Copying Mac Music to iPhone

I believe that "using iCloud Music library" means that you either

• Have a subscription to iTunes Match, or
• Have a subscription to Apple Music, and have the "Sync Library" feature turned on

It is possible to have a subscription to Apple Music, to keep "Sync Library" turned off on all of your devices, and to then manually synchronize purchased music from your Mac to your iPhone using the Finder. That's what I do.

However, if you do this, you can't download offline listening copies of subscription songs, and you might not even be able to put subscription songs in playlists.

The other thing you can do – if you have an Apple Music subscription, and "Sync Library" is turned on, and you want to leave on – is to download "offline listening" copies of songs you want to be able to play when you aren't connected to the Internet.

The iPhone will eventually want to connect to the Internet to check that you are still a subscriber, but the point of "offline listening" copies is to avoid the need for a constant Internet connection all of the time.

Add music to iPhone and listen offline - Apple Support

"Copying Mac Music to iPhone: I am leaving on a trip soon and will be where there will be no cell coverage. I wanted to copy music from my Mac to my iPhone, but I have been unable to really do it in such a way that I am sure that I have the music on my phone I have the latest macOS and the latest iOS. I just recently updated all those.[...]"

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Copying Mac Music to iPhone:

A. Use an Apple Music Subscription:

The only way for this sync unwillingly yourself is to have an Apple Music Subsection, and be signed into the same Apple Account. Get One here: Apple Music - Apple. There are lots of promotions, as of this reply.

B. Don't Log Out if Visiting Outside of your Home Country:

Are you traveling to a different country/region than that of your Apple Account? If so, let it be, and do not log out of iCloud on it. If you do, then you'll lost all of your purchases. This all has to do with licensing between Apple and the Music Studio.

Depends on what iPhone you have and if your iMac has a port that matches the port on the iPhone.