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tkermit

macrumors 68040
Feb 20, 2004
3,586
2,921
I'm an iTunes Match subscriber. When I add a curated Apple Music Playlist to my library, any songs contained in that playlist that already exist in my library and have long been matched see its iCloud status changed from 'matched' to 'Apple Music'. More importantly, those songs are now DRM-protected when I try to download them! Any way to change this ?!?! :eek:
 

Blujelly

macrumors 65816
Sep 2, 2012
1,275
477
South East England
"With an Apple Music membership, your entire library lives in iCloud. We compare every track in your collection to the Apple Music library to see if we have a copy. If we do, you can automatically listen to it straight from the cloud. If you have music that’s not in our catalog, we upload those songs from iTunes on your Mac or PC. It’s all in iCloud, so it won’t take up any space on your devices.

The caveat is that you won't be able to stream songs from your iTunes library that aren't matched from Apple Music. Those will only be accessible as downloads."

So to be on the safe side if I wanted to listen to all of my iTunes library, I'd be best keeping both Match and AM just incase for what ever reason AM could find an album on AM.
 

fatboyslick

macrumors regular
Jun 23, 2010
234
76
I was with the OP until this paragraph which wasn't well written:

Plus, if you try to add a song from Apple Music to Your Music... If you bought the song from the iTunes Store OR if you matched it with iTunes Match, Apple Music won't allow it, it will recognize that you already own that song, that it is already in your library, so if you decide to download it for off-line listening, it won't give you an AAC protected file, it will give you a regular DRM-free file. That's the big difference between Apple Music cloud service and iTunes Match, but the cloud is the same, it just got renamed, iTunes Match is an extra, optional feature, they are not separate clouds, only one. Hence the "iTunes Match complements Apple Music" sentence.

Are you saying that if you sub to match and music and try to download a matched or bought song, Apple will give you the equivalent song type you would get if you just had match
 

webbuzz

macrumors 68020
Jul 24, 2010
2,487
7,852
I'm an iTunes Match subscriber. When I add a curated Apple Music Playlist to my library, any songs contained in that playlist that already exist in my library and have long been matched see its iCloud status changed from 'matched' to 'Apple Music'. More importantly, those songs are now DRM-protected when I try to download them! Any way to change this ?!?! :eek:
I noticed this as well after adding some Apple Music Playlists. So, I thought maybe, if I delete the playlist, the song with Apple Music DRM will return back to matched. Nope.
 
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Soni Sanjay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 25, 2013
329
885
Thanks for this very clear post. Good that I made a backup of my entire library before. It is really unfortunate that Apple creates this mess now. It means that I won't be able to get rid of my local copies under these circumstances and iTunes seems to prefer playing my bad quality copies over high-quality streaming, unless I delete the local copies. It's also sad that Apple offers no information on this at all and that I have to look elsewhere. Damn it, Apple.

Oh yes, Apple doesn't explain people that if they delete their original they will be left with a DRM file... It's kinda a big deal so IDK why they avoid it... Thanks for reading!
 

cornycopier

macrumors member
Aug 13, 2014
51
59
I've been an iTunes Match subscriber since its inception. Most of my library has been in the cloud for years in order to save space on my machines as well as to be able to play across all of them. What I am seeing is that this functionality has not changed at all. I can still download any songs I have had matched for years. I can still add them to my iPod. I can still remove them from my iPod and add them back at will. This includes songs from various artists both available in Apple Music (Alanis Morisette) and not available in Apple Music (The Beatles). I can also create MP3 copies of matched songs that I want to download for use on other devices that I own, should I wish. I just did it.

iTunes Match is still the same thing it was. It's complementary to Apple Music, as they have said.

