Is This the Right Way to Undo My iTunes Match Mess?

[steveaus]

BACKSTORY
Over the years we've purchased a lot of music from iTunes on my wife's account (we'll call it WIFE@me.com) as well as some Apps for her iPhone.

Then I got an iPad and I purchased a lot of apps for that iPad using HUSBAND@me.com.

Then I bought an iTunes Match subscription using my wife's iTunes account, WIFE@me.com on our home computer.

PROBLEM
We want to share all of our music and our Apps between our devices but can't b/c we're using two different iTunes accounts.

MY SOLUTION - IS IT THE RIGHT WAY?
I was going to stop using WIFE@me.com account altogether. Start using only HUSBAND@me.com for all future iTunes purchases.

Will we lose access to all the music we purchased with WIFE@me.com iTunes account?

What should I do with her Match account? At this point, I'm inclined to just right off the $25 and start over with a HUSBAND@me.com iTunes Match subscription. Will I lose anything if I do that?

 

[verwon]

Yes, you can't combine them.

 

[steveaus]

So is it better to ditch the iTunes account with $250 in music or the iTunes account with $150 in apps?

 

[verwon]

So is it better to ditch the iTunes account with $250 in music or the iTunes account with $150 in apps?

Only you can make that choice. Kind of sucks either way.

 

[steveaus]

My understanding - and please correct me if I'm mistaken - is that even if I stop using WIFE@me.com - I should be able to keep all my music since recent stuff is DRM-free and old stuff would be authorized on this computer.

The catch is Match, since I'd also be switching to a new Match subscription (my existing one is tied to WIFE@me.com). Would I lose music by changing to a Match subscription tied to HUSBAND@me.com.

 

[Kyotoma]

I would transfer all your purchases to your Wife's account and then authorize your devices to use them then ditch the husband@me account.

 

[iAmYou]

So is it better to ditch the iTunes account with $250 in music or the iTunes account with $150 in apps?

Just burn the music to cd's then re-rip them in the account with the apps you don't want to lose.

 

[scaredpoet]

My understanding - and please correct me if I'm mistaken - is that even if I stop using WIFE@me.com - I should be able to keep all my music since recent stuff is DRM-free and old stuff would be authorized on this computer.

Yeah, you should be able to authorize the restricted stuff on your computer and the non-DRM stuff should be fine.

If you want to completely resolve this mess once and for all, you can also go in to the iTunes store logged in as the wife's account, click on the iTunes store, and then on the right hand column, click "iTunes Plus." There, it will tell you how much it's gonna cost to upgrade your protected files to DRM-Free.

If it's more than $25, then it would make better sense to subscribe to iTunes Match one-time, on the wife's account, and then use it to convert all your DRM'ed music to DRM-free.

 

[steveaus]

If it's more than $25, then it would make better sense to subscribe to iTunes Match one-time, on the wife's account, and then use it to convert all your DRM'ed music to DRM-free.

Thanks for the explanation.

Since I already have Match on that computer using my wife's account, does that mean all of the music is now DRM-free and that I won't lose anything by switching to my iTunes account and then subscribing to Match again?

I haven't listened to much music since we Match-ed. Do I need to do something to download everything before I make the switch?