How to sync purchased music across devices without Apple Music subscription?

Question

How to sync purchased music across devices without Apple Music subscription?

How can Users sync music (purchased or uploaded from CD) across all devices WITHOUT an Apple Music subscription? Is this even possible with macOS Sequoia or iOS 18.5?

I’d recently discontinued my Apple Music subscription, only to see all playlists had disappeared on every Apple device. This included Playlists containing ONLY purchased music or tracks from purchased CDs via the old iTunes application. Even my computer, a MacBook Pro laptop (running macOS Sequoia current version).

Restarting an AM monthly subscription DID NOT replace the missing playlists containing purchased/uploaded music from iTunes era and noticed several mp3 files missing from the User system Music folders on Mac computer.

Are Users required to have an AM subscription in order to sync across devices? Is there a way to sync Music across devices without an AM subscription? Help!

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jun 27, 2025 04:21 PM

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Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

63,428 points

Jun 27, 2025 07:03 PM in response to Mtnbikechiq25

Mtn Bike Chiq,

In the sense of the automatic syncing that you are thinking of, yes you need a subscription. See info in here:

Use Sync Library with your Apple Music subscription - Apple Support

Without a subscription you can still sync each device with Finder. You also can set each device to automatically download each new purchase, which will keep your new purchases in sync (but does not affect past purchases).

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