Apple has two music subscription services that work with iCloud Music Library: iTunes Match and Apple Music ..
ICloud Music Library is Apple's service for storing your personal music library online by matching your tracks to songs listed on the iTunes Store (or by directly downloading tracks, if there is no match. available). You can then stream and download them - without digital rights management (DRM) submission - to up to ten other registered devices you own.
If you subscribe to Apple Music, you will get iCloud Music Library for a monthly subscription of $ 9.99; otherwise, you can subscribe to Apple's iTunes Match service and pay $ 24.99 per year to store your iTunes library (up to 100,000 songs) in iCloud..
Here's how iCloud Music Library works, how you can subscribe, and how you can get the most out of it!
How iCloud Music Library Works
Apple Music and the standalone iTunes Match service include a feature called iCloud Music Library. Here's what you need to know.
What is iCloud Music Library?
This is the term Apple uses to designate all the music you have stored in iCloud..
Storage? Does it deduct from my iCloud storage cost?
No. You can store up to 100,000 songs with an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription. It will not deduct anything from your iCloud storage cost.
Both ? Does it work with Apple Music and iTunes Match?
Yes, it works with Apple Music subscription and iTunes Match standalone option at the same time. ICloud Music Library allows you to transfer or link your personal Music library to the iTunes store catalog without digital rights management (DRM) submission.
If you have an Apple Music account, you can enjoy iCloud Music Library and subscription music. But if you have a standalone iTunes Match subscription, you will only have access to your iCloud Music Library.
What's wrong with the pairing, the storage, and the like?
When you subscribe to Apple Music or the standalone iTunes Match service, Apple scans your iTunes music library to check and see which tracks you own that are also listed in the iTunes Store.
To save space and time when downloading, any track in your library that is also available in the catalog in the iTunes Music store “matches” the catalog version. This means that when you play that track on your iPhone or another Mac, you will get the iTunes Music Store version (a non-digital rights management (DRM), 256 kbps, AAC file) rather than your music file. origin. Apple uses metadata and fingerprint matching to match your songs and those in the iTunes Store.
It's not perfect, and you might have issues matching tracks live or rare with studio versions. However, for most users, you should be able to use the service without any problems.
All songs that do not match the iTunes catalog will be uploaded to iCloud in their original form, except tracks that are too weak (less than 92 kbps), too long (more than two hours), too large (more than 200MB) ) or those that you are not authorized to play (for example, a song from another iTunes account for which you do not have the ID or password).
If you have songs in your library that are encoded in ALAC, WAV, or AIFF, they might be transcoded to a 256 kbps AAC file when uploaded to iCloud. But the original file in your iTunes library will not change.
Once your songs are downloaded, they will be stored or paired in your iCloud Music Library. Any device you own can listen to or download songs from it.
Note: Currently, you will need an iTunes library with 100,000 songs or less for your iCloud Music Library to work properly.
What can iCloud Music Library get for me?
A lot of things ! Go to your Mac's library on any of your other devices to preview it.
If you have subscribed to Apple Music, it also allows you to add songs and playlists from the subscription catalog to your library. You can save these tracks for offline playback.
Do I need a backup before I turn on iCloud Music Library?
Yes, yes and again yes. ICloud Music Library can give you copies of your songs in the cloud, but it is by no means a backup service. So please heed our warning: Make sure you have a full and local copy of all your music on your primary computer (or external hard drive) before enabling iCloud Music Library.
How to back up your iTunes library
If you've already turned it on and you don't have all of your music locally on a computer, don't panic. Make sure your music shows as "Matched" or "Downloaded" and not "Apple Music," then download any missing tracks to your primary Mac.
Why not use iCloud Music Library?
If you don't have a backup of your Mac's library, and you have a lot of tracks with crazy metadata you're worried that iCloud might mess it up, or you don't want to save songs offline from Apple Music, you should probably quit iCloud Music Library and turn it off.
Can I still use Apple Music without iCloud Music Library?
Go ahead, bet. You can use iCloud Music Library with some devices and not others.
I activated iCloud Music Library and it ate my entire library / it destroyed everything / ahh! Help me !
Take a deep breath. Do you have a backup? If so, turn off iCloud Music Library on your Mac and restore your library from that file.
