Resolved For You Mixes Playlists

[Mad4WDW]

Hi All,

Does anyone know what happens to your library collection when you add a mix such as the My Chill Mix. Do all those songs get added as individual songs to your library? Or does it segment them off so when the playlist changes the following week those songs are no longer in your library. And linked to this if you make the playlist available offline what happens to the songs the following week when the playlist changes. Are all the new songs still there now as well as the week before's songs so your device starts to fill?

I guess what I want to know is if I add the Chill Mix Playlist to my library will my library start getting filled with random songs as the playlist changes each week or are they switched out as the playlist changes?

TIA

 

[Brookzy]

You raise a good question because this is a very confusing part of Apple Music. I started writing this post as a quick one but realised it is more complicated to explain than I expected. So bear with me...

First, note that Apple treats your Apple Music playlists and your personal library as separate, standalone things. That's why when you look in your iTunes sidebar, you see the library section first, then Apple Music's (and shared) playlists, and then your personal playlists. They're different things. Just because the My Chill Mix is present in your playlists, none of its songs are actually in your library.

(Just to make things even more confusing, Apple is using the word 'library' very loosely in iOS 11, to mean basically anything: your playlists, your songs, your My Chill Mix... in iOS 11 Apple talks of them all as though they're your library.)

So, to reiterate, while the My Chill Mix playlist appears on your devices and in iTunes, it is not automatically in your library. Next week, when the playlist is updated, you will have absolutely no record of any of the removed songs anywhere. They're gone.

But, you can add songs from the My Chill Mix playlist - and other playlists - to your library. You have to do this manually because they're not added automatically. If you do this, it will add the songs that are present in the playlist at that moment in time to your library. Next week, when the playlist changes, your library won't change. Once it's in your library, it's there for good.

Regarding offline songs:

• If you save the My Chill Mix playlist offline but don't add any of its songs to your library, then the songs saved offline will update automatically each week, and thus songs that Apple removes from the playlist will no longer be available offline on your device.
• If you save the My Chill Mix playlist offline and do add any of its songs it to your library, then the songs saved offline will be in your library for good, and saved offline. They won't get removed next week.

Now that the logic is clear, here are the short answers to your questions:

...what happens to your library collection when you add a mix such as the My Chill Mix. Do all those songs get added as individual songs to your library?

No.

...if you make the playlist available offline what happens to the songs the following week when the playlist changes.

They're gone, unless you added them to your library manually.

...if I add the Chill Mix Playlist to my library will my library start getting filled with random songs as the playlist changes each week...

No.*

*And this is the exact reason why this is so complicated! If Apple Music playlists were automatically added to your library, then a whole tonne of metadata would need to be recorded so that Apple knew which song in your library came from where, so that it can be deleted next week, otherwise your playlist would grow infinitely over time. That would screw everyone over. Plus, it's a generally bad idea to delete things from people's personal libraries. The solution is thus this complicated "it's in your iCloud Music Library, but it's not in your library" system. It's confusing and annoying, but at least there are good reasons for it.

 

[Mad4WDW]

Dude! Thanks for the detailed reply and taking the time out to do that I appreciate it. You've confirmed what I thought would happen and it makes sense to me

You raise a good question because this is a very confusing part of Apple Music. I started writing this post as a quick one but realised it is more complicated to explain than I expected. So bear with me...

First, note that Apple treats your Apple Music playlists and your personal library as separate, standalone things. That's why when you look in your iTunes sidebar, you see the library section first, then Apple Music's (and shared) playlists, and then your personal playlists. They're different things. Just because the My Chill Mix is present in your playlists, none of its songs are actually in your library.

(Just to make things even more confusing, Apple is using the word 'library' very loosely in iOS 11, to mean basically anything: your playlists, your songs, your My Chill Mix... in iOS 11 Apple talks of them all as though they're your library.)

So, to reiterate, while the My Chill Mix playlist appears on your devices and in iTunes, it is not automatically in your library. Next week, when the playlist is updated, you will have absolutely no record of any of the removed songs anywhere. They're gone.

But, you can add songs from the My Chill Mix playlist - and other playlists - to your library. You have to do this manually because they're not added automatically. If you do this, it will add the songs that are present in the playlist at that moment in time to your library. Next week, when the playlist changes, your library won't change. Once it's in your library, it's there for good.

Regarding offline songs:

• If you save the My Chill Mix playlist offline but don't add any of its songs to your library, then the songs saved offline will update automatically each week, and thus songs that Apple removes from the playlist will no longer be available offline on your device.
• If you save the My Chill Mix playlist offline and do add any of its songs it to your library, then the songs saved offline will be in your library for good, and saved offline. They won't get removed next week.

Now that the logic is clear, here are the short answers to your questions:


No.


They're gone, unless you added them to your library manually.


No.*

*And this is the exact reason why this is so complicated! If Apple Music playlists were automatically added to your library, then a whole tonne of metadata would need to be recorded so that Apple knew which song in your library came from where, so that it can be deleted next week, otherwise your playlist would grow infinitely over time. That would screw everyone over. Plus, it's a generally bad idea to delete things from people's personal libraries. The solution is thus this complicated "it's in your iCloud Music Library, but it's not in your library" system. It's confusing and annoying, but at least there are good reasons for it.