iTunes files

Hi, I just had a question about how music files are stored on OSX. I noticed that there's an iTunes folder within the Music folder where all my downloads go. Isn't the files in the iTunes folder an exact duplicate of what's in the Music folder? Could I just keep the files in the iTunes folder and delete the others to save some disk space?

No.... The files in the first iTunes directory are your database files. Delete those and your ratings and tags all go bye-bye.

Well, if you enabled "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library," then any song you add to the Library will be copied into the "iTunes Music" folder, which is inside the "iTunes" folder.

To turn it off:

iTunes > Preferences...
Advanced tab > General tab
Uncheck "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library"