Scope
The directory covers local files, playlist migration, metadata, Serato crates, smartlists, backups, Spotify-to-TIDAL mirroring, routine operations and recovery.
Its audience is experienced or long-running DJs whose crates and playlist history remain trapped in iTunes or Apple Music.
Terminology
- Master Music Library
- The application-neutral folder that holds owned audio as ordinary files.
- Administration Mode
- Working in Lexicon, where playlists, metadata and smartlists hold authority.
- Performance Mode
- Working in Serato, where crates, cues and grids serve the runtime.
- Preflight gate
- The mandatory backup and verification step before any file is moved.
- One-way bridge
- The Soundiiz sync from Spotify to TIDAL. It never runs in reverse.
- Acceptance gate
- The final checks that permit the legacy iTunes source to be retired.
Not covered
- Copyright acquisition and public-performance licensing.
- Detailed controller mapping and music production workflows.
- A complete tutorial for every Lexicon utility.
- Vendor subscription rules, which change — re-check official documentation.
How it is built
The report is stored as tagged content blocks in the cloud, indexed for full-text search. Every passage keeps its part label, phase, topic tags and source basis, so search results point back to the exact place in the document.
The migration stages and the failure catalogue are stored the same way, which is what lets the journey checklists and the symptom lookup stay in step with the report.
Read the source reportIndependent project and disclosure
This directory is an independent editorial project by Grand Flows Music Management, under the roof of Form & Flöde. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or otherwise connected to Apple, Serato, Lexicon, Spotify, TIDAL, Soundiiz, Lovable or any other company named here. All product names, logos and trademarks belong to their respective owners and are used only to describe the tools involved.
This guide grew out of my own trial and error while completing my migration away from iTunes and Apple Music. It describes one tested route that worked for an experienced DJ; it is not presented as the only correct route. I published the site to make the process easier to understand, more useful to follow and more engaging than a conventional tutorial.
Nothing here is paid placement. No affiliate links, no sponsored recommendations, no commissions on any tool mentioned. Voluntary reader support through PayPal is exactly that — voluntary, with no influence over the content.
The material is a practitioner's account, offered as-is and without warranty. It is not a substitute for official vendor documentation, and it cannot anticipate every library, licence or software version. Migrations move irreplaceable data: verify your backups first, follow the preflight gate, and check current vendor documentation before acting. You remain responsible for your own library and for any licensing obligations attached to the music in it.
Corrections are welcome on the comment board. Where reality and this text disagree, reality wins and the page gets updated.