If you don't have a backup, there are plenty of other things you can try, like: chatting with Apple Support or resetting your iCloud Music Library.
What you can and can't do with iCloud Music Library
Now that we've explained what iCloud Music Library is, here's a quick rundown of what it can and can't do.
With iCloud Music Library, you can ...
- Transfer your Mac library to up to ten different devices you own (including up to 5 Mac or Windows computers).
- Delete the tracks you own on your Mac and re-download them to get high quality 256 kbps versions and and without Digital Rights Management (DRM) submission to the iTuness Store (useful if you have poor quality tracks ).
You can not ...
- Manually sync music from iTunes to your iPhone: now everything is done live.
- Use your iCloud Music Library with Family Sharing: Each Apple ID (and their iCloud Music Library) is separate; so you can download any purchase from iTunes.
- Link or download over 100,000 tracks from your library that were not purchased from the iTunes Store: If you still want to use iCloud Music Library but have too many tracks, create a secondary iTunes library.
- Use in all countries: Here is the list of countries supported by Apple for iCloud Music Library.
Note: If you only use the $ 24.99 / year iTunes Match service, iCloud Music Library will not give you access to music from the Apple Music catalog: You must have an Apple Music subscription for this.
How to activate iCloud Music Library on your computer
If you have iTunes Match:
1. If you are signed in to your iTunes account, open iTunes and go to the “Account” menu.
2. Click on “Logout”.
3. Click on the “Match” tab in iTunes, (or go to “Account” → “iTunes Match”).
4. Select “Subscription for $ 24.99 per year”.
5. Enter your Apple ID and password.
6. When your subscription is complete, select “Use iCloud Music Library”.
7. Click “Add This Computer” to download and link your computer's music library to iCloud Music Library. (This step can happen automatically, so don't panic if you don't see it.)
Adding an additional PC (Mac or Windows) is similar to the initial registration process for iTunes Match users. It's also a great way to unify a music library if you've accidentally built separate collections on your personal and work machines - once you've enabled iCloud Music Library on both machines, you can download all songs. from your secondary PC or Mac to your primary computer.
1. On your secondary Mac, open iTunes and navigate to the “Account” menu.
2. Click on “Logout”.
3. Click on the “Match” tab in iTunes, (or go to “Account” → “iTunes Match”).
4. Select “Subscription for $ 24.99 per year”.
5. Enter your Apple ID and password. (You may need to enter it twice.)
6. Select “Use iCloud Music Library” to make it work on this computer.
7. iTunes will remind you that you have already subscribed to iTunes Match and ask if you want to activate it on this computer. Click “Add This Computer” to connect your computer's music library to iTunes Match and iCloud Music Library.
How to activate iCloud Music Library with mobile download
If you want to stream songs from your iCloud Music Library through your cellular data connection, as well as over Wi-Fi, follow these steps.
1. Go to “Settings” on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
2. Tap “iTunes Store & App Store”.
3. Turn on the “Cellular data” switch.
Keep in mind that this option not only allows cellular data access to your iCloud Music Library over LTE or 4G, but also for automatic downloads and Apple Music. If you'd prefer to avoid this, you can turn off automatic downloads on your devices or just turn on the “Use Cellular Data” switch if needed.
How to see local music on your Mac
There are two ways to view your iCloud Music Library tracks stored locally on your Mac. The easiest way is:
1. Open iTunes.
2. Select “My Music” from the drop-down menu.
3. Go to the “View” menu and select “Only Downloaded Music”.
You can also view the songs that are stored in iCloud Music Library by doing the following:
1. Open iTunes.
2. Select “My Music” from the drop-down menu.
3. Select “Songs” from the sidebar.
4. Access the “View” menu and select “Show View Options”.
5. Check the “iCloud Download” box.
The resulting column will not show an icon if your track is stored locally; but a cloud icon with a down arrow will appear if your track is stored only in iCloud; or there will be a cloud icon with a line across it if the track is local, but ineligible for iCloud Music Library (usually a PDF).
How to see local music on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
1. Open the Music app.
2. Tap the “Library” tab.
3. Tap “Downloads”.
To return to viewing all your music, tap the "Library" tab again.
If you're having trouble with iCloud Music Library, or have more questions, let us know in the comments.
