[phantomtides]

@beka Thanks for the reply. Roon is set to back up each day at 3:00AM, and I generated a new backup manually just before embarking on your suggestions. When I added the folders back, I made sure “Import iTunes playlists” was toggled on. That all happened about 14 hours ago.

Results:

Took a few hours to re-load everything, as expected. All files seem fine.

The “Beginnings” playlist — the one created in the Apple Music app and exported as an .xml file — still exists in the folder from which Roon is loading music, and is nowhere to be found in Roon.

All previously created playlists exist, but all of the songs on those playlists have been deleted.

Zero steps forward, one fairly big step back. I’m intending to restore from the last backup in hope of getting the playlist contents back, but I’ll wait to hear from you to see if you have any other suggestions first.

[beka]

Hey @phantomtides,

I’m very grateful that you’ve set aside some time to go through the steps above and shared the results.

It’s such a relief to hear that you’re constantly backing up Roon — it’s such a great practice! — and you have all the data about you securely stored.

Could you please share a screenshot of Settings → Storage?

[phantomtides]

@beka Thanks. Here you go. Playlists are still empty.

[phantomtides]

@beka Hey, Rebeka… Followed your suggestion and took a step backwards, not forward. Any help here? Thanks.