Import to iTunes

Handy little service for Mac OS X to import selected files (or folders) into iTunes without importing duplicates. Especially useful for manually managing iTunes media files stored on a NAS or other external device.

Installation

1. Download the Zip archive
2. Double-click the Zip archive to uncompress it
3. Double-click Import to iTunes.workflow and choose "Install"

Usage

1. From a Finder window, select one or more files or folders
2. Right-click on the selection and choose Services > Import to iTunes
   • Alternatively, choose Finder > Services > Import to iTunes
3. Sit back and wait! :) Automator will notify you once the process is complete
4. All selected media files are now present in your iTunes library (sans duplications)

Caveats

• Only tested on Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.2
  • For Mac OS X 10.8.x Mountain Lion, the "Display Notification" portion of the Automator workflow needs to be removed
• Doesn't prevent importing duplicate files
• Works exclusively with the active iTunes library
• Can take a few minutes to find and exclude already-imported media with larger iTunes libraries
  • For instance, it takes about a minute to process a selection of ~200 files against a library with ~5000 items
• The selection-filtering script only imports these file types:
  • *.mov
  • *.mp4
  • *.m4v
  • *.mpg
  • *.mpeg
  • *.m2v
  • *.mp2
  • *.ite
  • *.aac
  • *.m4a
  • *.m4b
  • *.m4p
  • *.mp3
  • *.caf
  • *.aiff
  • *.aif
  • *.aifc
  • *.au
  • *.sd2
  • *.wav
  • *.snd
  • *.amr
  • *.3ga

See Also

• Shell script to exclude already-imported iTunes media from a file selection