Rekordbox Cloud FOR FREE

Cloud Sync for Rekordbox

Pioneer forces most people to pay for their cloud services. We find this absurd, especially when it’s fairly straightforward to set up your own cloud sync for Rekordbox with a little leg work of your own.

This is a how to guide to get this set up for yourself. A video walkthrough is on the way, but for now this should help you get started with your own Cloud Sync for Rekordbox.

If all you want to do is stream your music on the go from your Rekordbox library, then check out Boxcutter

What You’ll need

  1. A Dropbox Subscription - preferably with 2 TB of storage. Google Drive does not work.

  2. Sublime Text Editor - this is to edit your Rekordbox Program files. Notepad will not work.

  3. Time + Internet connection - don’t do this if you have a big gig coming up. You’re going to need the time to transfer all your tracks to the cloud, and depending on your library size and internet connection could take a few hours.

heads up

  1. You are going to be editing Rekordbox files. MAKE SURE you have your library backed up before doing this!

  2. This guide was written using a Windows 11 computer and Rekordbox 7. Paths will be different for Mac users. It has not been tested with Rekordbox 6.

  3. You cannot, under any circumstances have both libraries open at once. You WILL corrupt your library!

  4. ALWAYS wait for Dropbox to finish syncing your files BEFORE opening RB on another device. You WILL corrupt your library!

  5. You CANNOT sync across operating system - both computers must be the same OS (Windows <> Windows or Mac <> Mac

BackUp Your rekordbox library

Go to:

  1. File > Library > Backup Library — save a full backup. This will take a bit.

  2. Preferences > Advanced > Database > Export Collection in XML Format — export the collection

Save both files (the backup ZIP file and the XML) to:
C:\Users\YourName\DESKTOP\rekordbox_backups so it’s easy to locate.

Download dropbox onto both machines

Go to Dropbox.com to download Dropbox.

Install it onto your machine

  • Do not have it back-up your current machine

Launch Dropbox and Log In

  • Create a folder inside your Dropbox called “Music”

  • Right click this folder and choose “Dropbox > Make Available Offline”

  • Create another folder called “Rekordbox Sync”

  • Right click this folder and choose “Dropbox > Make Available Offline”

This sets the folder to be available even when you do not have internet which is ESSENTIAL for Rekordbox.

Once you have this set up on one machine, do the same thing on the other machine. Once you log in, you won’t have to create the folder again, it will already be there.

On your second machine right click the “Music” and “Rekordbox Sync” folder and make it available offline as well.

Transfer your music files to dropbox

BEFORE CONTINUING

Make note of where your current music files are stored. If something goes wrong, you will want to ensure all your music files go to their CURRENT location so your back-up will locate them appropriately.

Then:

  1. Copy all your music files from their current folder

  2. Paste them all into Dropbox > Music (the folder you just created)

Depending on the size of your library and internet connection speed, this can take hours or even days. Do NOT open Rekordbox!

Transfer your rekordbox database to dropbox

On your primary computer locate your Rekordbox Program folder. By default on Windows it installs to:

C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Pioneer

Inside this directory you should see 3 folders

  • rekordbox

  • rekordbox6

  • rekordboxAgent

You’re going to CUT your entire Rekordbox database into Dropbox now

  1. Select the “rekordbox” folder.

  2. CUT the folder

  3. Paste the entire folder into your Dropbox > Rekordbox Sync folder

This just moved your entire Rekordbox Database (analysis files, database, playlists, tag lists) into the cloud.

DO NOT OPEN REKORDBOX. BE PATIENT. LET EVERYTHING SYNC TO DROPBOX BEFORE CONTINUING

Point Rekordbox to your cloud database

DO NOT OPEN REKORDBOX. WAIT UNTIL DROPBOX IS FULLY SYNCED WITH ALL YOUR MUSIC FILES AND ALL YOUR REKORDBOX DATABASE FILES FROM THE PREVIOUS STEPS

On your primary computer go back to: C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Pioneer

There should only be 2 folders now

  • rekordbox6

  • rekordboxAgent

Open the “rekordbox6” folder.

  1. Inside there is a document called “rekordbox3.settings” . It’s path is: "C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Pioneer\rekordbox6\rekordbox3.settings"

  2. Open this file using SUBLIME (right click, open with, sublime)

  3. Using Control + F to find the following value “masterDbDirectory” right now that is telling you that your DB directory is on your local machine. We want to change that to the cloud. Leave this document open. It will say something like this right now
    <VALUE name="masterDbDirectory" val="C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Pioneer\rekordbox"/>

Go to your Dropbox Folder on your machine and navigate to your “Rekordbox Sync” folder.

  1. Double click on it, and then locate the “rekordbox” folder you copied over in the previous step.

  2. Right click the “rekordbox” folder and select “Copy as Path”

  3. Go back to the rekordbox3.settings document and locate the “masterDbDirectory” value.

  4. REPLACE what is between the quotations. Highlight the current path C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Pioneer\rekordbox and paste your copied folder path to replace this to C:\Users\USER\Dropbox\Rekordbox Sync\rekordbox

Make sure you have no additional space in the path, Sublime will show you if you do with a red outline. Save this file now, and close it.

At this point, you have now told Rekordbox on your primary computer that your database, and all your files are in a new location

STOP

At this point, all that’s left is to verify that your cloud sync is working, BUT first you need to know a few things

Your Rekordbox is stored as a series of files:

  • master.db - your primary database

  • masterPlaylist6.xml - all of your playists

  • master.backup.db - exactly what it sounds like, the back up of your db

  • automixPlaylist6.xml - exactly what it sounds like

  • smartlist.xml - all of your smart playlists

  • networkAnalyze6.db - all of your analysis files and how they map to your songs

  • networkRecommend.db - recommendations given to you by RB

Anytime you open Rekordbox, its going to pull down your database files. It LOCKS your database at this time. If you open up Rekordbox on another computer, it will create conflicts. Dropbox will track these conflicts but YOU will have to remedy them. This guide does NOT focus on remedying conflicts, so listen carefully.

ALWAYS WAIT until Dropbox FINISHES syncing ALL FILES (songs, analysis files, and database files) BEFORE opening on your other computer!

Test on your primary computer

Once Dropbox has finished syncing all your music files, and your rekordbox db files and EVERYTHING is available offline, you are good to test!

  1. Open up rekordbox

  2. It will say all your files are missing. That’s expected since you changed where your music files are located. To fix that go to to File>Preferences>Advanced>Database and scroll down to “AutoRelocate Folders”.

  3. Click “Add”

  4. Locate your music folder at USER\Dropbox\Music

  5. Go back to File>Display Missing Files. All of your library will pop up. Click “AutoRelocate”.

BOOM! Now your library is in the Cloud, for free!

If no files exist at all, it means you input your db path correctly. Go back to the previous step and ensure that you have the correct path for your Rekordbox DB listed in the rekordbox3.settings file. You may need to go your C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Pioneer folder again and delete the the newly created rekordbox folder that was created when you launched Rekordbox in this case. RB automatically creates this folder if it cannot locate your DB file. Delete the new folder, and ensure the correct path is in the settings file before trying again.

Add your secondary computer

You’re an expert by now so all that is left is to set up your second computer. Open up Dropbox on your second computer to verify all your music files and rekordbox library have been downloaded and are offline.

Then follow the same steps laid out 2 steps ago - locate the rekordbox3.settings file, change the DB value to the dropbox path for your rekorbox DB.

All your playlists, songs, cue points etc are carried over from your primary computer.

Close Rekordbox, and wait for Dropbox to finish syncing before you open up RB on your main computer again.