Ripped CDs Removed from Music

Question

Ripped CDs Removed from Music

Recently, I tried to play something on my iPhone that I had ripped in 2020 and have listened to recently, but I got the message to "Turn on Music Sync." When that didn't work, I started to look for the music and found the entries in Apple Music, but nothing more than the data stored under info, no music or album art. Digging further, I've found a *lot* of music I ripped off my CDs missing, but not just whole albums. I found an album still listed, but with only one track under it. I went back as far as I could go in Time Machine (Jan 1st, 2025), but none of the albums were there.

Yes, I use Apple Music, but don't use Apple Match (or whatever it's called). I've pasted a screenshot of the track I was trying to listen to (Yes, I am a geek). Other missing tracks are essentially the same thing, "Cloud Status: Waiting" and "Location: Cloud", but *where* in the cloud?

[Edited by Moderator]

iMac 27″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Oct 13, 2025 3:00 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

turingtest2

Level 10

277,949 points

Oct 15, 2025 5:56 AM in response to rogerfromtucker

If you have unhidden purchases from the iTunes Store these are available to you to stream or download on demand when you are signed into your account in the iTunes or Apple Music apps. If you also have either of the iTunes Match or Apple Music subscription services, and enable the Sync Library feature, then locally stored music and playlists are added to a Cloud Music Library connected to your account. With an Apple Music subscription you may additionally add content from the Apple Music catalog to your cloud library while your subscription remains active.

Waiting is indicative of a track that was one in at least one of your connected libraries or devices and was scheduled to be added to the library, either by matching with an item in the catalog, or by being uploaded. Since that process has not completed you cannot stream or download that item. This can only be resolved at the original library, or by adding a fresh copy of the track to your library by ripping from CD or downloading from the original source.

If you don't have either Apple Music or iTunes Match then Sync Library should not show in your options, and there shouldn't be any way for tracks to have a cloud status. My guess is that you do have one of those services, but have perhaps not ensured that all tracks have been matched or uploaded before removing local copies. Have you switched computers at some point? You may not have realised that you should have physically copied your library from one computer to the other at the time.

tt2

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Answer 2

Oct 14, 2025 6:47 PM in response to rogerfromtucker

My understanding is that the term "iCloud Music Library" can refer either to

iCloud synchronization as a result of an iCloud Match subscription, or
iCloud synchronization as a result of using the "Sync Library" feature of an Apple Music subscription

Like the iCloud area that iCloud Photos uses, which can only be accessed through the Photos app, whatever iCloud area iCloud Music Library uses can only be accessed through the Music app. You can't go in with Finder (on a Mac) or the Files app (on an iPhone) to see what might be there in the cloud.

Sounds to me like you did turn on "Sync Library", at least on one of your devices – even though you were not using iCloud Match.

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