Folks:
What is my “library?” How do I use it? Where is your documentation?
You can’t REALLY be counting on this chaotic set of “forums” to help people! I, for one, don’t have endless time to wander around and hope you guys answered all necessary questions, especially since it is crystal clear that you didn’t.
Mike
While I agree there are some things which could use better documentation, like Focus, the library always seemed self-evident to me.
The library is the database that Roon creates on your computer when it pulls all the music information for items in your collection. By default if you look under Settings/Setup you should see the library name default to your computer name (at least it does for me in a Windows environment). It gives me the option of changing it, never tried.
Under Settings/General there is a library option and it should default to This PC. You should not have to change this in normal operation.
If you are setting up a remote you would select the name of the library to which you wanted to attach the remote.
Dan:
Thanks. So the only thing in my library is my own content (i.e., “…items from your collection…”)? So when Roon asks me if I want to add a song to my library, is it asking me if I want to buy the song? If so, who am I buying it from?
What are you referring to when you say “remote?”
Thanks,
Mike
Mike, can you give me some more context to your comments/questions. Are you using Tidal, are you using iTunes? Roon does not interface with any store so I’m pretty sure you are not buying anything from withing Roon. What are you doing when you get that message. If you are using Tidal or iTunes, I can’t answer your particular question as I don’t use either of those … things.
To setup Roon, you put the storage location of your files in the Watched Folder under setup. Then as soon as you copy anything into that folder, Roon will pick up on it. And it will do it automatically it wont ask if you want to add anything to the library. I personally made a folder called d:\RoonTest and copied a small portion of my music there and then pointed Roon to that location as a Watched Folder.
You should not use Organized folders nor should you drag and drop into the Roon interface unless you are using Roon Organized folders. But, then again dragging and dropping will give you a much more comprehensive message than "do you want to add a song ".
Roon is a server/client setup. While you can run Roon on a machine and use that same machine for playback, many people will be running Roon in a client/server setup. One machine is setup with Roon as the server, aka Core. Other machines with Roon loaded run as a client to the server, hence the term Remote.
“Add To Library” in Roon means you want content from Tidal to appear as part of your collection, right alongside the albums you have stored on your hard drive.
One of the big goals of Roon is to get away from thinking about music as a bunch of files and storage devices, and to make it all feel like a music collection again. Our Tidal integration is designed to make streaming content feel like part of your collection as well.
When you add a Tidal album to your library (or favorite it in any of the Tidal apps/interfaces), it will show up right alongside your files, and will be included when you browse Roon for albums from the 60s, or all your Jazz albums, for example.
There’s no way to purchase music in Roon, but the Tidal integration does feel like a shopping spree sometimes 
I think @Rugby has covered your question about Remotes, but let me know if anything’s unclear Mike. Thanks for the question!
Add to Library only exists if you are using Roon + TIDAL. All that does is add a link from your library to that TIDAL album. It’s as if you bought it, and imported it, without it taking up any disk space or having to pay for anything (besides your TIDAL subscription).
Roon does not sell content.
Roon can be run on a second (or third, or fourth, etc) computer or tablet, and connect to the first Roon. It will manage the library on that first Roon. Those secondary Roon machines are called Remotes.
Dan and Danny:
Here is a screenshot showing the Add to Library link.
I hit it to see what happened and the Roon screen just goes blank…
Thanks for the help. I’ll see if Tidal charges me for the album before I use this any more… 8^)
Thanks also for the “remote” clarification. I haven’t experimented with this aspect of Roon yet.
Mike
Mike:
So will something in the Library allow me to play Tidal content (assuming I have added it to my Library) when I am using radio?
Thanks,
Mike
Mike, the blank screen after you add to library is a bug that will be fixed in the next release. Just click the back arrow in the upper left of the screen. The album is added to your library.
Tidal is a subscription service that allows you to stream the music. You aren’t charged for the album, just your monthly subscription. So add and play as much as you want from Tidal.
Yes, Radio will play your music and your added Tidal music.
Cheers,
Greg
Greg:
Excellent! Thanks.
Mike
Is there a way I can see all albums in my library (for all artists) at once?
It’s not a trick question. I just didn’t think there would be 300 albums in my library. I started using roon last week and I’ve mostly only used Spotify and tidal for music. I didn’t think I had that much purchased music.
When I went to that tab/filter I immediately thought “this isn’t what I’m looking for”.
How do I hide music from my library so that it only shows up when I search for it?
My music taste has changed significantly towards classical and jazz since I started streaming and a lot of my purchased music is awful pop singles in MP3 format.
You could select all the albums you want to hide, and add a Tag called “Hidden Album”. This should add that tag to all the selected albums for later retrieval. Then I would select all the albums again and Choose, Edit, and then Hide album.
There are two ways to get back to them. The first is on the Settings / General page, the first option is Show Hidden albums, this is a toggle. The second is going to album, Focus, Inspector and choosing “Hidden”.
Additionally, since you put a Tag on them, you can go to Tags and choose Hidden Album and it will show them to you, and you can then filter them in this view. Also, after you have brought them up with the Tag, you can create a bookmark based on that.
As clearly stated above, your library is not just purchased music.
It includes Tidal music that you have favorited, or explicitly added to the library. Or Quboz music (but not Spotify).
