Why does iTunes make 2 copies of my music when adding to library?

"iTunes does suck big time when it comes to keeping one's library organized (IMHO).

I uncheck the ""Keep iTunes media folder organized"" and also unceck ""Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library"". That way, iTunes makes only one copy, and all files end up in one folder...

I keep my music organized via Media Monkey (http://www.mediamonkey.com/), and import it every now and then in iTunes (which makes one copy of the files, and I don't care if they are organized or not there...).

That's the best solution I found... I make Media Monkey keep my music organized in folders Genre/Artist/Song (songs move when/if I change their genre), and I edit the tags etc in Media Monkey. Then, I keep importing the same folder in iTunes - it's smart enough not to import twice the same song, even if it moves around. You do get an extra copy of your music in iTunes' folder, but I don't mind... I view it as a temp folder..."

"The secret is to never check ""Keep iTunes Media folder organized"". I don't like softwares messing up with my collection. I set a folder in my machine (Like the default ""Music"" in Windows Vista) and put everything there in the structure that I'm used to.

Then, I use a third party plugin, called iTunes Library Updater, that searches these folders and add the files to my library. This way nothing is messed up, because it searches for the id3 tags and keeps my folder structure intact.

I don't like iTunes that much, is a memory hog for something simple. But everytime I try to use other application to sync with my iPod, something always go wrong, and I don't have time to configure everything myself. Doing the setup I described I have the best of both worlds (podcasts ease of use with iTunes with my own folder structure).

I'm using the iTunes Library Updater with my iTunes last version (9+)."