Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Kendo

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 4, 2011
2,339
858
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? If I already have Apple Music, is iTunes Match included?
 

Phil77354

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2014
1,927
2,036
Pacific Northwest, U.S.
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.
 

Kendo

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 4, 2011
2,339
858
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?
 

Starship67

Suspended
Oct 28, 2017
958
1,337
LA
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?


Yes that is correct and If you subscribe to Apple Music you do not need iTunes Match you get essentially both with Apple Music.
 

Phil77354

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2014
1,927
2,036
Pacific Northwest, U.S.
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.
 

BrianBaughn

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2011
9,846
2,505
Baltimore, Maryland
For permanent storage you'd either want to copy them as disk images or rip the audio as AIFF files.

Because Apple Music goofs up so much in matching ripped CDs I'd say don't add ripped music to Apple Music (iTunes) if Apple Music already has the CD. Just add the Apple Music version of the CD to your library.
 

Starship67

Suspended
Oct 28, 2017
958
1,337
LA
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.

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.
 

Phil77354

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2014
1,927
2,036
Pacific Northwest, U.S.
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.
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.
 

Rigby

macrumors 603
Aug 5, 2008
6,257
10,215
San Jose, CA
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?
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).
If I already have Apple Music, is iTunes Match included?
Yes.
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?
Two things to be aware of:

- Once the subscription ends, you lose access to your songs

- iTunes Match/Apple Music is *not* a backup solution. The matching process isn't perfect and sometimes matches to a wrong song or a different version of a song. For example, I have the Beatles in Mono collection and Apple Music has matched some of the songs to the stereo versions. So don't just rely on the cloud. If you rip your CDs, keep backups of the original files.
So technically if you only buy mainstream music, and all the albums are available on iTunes, I only need to "match" it once?
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.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.