Why there is no switch
A music file contains audio and a few text fields — title, artist, sometimes a BPM field. Everything a DJ program knows beyond that lives in its own database: where the beat grid sits, where your cue points are, which loops you set. That database is the heart of the program and belongs to it alone.
So the route runs through an exchange format: rekordbox provides its collection as rekordbox xml and reads playlists back in from such a file; Serato DJ Pro can take on an iTunes library including its lists. You do not move from program to program but from program to file to program — and what the file does not describe does not arrive.
What comes along — and what does not
The rule of thumb: what you typed yourself comes along. What the program calculated arrives as a number at best.
| What | Does it come along? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The music files | Yes — they belong to you, not to the program | They sit in folders and the migration does not touch them at all. That is the easy part. |
| Playlists | Yes, if the target program reads the format | They are in the exchange file. On condition that the folders are still named the same afterwards. |
| Title, artist, genre | Yes — that is in the file itself | These fields belong to the music file, not the program database. They survive any switch. |
| Beat grid and BPM | No, it gets recalculated | Every program analyses by its own rules. With straight four-to-the-floor material you hardly notice; with anything else you do. |
| Cue points and loops | As a number at best | They hang off the old program grid. If the grid lands differently they sit off, even when the position came along. |
The one rule: delete nothing until the first gig is done
The most expensive mistake in a switch is tidying up. Uninstall the old program as soon as the new one runs and you lose the only place that still records how things were — and the gaps only show over weeks, at the first track you have not played in a long time.
The same goes for your folder structure: the exchange file describes paths. Rename or move folders after the export and you make it worthless, silently — the import then simply reports tracks that supposedly do not exist.
The move, step by step
Six steps. The first and the last are the ones people skip — and they are exactly the ones that save the move.
Make a backup that has nothing to do with the move
The music files themselves onto a second drive, before any program touches anything. A migration writes to databases; if it goes wrong you want a copy no program knows about.
Tidy up before you move
A migration is the one occasion where clearing out costs nothing extra: what you delete now you do not have to transfer and never have to look at again. Duplicates and dead links go before, not after.
Write the library out as a file
rekordbox can provide its collection as a rekordbox xml file and read playlists back in from one. That file is the handover point: it describes which tracks exist and how they sit in lists.
Import what the target program can read
According to its manual, Serato DJ Pro can import an iTunes library and make its playlists available. Which formats your target program accepts decides the route — there is no general switch between two DJ programs.
Spot-check five tracks before you rely on it
Take five tracks you know by heart and look in the new program: is the beat grid right, are the cue points there, is the key correct? What is missing here is missing everywhere — and you would rather notice now than in the booth.
Keep the old program for another month
Do not uninstall, do not tidy up. A migration rarely shows its gaps immediately but at the first track you have not played in months. While the old program is still there, every find is a nuisance rather than a loss.
Five mistakes when switching
Renaming folders after the export
The exchange file describes paths. Tidy up afterwards and you make it worthless, silently — the import then reports tracks that supposedly do not exist.
Uninstalling the old program straight away
The gaps show over weeks, not on the first evening. While the old program stands, every find is a nuisance rather than a loss.
Switching between two gigs
In the booth you operate your tool blind. Right after a migration you do not — and you notice at exactly the moment it counts.
Expecting the cue points to sit right
They reference a grid the new program lays differently. For the twenty tracks you really play, setting them again beats any workaround.
Not tidying up before the move
Duplicates and dead links travel along otherwise and are twice the trouble afterwards. A migration is the one occasion where clearing out costs nothing extra.
Before you delete the old program
Five points. If one is open, the old program stays.
A backup no program knows about
The music files on a second drive, before the first step.
Five known tracks spot-checked
Grid, cues, key — what is missing here is missing everywhere.
One full evening played at home
Not looked at, played. Cue, loop, effect, recording.
The folder structure untouched
Nothing renamed and nothing moved since the export.
One gig has happened
Only after that may the old program go.
⚠️ The sourced statements here come from the rekordbox and Serato DJ Pro manuals. For Traktor our source archive holds no manual with a library chapter — so what works there is deliberately not on this page. We would rather write down what we do not know than a menu path from memory.
Common questions
What actually comes along in a switch?
Reliably: the files themselves and the structure of your playlists, provided the target program reads the exchange format. Shaky: everything a program calculated or set ITSELF — beat grid, cue points, loops, key, waveform. Those live in the old program database, not in the music file, and every program recalculates them by its own rules.
What is this XML file anyway?
A table of contents for your collection. rekordbox can provide its library as rekordbox xml and read playlists back in from such a file. The file contains no music — it describes which tracks are where and which lists they sit in. Move folders afterwards and it points at nothing.
Is there no direct route from one program to the other?
No general one. The manuals describe which FORMATS a program can read — Serato DJ Pro, for instance, an iTunes library including its playlists. So the route runs through a format both know, not through an „import from rekordbox“ button. Looking for that button takes a while.
Can I save my cue points?
Do not count on it. Cue points are positions in milliseconds that your old program referenced to its own beat grid — if the new program lays the grid differently, they sit off, even when the number came along. For the twenty tracks you really play, setting them again is faster than any workaround; for the rest you will never notice.
When is the right time to switch?
When no gig is due for three weeks. A migration is not an hour of work but a phase in which you no longer operate your own tool blind — and that is exactly what the booth demands. Switch between two gigs and you play the second at half attention.
Is switching even worth it?
Usually less than you hope. A switch solves exactly the problems that sit in the PROGRAM — hardware compatibility, say, or a feature that genuinely is not there. It solves nothing that sits in your collection or in your practice. So the honest question beforehand is: what exactly will I be able to do afterwards that I cannot do today?
Start learning
You operate a program blind, or not at all
Operating a program blind is the real reason a switch hurts. The learning path has the phase on library work ready.
Start for free