Purchased iTunes music without Apple Music subscription / questions

Question

Purchased iTunes music without Apple Music subscription / questions

I have purchased a large number of songs and albums from iTunes over 14+ years along with downloading my own CD's into my music library.

1) If I join Apple Music will my prior music purchase collections combine with the subscription music ? I do not want my play lists altered or manipulated.

2) If I join then later decide to discontinue Apple Music subscription is there risk of my purchased and personal music collection being removed with the Apple subscribed music service ?

I am on the fence about multiple subscription services and would greatly appreciate any help or advice you may offer.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Dec 19, 2023 3:56 PM

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Answer 1

javaliga

Level 10

120,173 points

Dec 19, 2023 5:25 PM in response to 1976FlyingFish

There are no guarantees. For example, see:

When I canceled my free Apple Music trial… - Apple Community

When you start an Apple Music subscription and turn on Sync:

Use Sync Library with your Apple Music subscription - Apple Support

your library gets uploaded to the cloud Sao you can play it win all your Apple devices.

Before you cancel an Apple Music subscription, you should be able to download your music library from the cloud.

I strongly suggest you make a backup of your music library (like Time Machine) first and keep it in a safe place just in case.

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Answer 2

Dec 19, 2023 10:40 PM in response to javaliga

Will do. Thank you.

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Answer 3

Dec 20, 2023 3:37 PM in response to 1976FlyingFish

I believe that when Sync Library downloads "matched" tracks to your devices, it downloads ones with DRM. Ones that will stop working if you ever stop subscribing to Apple Music.

I have an Apple Music subscription, but my preference is to NOT subscribe to iTunes Match, and to keep the Sync Library feature turned OFF. I can load music from my CDs and iTunes Store purchases onto my iPhone in the old-fashioned way (Finder-based synchronization, replacing the iTunes-based synchronization that went before it.)

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Answer 4

Dec 20, 2023 11:29 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Servant of Cats wrote:

I believe that when Sync Library downloads "matched" tracks to your devices, it downloads ones with DRM. Ones that will stop working if you ever stop subscribing to Apple Music.

Hi, This not entirely correct. DRM is not applied to music matched. The music in your iTunes/Music library is not changed unless you opt to remove original and download matched version.

In tunes match, the tracks are 256 Kbps aac and can be retained and played after your subscription expires. This also applies to Apple Music as iTunes Match features are included but you now have the ability to upgrade and download the tracks in lossless or hi-res format. However such tracks have DRM and are only available as long as you you have an Apple Music subscription.

Make a backup of your original music. If you plan to let your subscription expire, you can revert to256 Kbps by removing download and then re-downloading. Music with iCloud status “Apple Music “ will be removed.

Jim

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