Homesharing multiple iTunes libraries

There’s an issue relating to multiple iTunes accounts that I can’t find a solution for. Can you Home Share multiple iTunes accounts at the same time?

I have a headless, always-on Windows 7 server with iTunes running, so our Library is always accessible in AppleTV without having to turn the computer on manually (what a pain that would be). No one else in my family knows how to access this, let alone ‘switching iTunes accounts’. So that leaves us with the second option: a separate computer for each person, so I’d potentially need five always-on computers each running iTunes so we can access separate iTunes accounts in Apple TV.

There’s a huge issue with multiple iTunes accounts; the ideal solution would be a single iTunes computer being able to Home Share each iTunes account that’s set up at the same time, without manual switching. What do you think? Laurence Cope

You absolutely can Home Share iTunes accounts; that’s a really important use of Home Sharing. The thing to understand is that the Apple ID you’re signed into iTunes with doesn’t need to be the same as the account you use for Home Sharing. If you have multiple computers, just pick one Apple ID and enter that when you turn on Home Sharing on each of the computers. iTunes itself remains signed into the account of anyone that uses the computer, but they’ll all be shared through Home Sharing. You see each shared library appear in your iTunes sidebar whenever that computer is on and in Wi-Fi range.

If you don’t have multiple computers, this won’t work. That’s what Home Sharing is though – a way of sharing music between computers. If the other people in your family have their own iTunes accounts for use on their phones and iPods (but don’t have computers of their own) then you don’t want Home Sharing – you want AirPlay. This lets them stream music from their device to your speakers plugged into the Apple TV.

You might still think “But that’s not what I’m trying to do!”, but this is the paradox of personal media – the more flexibility we have, the more acutely we seem to feel the

restrictions that remain.