Is it now safe to turn on iCloud Music Library?

[jk73]

After hearing about all of the problems with Apple Music and iCloud Music Library, I held off on installing the OS X and iTunes updates. A couple days ago, I installed the updates but immediately turned off iCloud Music Library on my MBP, iPhone, and iPad, and I also haven't started the Apple Music trial.

I've been an iTunes Match subscriber for about three years and my subscription is still active. At this point, is it safe to enable iCloud Music Library and to turn iTunes Match back on (it was turned off when I restarted after the updates), or is iCloud Music Library still screwing up people's meta data and album art?

It seemed like most, if not all, of the people having problems with iCloud Music Library were people who were *former* iTunes Match users, but I might be wrong about that. All feedback appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jstuts5797]

I have the exact same question.. I am a iTunes Match subscriber and also an Apple Music subscriber. I have refrained from updating my itunes at all since the Apple Music launch. I too am wondering if it is now safe. I plan on remaining both a iTunes Match subscriber and a Apple Music subscriber.

 

[ufkdo]

I am an itunes match subscriber as well and I do not use the Apple Music currently (since it is still not available here). I have not turned off icloud music library after the itunes update. I think the problem is not the iml, but the combination of Apple Music and iml. So I think you are safe to turn it on if you have not subscribed to Apple Music yet.

 

[flur]

From the comments in the thread in the news section, it seems hit-or-miss. Some folks are seeing their issues resolved, others are seeing no change at all, and a few are having new issues.

 

[Jstuts5797]

I am an itunes match subscriber as well and I do not use the Apple Music currently (since it is still not available here). I have not turned off icloud music library after the itunes update. I think the problem is not the iml, but the combination of Apple Music and iml. So I think you are safe to turn it on if you have not subscribed to Apple Music yet.

So your saying since I subscribe to both, maybe I should still hold off on updating? Apple music along with iTunes Match has always worked great for me since day one on my iPad and iPhone, btw.

 

[ufkdo]

So your saying since I subscribe to both, maybe I should still hold off on updating? Apple music along with iTunes Match has always worked great for me since day one on my iPad and iPhone, btw.

I cannot comment on this unfortunately. Since I do not use the Apple Music, I do not know the consequences of updating. Maybe someone who uses the services simultaneously can comment on this.

 

[Jstuts5797]

I cannot comment on this unfortunately. Since I do not use the Apple Music, I do not know the consequences of updating. Maybe someone who uses the services simultaneously can comment on this.

Ok its ok.. thanks for trying anyway! I do appreciate the response. There are just so many different combinations of use case scenarios now that its hard to find someone in my exact situation. ESPECIALLY since I never ever upgraded iTunes to begin with. If I already had I'd try the update right away.

Either way, I will keep my eyes peeled here for anyone else that might be able to offer some hope.

 

[flur]

I cannot comment on this unfortunately. Since I do not use the Apple Music, I do not know the consequences of updating. Maybe someone who uses the services simultaneously can comment on this.

Like I said above, the consequences vary. Some are fine, some are seeing a mess.

 

[jk73]

Anyone else? Looking for people who are current users of iTunes Match *and* iCloud Music Library (with or without Apple Music) and wondering if things are now working as advertised, with no overwritten metadata, wrong album art, etc. Thanks.

 

[Julien]

Anyone else? Looking for people who are current users of iTunes Match *and* iCloud Music Library (with or without Apple Music) and wondering if things are now working as advertised, with no overwritten metadata, wrong album art, etc. Thanks.

It is safe, in you just restore your Music folder from your backup if you encounter problems. Of course this takes time but it is why we make backups so that nothing will be lost.

I may give it a 3ed go tomorrow. Though I'm pessimistic that it will work correctly (without screwing up my metadata).

 

[Rigby]

Anyone else? Looking for people who are current users of iTunes Match *and* iCloud Music Library (with or without Apple Music)

You can't use iTunes Match without iCloud Music Library, so this is not the right question. I think ufkdo is correct: The combination of Apple Music and iCloud Music Library is what causes the problems. If you have only iTunes Match but don't subscribe to Apple Music, everything works fine (at least it does for me and the others I have seen reporting here).

 

[jk73]

It is safe, in you just restore your Music folder from your backup if you encounter problems. Of course this takes time but it is why we make backups so that nothing will be lost.

I may give it a 3ed go tomorrow. Though I'm pessimistic that it will work correctly (without screwing up my metadata).

Well, if you're pessimistic, that doesn't sound all that safe to me. I'm not interested in checking 8,000-plus songs for incorrect metadata and/or album art. Thanks for the reply, though.

 

[jk73]

You can't use iTunes Match without iCloud Music Library, so this is not the right question. I think ufkdo is correct: The combination of Apple Music and iCloud Music Library is what causes the problems. If you have only iTunes Match but don't subscribe to Apple Music, everything works fine (at least it does for me and the others I have seen reporting here).

No, it was the right question. I'm trying to figure out if people who are *current* iTunes Match users are having problems with iCloud Music Library, or if it's just *former* users who are/were encountering the duplicates, wrong metadata, wrong album art, etc.

 

[flur]

No, it was the right question. I'm trying to figure out if people who are *current* iTunes Match users are having problems with iCloud Music Library, or if it's just *former* users who are/were encountering the duplicates, wrong metadata, wrong album art, etc.

Yes, current users are having issues. Yes, former users are having issues. Yes, people who have never used Match at all are having match-related issues.

