Cloud Drive
2.4 TB of samples on a 500 GB laptop
Prod Crate mounts as a real drive in Finder. Every folder is there, every file opens in Ableton, and only the files you actually touch take up space on the Mac.
- Prod Crate
- Applications
- Music Creation
- Documents
- System Data
- macOS
- Midnight Drive Project393.0 MB
- Drums164.3 MB
Select a folder in the Finder — or right-click it — to pin it to this device.
How it works
Your whole library mounted in Finder, downloading only what you open.
- Step 01
Install the Mac app
Prod Crate registers as a File Provider, the same interface iCloud Drive uses. A Prod Crate drive appears in the Finder sidebar. There is no sync folder to babysit and no window to leave open.
Prod Crate2.41 TB · 38 GB on this MacFinder › Sidebar › Locations - Step 02
Open a file, it downloads
Every file is listed whether or not it is on the disk, with a cloud badge when it is not. Double-click a 1.4 GB set and it downloads in the background; the badge clears the moment it is local.
2026-09-06 Berlin (Closing Set).flac1.42 GB · downloadingcloud badge clears at 100% - Step 03
Space runs low, it clears out
When the disk fills, Prod Crate evicts the files you have gone longest without opening. Nothing is deleted from the library. Right-click Keep Downloaded on the packs you play out from and they are never evicted.
Keep Downloaded · Drums/Kickspinned · 2.1 GBevicted: 14 files not opened since May
What you get
A drive, not an upload page
Ableton's browser, rekordbox, Finder and the terminal all read the same paths. Nothing has to be exported, re-imported, or dragged out of a web app before you can use it.
Only what you use lands on disk
A 2.4 TB library can sit behind 38 GB of local storage. Files arrive on open, usually before you have finished dragging them into the arrangement.
Offline when it matters
Keep Downloaded pins a folder to the Mac so it survives eviction and works on a plane or in a basement with no signal. Remove Download gives the space straight back.
The same tree everywhere
The studio Mac, the touring laptop, the phone and the web app show one folder structure. Rename a folder on one and it is renamed on all of them within seconds. Drop a file on the web app and it is sorted exactly as it would be on the Mac.
Why it works
Prod Crate is a macOS File Provider extension, the same system interface iCloud Drive and Dropbox use. That matters because the operating system, not a background app watching a folder, decides when a file is fetched. When Ableton asks for a sample, macOS pauses the read, Prod Crate fetches the bytes, and the read completes. Your DAW never learns the file was in the cloud.
Eviction is the other half. Every file records when it was last opened. When free space on the volume drops below the threshold you set, Prod Crate removes the local copy of the least recently opened files, oldest first, until you are back above it. The file stays in the listing with a cloud badge, so folders never change shape and no project ever loses a path.
Pinning overrides all of it. A folder marked Keep Downloaded is excluded from eviction and re-downloaded if it is ever missing, which is what makes a laptop safe to take on tour. Everything is a real file on a real volume, so if you ever stop paying, you drag the folders out and nothing is locked up.
Problems it prevents
- BeforeThe laptop dies an hour before the set, and tonight's tracks are on it.
- With Prod CrateSign in to the web app on any machine in the building and pull the set folder straight onto a USB stick.
- BeforeThe laptop is full, so you delete packs and hope you can find them again.
- With Prod CrateFiles evict themselves when space runs low and come back the moment you open them.
- BeforeA cloud folder syncs everything to every machine, all 2.4 TB of it.
- With Prod CrateNothing downloads until you open it, except the folders you pinned on purpose.
- BeforeSamples live in a web app, so every session starts with a round of downloading.
- With Prod CrateAbleton's own browser points at the Prod Crate folder and the files are simply there.
“I tour with a 512 GB MacBook and the full 2.4 TB library. Berlin to Amsterdam, I pinned the two folders I actually play from and forgot about the rest.”
The rest of Prod Crate
Cloud Drive questions
01Is this a sync folder like Dropbox?
No. A sync folder keeps a full local copy of everything and mirrors changes. Prod Crate registers with macOS as a File Provider, so files are listed without being present and are fetched on the read that needs them. That is why a 2.4 TB library fits on a 500 GB Mac.
02What happens when I open a file that isn't downloaded?
macOS pauses the read while Prod Crate fetches the file, then lets it complete. A one-shot is usually instant; a 1.4 GB set takes as long as your connection needs. A progress bar appears in Finder and the cloud badge clears when it is local.
03Can I work offline?
Anything already downloaded, and anything you marked Keep Downloaded, opens offline exactly as normal. Files that are cloud-only will not open until you are back online. Pin the folders you need before a flight and the laptop behaves like it always did.
04Does Ableton see the folder?
Yes. Prod Crate is a real path on a real volume, so Ableton's browser, Logic, rekordbox, Serato, Finder and the terminal all read it the same way. You can add the Prod Crate folder to Ableton's Places and browse it like any other library.
05My laptop broke before a gig. Can I still get my set onto a USB?
Yes. Your tracks are already in the library, not on the dead machine. Open the web app on any computer that has a USB port — the venue's, a friend's, the hotel's — select the set folder, and download it straight to the stick. The folder comes down in the same order it is in Finder, so the CDJs see what you expect.
06Does the web app have the same folders?
The same tree, and you can lay it out how you like: as windows the way Finder shows them, or as a single expandable file tree. Drop files onto it and they are read, scored and filed exactly as they would be in the Prod Crate folder on the Mac.
07What if I stop paying?
Your account drops to read-only rather than being deleted, and you keep downloading. Pin everything, drag it to an external drive, and you have your library back as plain folders and files. Nothing is stored in a proprietary format.
08How much space does it actually use?
You set the floor. By default Prod Crate keeps working until free space drops below 15% of the volume, then evicts least-recently-opened files to stay above it. Pinned folders are never counted as evictable, so pin more than you have room for and it will tell you.