Problems Accessing My Music in iTunes

[Keve]

I am running OSX 10.11.6 on a 2011 Macbook. I've used VLC with no problems in the past. Updated to VLC 3.0.11 but VLC is having trouble accessing my iTunes music now. I have to wait for the spinning wheel, and then VLC selects the first song in the first artist folder. I can't select anything until it starts this first song. Sometimes, VLC stops responding and I have to restart. I have reset preferences. I have gone back to the two earlier versions of VLC, but the same thing occurs. Streaming music like Radio Paradise or Groove Salad works fine.

I think it's about time to leave iTunes behind, but I haven't seen any tutorials or how to articles online. I don't want to screw anything up. I have the music backed up to an external hard drive, also. The music is all stuff I once had on cds, so none were purchased online using iTunes or anything else. Can someone direct me to a how to, or, if it's simple enough, give instructions on how to do this?

Much thanks.
Keve