Syncing Your iTunes Library with DJ Pro Software: A Step-by-Step Guide

The iTunes 12.2 update no longer automatically kicks out a library.xml file for third party DJ software support – here’s how you get it back.

iTunes has always been a hugely popular among DJs for media management and playlist creation. It has quality auto-magic tagging to update bad or out-dated tags, smart playlists and is fairly easy to navigate – and for many DJs it’s the only media management tool they’ve ever used. It’s pre-installed on MAC computers and many cut their teeth on it, so using it’s second nature.

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DJ mixing applications such as DEX 3 have robust media-management tools baked in.

The are clear merits to creating your lists and managing you media from within the PCDJ browser instead of iTunes, especially when iTunes releases updates, often resulting in broken third party integration. There are also a fair number of DJs reporting iTunes 12 automatically applying DRM and/or messing up their playlist management — but old habits die hard, and DJs will still rely heavily on iTunes as their media manager.

Where did the Library.xml file go after updating to iTunes 12.2?

The iTunes library is essentially two files: The Library.itl which is the native iTunes library file and contains all your playlist and song data. The Library.xml file is what iTunes (can) generates for third party application support, and provides all the information about your iTunes library (playlists and tracks).

The iTunes 12.2 update (and up) no longer creates the Library.xml file by default, therefore when DEX 3 or RED Mobile 3 are launched the iTunes tab and subsequent playlists are not displayed. Thankfully, there is a setting in iTunes 12.2 that will generate the Library.xml file so our DJ software can dynamically pick it up.

How to get the Library.xml file back in iTunes 12.2

Open iTunes. Then, click on the Menu button > Preferences:

Click on Advanced options and put a tick in the Share iTunes Library XML with other applications box:

Click on OK to apply. The Library.xml will be create in: Users/username/Music/iTunes (NOTE: The default location is where you need to store your iTunes library.xml file for PCDJ to grab it)

Close iTunes and open up DEX 3 or RED Mobile 3 – you should once again see your iTunes library tab and populated playlists. Enjoy!