Why can't you set up iTunes to copy the phone playlists down to itunes instead of the other way around?

Rich Allcorn wrote:

I don't WANT the Apple Music service ...

I have recordings that I have made that ARE NOT ON the Apple Music service.

Apple Music will sync whatever audio files its users have loaded; personally-created music, music ripped from local and otherwise unavailable sources, or recorded interviews of family members, or the sounds of gulls and beach breakers, rainstorms, or whatever. Same for iTunes Match.

As for the “why?” questions, again, no one here can answer those. Only the folks that work for Apple. Not unless Apple has already published an answer.

If you don’t want either of the two services that provide what you have requested, then send an enhancement request to Apple, as they may or may not read postings around here, and only very rarely respond.

Here is how to provide your: Product Feedback - Apple

How to enable and use iTunes Match (the service) everywhere: Use Sync Library with your Apple Music subscription - Apple Support

You'll first want a backup of your device, of course.

I never placed my only copies of media out onto a device, because that never worked particularly well (or at all) dating back to the iPod era.

To pull that media off that device, you'll probably need a third-party app, assuming iTunes Match doesn't untangle this.

Rich Allcorn wrote:

Apple Music "deletes" music you have that may not be on Apple Music.

That would be a bug. A big one, too.

I have a number of old albums I’ve ripped from now-ancient CDs from decades ago, music that simply isn’t available elsewhere. Like the CD purchased from some talented Sydney street performers.

What can or does happen (sometimes) is replacement with a newer version of the same content, which might not have the recording artifacts or the ambiance or or the mix that you want, when some particular music is re-released by the artist or the label.

Stuff purchased from Apple and not downloaded can potentially go missing as well, if the publisher or the artist withdraws it. Which is why it is best to download purchased music and archive it. Same goes for archiving precious recordings of lost family members, or of any other files of particular value. That deletion — really a removal of the ability to re-download the content — doesn’t happen all that often, but it does happen.

I have experienced this too many times, and have lost good music that I no longer have the CD's for to restore it.

If the only copies of important media or important files are stored on devices, that loss can happen as the device is lost or stolen or damaged or dunked or dropped or corrupts or fails, too.

If you don’t want Apple Music (the service, and a service which also offers syncing akin to the iTunes Match service, as well as a music rental), you can store the primary copies of your audio using Apple Music (the app) on macOS or using iTunes (the app) on Windows, and cable-sync from that library out to your devices.

But if you want to coordinate and modify playlists across multiple devices in parallel, you’re going to need Apple Music (the service) or iTunes Match (the service). Or an enhancement requested of and then implemented by Apple. Or some other music library and music sync service; an alternative.

And again, Apple Music (the service) effectively includes the iTunes Match service, and will upload and sync your own unique audio, and will maintain it across all your devices. Beyond these features, Apple Music (the service) is also a music rental service, as well as a music discovery service.

“Why?” questions are best directed to Apple.

The Apple Music service offers this sync, as does the iTunes Match service.

Rich Allcorn wrote:

I looked ... there is NO app called "iTunes Match" ...

It's not an app, it's a service. Did you click on the link in MrHoffman's first post?