Duplicate detection and downloading issues when creating playlists in Apple Music on MacBook Pro

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Duplicate detection and downloading issues when creating playlists in Apple Music on MacBook Pro

Why when I am dragging albums into a Music playlist does a window pop up indicating that if I move a purchased item into the playlist I will download a copy of the album onto my computer? Don't I already have a copy on my computer? Also, several times I received an error message regarding duplicates detected. If I see only one copy on my MacBook Pro, where is the duplicate?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Creating playlists

MacBook Pro 17″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Sep 3, 2025 11:02 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

277,711 points

Sep 4, 2025 07:42 AM in response to LameKiwi

The Apple Music subscription service allows you to add content to your Cloud Music Library without necessarily downloading it to your computer, or having had items stored locally you may right-click on a selection and click remove download to free up space. You may have an option under Music > Settings (Preferences) that enables Automatic Downloads.

A regular playlist is an ordered list of items in your library, or potentially Apple Music items that may not be in your Cloud Music Library proper. The same item can be added more than once should you choose, but Music warns when you do this. This is distinct from adding duplicate copies of a track to the library as a whole. Should you do this Music will mark the additional copies as duplicates for the cloud status, and if you attempt to add such a track to a playlist that is currently part of your cloud library it may be removed.

tt2

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