Burn iTunes music to storage DVDs

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Good morning Mac Experts,

Firstly, apologies to Mods if this is wrong forum - please move as you see fit; didn't find anywhere else obvious, so here I am.

My query seems simple, yet I've not found a complete answer on any forum/internet page !

I have too much music on my g4 eMac and need to remove some to free-up disc space.
I've reasoned that burning selected tracks [not a playlist] from iTunes 9 to DVD-R is the cheapest storage option, not the most beautiful or 'techie', but the cheapest. It is all I need.
4 x 4.7 gb discs and I'll be there :)

I believe that I burn my selections [a mixture of mp3, AIFF and WAV] onto a DVD-R as data - the DVD's are only to store, not to play anywhere else on other devices. Effectively the DVD becomes a repository of the files until I want/need to re-import them in the future.

However, I'm not daft enough to erase all the master files in iTunes until I know that what I've got stored elsewhere is a perfect copy of the original currently held on the eMac.

Hopefully someone here has the answer, so, fingers crossed for confirmation that I can in fact export to DVD-R and store perfect copies of existing there for future use ?
I'm on OS X 10.4.11

Many thanks for all interest and input :)

Macludite[sic]
 
C

chas_m

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Depends.

Some songs you may have purchased a long time ago from iTunes will still have DRM that prevents burning, perhaps, unless you upgraded those songs. If you didn't, you can still do so for $25 -- buy an iTunes Match subscription, have your music library matched, then delete your old copies and re-download the iTunes Match versions.

If you're reasonably sure none of the songs you have have this issue, then yes you can burn your music library to data DVD for backup/storage -- but surely you still have the CDs you got the files from in the first place, and wouldn't that be the ultimate "backup"?

I'm assuming you didn't steal the songs because what kind of genuine artist-supporting music fan would do that? But if that's what you did, then again I'd suggest the iTunes Match subscription: it will "legitimize" your stolen songs by replacing them with legal iTunes copies, and store them in the cloud -- eliminating the need to waste time burning DVDs. At the moment, the limit for iTunes Match is 25,000 songs (not counting any you purchased from iTunes, those are bonus and unlimited), but later this year the limit is going up to 100,000 songs (again not counting iTunes purchases).
 
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chas_m

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to post your view.

You're right, CD original is ultimate back-up. Post-divorce my rare collection was somewhat depleted ! Some material is no longer available and I'd have to track it all down via discogs or such like if I was truly lucky.
Others are 'masters' copied to me from the dj/mixer who created them.
I have very few iTunes-bought tracks but many from Juno, Beatport and Traxsource and these all being full-sized WAVs are the things I need to remove for space.
I entirely take your point about stolen music; as a real music lover I have an expensive habit - nothing stolen here.....I can't change that it goes on and others feel it's ok, but it doesn't sit well with me.

Hopefully you'll put me straight on anything else related to above?
My DVD-R plan is ok burning as 'data' - I will not damage anything of the original when I want to return it to the eMac for compiling ?

Thanks again.
 

Rod


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Dear macludite, I know you said you did not want the techie answer but given your needs and the different natures of your data ( forgive me for calling it that) I would be inclined to use a cloning app like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to simply duplicate your music Folder to an external HD. This will overcome DRM and formatting issues and give you a playable source.
In fact most if not all of us on Mac Forums would probably suggest you create a bootable clone of your entire Mac HD.
Anybody that does not have a full backup these days is, to put it plainly, asking for trouble.
Believe me it is not difficult, CCC practically walks you through the process.
 
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Thanks Rod,

I hear everything you say.
I was avoiding the external HD deliberately because that too is another 'techie' area I know nothing about: do I want a firewire or USB plug in drive, is it FW 400 or 800, USB 2 or 3, what spin speed do I want, who makes the most reliable units, can I buy it for a fair price here in the UK etc etc ? Aaaaargh.

......And that's all before people start telling me [with differing opinions] what softwear I need and talking of 'bootable clones' and 'partitioning' - whatever that is.

Honestly Rod, it's all too much for me - do I really have to know all this stuff when I'm just trying to accomplish something simple ? :(

Thanks again for taking the time.

Macludite
 

Rod


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Well I consider as a matter of insurance a full backup is a must.
The reality is your mac will crash. Maybe not today but eventually it must. The average life span of a computer is 5 years. After that you are living on borrowed time.
At the very least a dedicated USB 2 external drive running the native Time Machine app will enable you to restore your data to a new or repaired machine. The last two operating systems ( Mavericks and Yosemite) will even ask you when you plug in a new USB HD if you want to use it for a Time Machine Backup. Click yes and it does the rest. Get a drive about twice the size of your Macintosh HD and any reputable brand will be fine. Seagate, Western Digital whatever, price is a good indicator.
You will not be using this for playback so speed is not of great concern USB 2 will be fine.
Time machine backups (look it up) are not structured like the files on your computer but it has many good attributes. It is primarily designed to restore individual files or a complete hard drive in case of loss or corruption.
CCC clones are very different, both in structure and use. Because of that they require more knowledge to set up and benefit from faster connections but are a pocket size duplicate of your computer HD. That is you can plug it into another compatible mac, choose it as the startup disk in preferences and voila what you see is your computer.
Do consider at the very least a TM backup. You will thank me one day.


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"Do consider at the very least a TM backup. You will thank me one day."

Rod - I'm thanking you now.

Q: Does Time Machine come with the plug in drive or is it part of OS ?
As stated above, my eMac is on 10.4.11
 

Rod


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I am so sorry not to have noticed that you are running 10.4. Unfortunately Time Machine (a native Mac app) was not introduced until 10.5.
However the version of Super Duper for 10.4 will work to give you a clone of your HD and of the two, Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper the latter is easier to use.


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