The tldr here is DON'T GO INTO THE WATER!

 

[Rigby]

No, it was the right question. I'm trying to figure out if people who are *current* iTunes Match users are having problems with iCloud Music Library, or if it's just *former* users who are/were encountering the duplicates, wrong metadata, wrong album art, etc.

To my knowledge no iTunes Match user, current or not, who has *not* also subscribed to Apple Music has these issues. It's Apple Music (and how it interacts with the iCloud Library) that caused all the mess.

Regarding iCloud Music Library, it's important to understand that this is not a separate service. iTunes Match builds on iCloud Music Library (it uses it to store your local libary in the cloud), and cannot work without it. This is not new, it's just that Apple has introduced this new terminology because Apple Music also uses the iCloud Library (to store saved music) if you subscribe to that.

 

[jk73]

To my knowledge no iTunes Match user, current or not, who has *not* also subscribed to Apple Music has these issues. It's Apple Music (and how it interacts with the iCloud Library) that caused all the mess.

Okay, thanks. It seems like others have claimed otherwise, but the initial threads quickly devolved into dozens of people describing different usage patterns, so it's been hard to discern if it's Apple Music or iCloud Music Library's matching that has been causing the problems.

Regarding iCloud Music Library, it's important to understand that this is not a separate service. iTunes Match builds on iCloud Music Library (it uses it to store your local libary in the cloud), and cannot work without it. This is not new, it's just that Apple has introduced this new terminology because Apple Music also uses the iCloud Library (to store saved music) if you subscribe to that.

Right, I understand one can't use iTunes Match without enabling iCloud Music Library. After installing the updates, iTunes Match was turned off, so I've had no iTunes Match and no iCloud Music Library (which I disabled manually immediately after updating) for the past few days.

Incidentally, while iCloud Music Library isn't a totally new service or functionality, my understanding is that songs are re-matched and/or re-uploaded, even for people who were already iTunes Match users and whose libraries were already in the cloud. Maybe this is wrong, but I've read this elsewhere. Thanks.

 

[Rigby]

Incidentally, while iCloud Music Library isn't a totally new service or functionality, my understanding is that songs are re-matched and/or re-uploaded, even for people who were already iTunes Match users and whose libraries were already in the cloud.

I have iTunes Match (but not Apple Music), and the library was not updated/re-matched when I installed iTunes 12.2. Again, this seems to have only affected people who signed up for Apple Music. For example, some songs that should be "matched" were erroneously reclassified as "Apple Music" (also see Apple's new support document).

 

[jk73]

I have iTunes Match (but not Apple Music), and the library was not updated/re-matched when I installed iTunes 12.2. Again, this seems to have only affected people who signed up for Apple Music. For example, some songs that should be "matched" were erroneously reclassified as "Apple Music" (also see Apple's new support document).

Interesting re: the lack of a new re-match/re-upload. Thanks. I'll probably wait another day or two and then turn Match and iCloud Music Library on. Hopefully things will "just work," as Steve used to say.

You haven't had any problems with metadata, album art, etc., at all?

 

[Rigby]

You haven't had any problems with metadata, album art, etc., at all?

Nope, nothing. Match behaves just like before.

 

[Jstuts5797]

Just wanted to update everyone here. I finally got tired of waiting and took the plunge. Just so we have my case senario: I have been a iTunes Match subscriber for quite some time and remained that way when I started the Apple Music trial. Before today, I had NOT updated itunes on my PC. On my iOS devices, the day Apple Music started, I enabled icloud music library and had it MERGE the libraries. Apple Music has worked great since day 1 with all my music showing up, both local, and in the cloud, purchased tracks and previously itunes matched tracks as well... it was all there.

So I updated iTunes finally just a bit ago and let it do its thing, and I can report no issues. Same number of songs, same play time, and same GB used on hard drive. I went through SEVERAL songs to check the info. The ones I didn't own but added to Apple Music on my iOS devices before hand showed up correctly as Apple Music, Purchased songs showed up as PUrchased ACC, and itunes match songs show up as whatever file type it is on my hard drive, showed me the correct local drive path to the file (and I checked and the file is still there with correct meta data and all) I tried some bootlegged songs too that did not have 100% correct meta data... they all showed up fine. Then I tried deleting and then redownloading several of those same files (don't worry all backed up) and had no issues whatsoever. So basically for me, its all "just working" out of the box, no issues whatsoever.

 

[jacks77]

Am I safe to only enable iCloud Music Library on my phone, to do offline listening?

i.e., enabling it on my phone won't touch my perfect, offline library on my Mac will it? I would have to actually go onto my Mac as well as my phone and enable it there before anything gets broken? (I am running the latest iTunes on my Mac)

 

[Sanlitun]

The maddening thing about this is the inconsistency...

I have three devices using apple music and the results are different on each one. As an example my ALAC rip of Magical Mystery Tour was replaced completely on my IPad, but remains as local files on my Iphone and Ipod Touch.

My rip of Free's Fire and Water is present on the Ipad, and Iphone, but some (not all) of the tracks are replaced on the IPod.

In the case of replaced songs there are quite a few that are the wrong version or remixes etc. David Bowie's Nothing Has Changed has had its version of Fame replaced with the live version from the Reality Tour recording.

Etc.

You can imagine how it feels to fire up Can Opener on your IPod to listen to local files and find that half of the tracks on any given album are missing.