I have loaded (ripped) most of my CD collection onto iTunes, but so far I haven't been bold enough to get rid of my physical CD's.
But as long as you keep a good backup of your iTunes library, I would say that you are good.
iTunes Match is a separate product from Apple Music. I don't use either but if your desire is to have your own CDs available 'anywhere', then it could be that iTunes Match is worth using. I tried it a few years ago and did not retain my subscription after a year or so, but I don't really need access to my music library away from home.
Doesn't iTunes Match permanently match up your ripped collection with the iTunes library if both albums are available? Like if I rip a Beatles album and it matches with the iTunes version so I get it saved in the cloud as I own it? So technically if you only buy mainstream music, and all the albums are available on iTunes, I only need to "match" it once?
Another aspect to be aware of is (and correct me if I'm wrong here) - as long as you continue to maintain your subscription to Apple Music, then you have access to everything it has available.
But you don't own any of that music, and your access to it relies upon your maintaining the subscription.
So - if you get rid of your CDs, and then just use Apple Music to listen to them (& much more), then if you discontinue Apple Music at any time, you're back to square one.
Yes, agreed. I have all (or most) of my CDs ripped into iTunes, and everything is backed up. I still keep my CDs around but at some point I'll probably realize that it's not necessary.The only thing you would lose access to is the things you've download or added to your library from Apple music provided you've kept a copy of the Ripped items NEVER delete those. If. you dont have the HD space on your main machine at least keep a copy on another drive somewhere.
Why exactly do you want to get rid of the CDs? If it's about room, I'd just rip them and keep two backups. If you think you may convert them to a yet unknown format in the future, you can use the ALAC (Apple lossless) format (100 CDs would take somewhere between 30 and 60 GB, which would even fit on a USB stick). Otherwise I'd recommend 256kbps AAC (which would probably take between 16 and 30 GB).What is my best option? Do I rip all of them on my iMac through iTunes and then sign up for iTunes Match to get all of them into my iCloud?
Yes.If I already have Apple Music, is iTunes Match included?
Two things to be aware of:Doesn't iTunes Match permanently match up your ripped collection with the iTunes library if both albums are available? Like if I rip a Beatles album and it matches with the iTunes version so I get it saved in the cloud as I own it?
If you have Apple Music, you may find that you end up not using your own rips at all, since Apple will probably have most your albums already. You can just as well find the albums by browsing Apple Music and add them to your library with a single click if you want to. Perhaps something to consider before you start ripping 100 discs just for the purpose of matching.So technically if you only buy mainstream music, and all the albums are available on iTunes, I only need to "match" it once?