How does the whole thing work? As I understand it and in practice I see it as a lease vs ownership thing. As I see it, this is how it breaks down:

Apple Music (think of it as a lease)
  • Stream any music available to be streamed in the iTunes Music Store (this includes music I already own)
  • Add to Library/Make available for offline listening any music available to be streamed in iTunes Music Store
    • If I don't already own the song, it is DRM'ed and cannot be put on my iPod without first purchasing it
    • If I do already own the song (iTunes Match), it is NOT DRM'ed and can be put on my iPod if I so choose
iTunes Match (think of it as a ownership)
  • Match (legally or illegally) obtained music with what's available in the iTunes Music Store
  • Upload music (legally or illegally) obtained music not matched with what's available in the iTunes Music Store
  • Make available across all devices matched and unmatched music
  • Download NON DRM'ed copies of owned music, no matter the source. It does not matter that it is available on Apple Music. If you've obtained your own copies of music and matched (or not matched but uploaded) something in the iTunes Music Store, you still get a DRM FREE copy when you download on another device. You can still put these songs on an iPod or whatever.
iTunes Match still works the same. The complementary aspect of it is that you retain full DRM FREE ownership of your matched and unmatched music as always to do with as you wish.

There is one caveat that I noticed where removing songs from iTunes Match is concerned, however.

There is a NEW option when you try to (formerly) "delete" a song form your local machine and retain a copy in the iTunes Match cloud (whatever they're calling it now). Before, you just deleted the song and were presented with an option to remove it from the cloud as well. Now, if you want to retain the song in iTunes Match, you must NOT choose to delete it but must choose to REMOVE DOWNLOAD. This will remove the song downloaded to your local machine but retain a record of the match in the cloud. If you choose DELETE now, it will delete the match record as well. I suspect that after deletion of the match record, if you have no local copy, you're now trapped with a DRM'ed copy from Apple Music unless you obtain another copy to match again.

If Apple attempted to replace everybody's DRM FREE iTunes Match libraries with Apple Music DRM'ed versions of all songs and disallow usage of songs owned, it would be nothing short of an act of corporate theft. They wouldn't do it.

I LOVE that I have access to such a huge library of music as the iTunes Music Store to stream as I see fit. If I like something a lot and want to put it on other devices, I'll buy it. Simple as that.

Sorry for the length but I hope this helps some people.
 

Soni Sanjay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 25, 2013
329
885
I was with the OP until this paragraph which wasn't well written:

Plus, if you try to add a song from Apple Music to Your Music... If you bought the song from the iTunes Store OR if you matched it with iTunes Match, Apple Music won't allow it, it will recognize that you already own that song, that it is already in your library, so if you decide to download it for off-line listening, it won't give you an AAC protected file, it will give you a regular DRM-free file. That's the big difference between Apple Music cloud service and iTunes Match, but the cloud is the same, it just got renamed, iTunes Match is an extra, optional feature, they are not separate clouds, only one. Hence the "iTunes Match complements Apple Music" sentence.

Are you saying that if you sub to match and music and try to download a matched or bought song, Apple will give you the equivalent song type you would get if you just had match

Yes, Apple will give you a DRM-free file depending on the kind of file, but it would be the same as if you just had match, without Apple Music.
 

Phil A.

Moderator emeritus
Apr 2, 2006
5,800
3,100
Shropshire, UK
I've seen that lots of people are confused regarding the matching and cloud functionality of Apple Music vs the regular iTunes Match service. Here's a simple explanation to define the differences between those services.

There are several ways to get music from Apple.

1.- Directly buying from the iTunes Store.
2.- Matching songs you already own, deleting them, and downloading fresh AAC copies from the store.
3.- Subscribing to Apple Music.

In all 3 cases, you receive the exact same AAC 256 file.

Now, in order to understand why Apple Music does not replace iTunes Match 100%, you need to understand this.

1.- If you buy songs from the store, those are yours forever, plus they will forever be in the cloud. You can download them multiple times, delete them, modify them, etc. The stuff everyone already knows.

2.- With iTunes Match, you are paying Apple $25 for them to rent you a space in the cloud for a year, AND (as the name says and most people forget about) you are paying Apple to match your songs to what they already have on the iTunes Store and only upload what's not in there, by doing that, you can delete your original copies and actually download a fresh high-quality copy from the store itself.

Here's the most important part... Some people do not care about this functionality, they only care about renting a space in the cloud. But some other people use this to upgrade their whole library and delete their original low-quality copies, and the cloud stuff as an added bonus.

Of course, to receive a fresh copy from the store, you need to own a copy of the song somehow (either legally or illegally, that's another story) but you need to somehow own a copy of the song to match it, that's the most important thing about Match (duh).

However, if you do not renew your subscription, your matched and locally downloaded songs will remain with you forever, free of DRM, of course, you will lose the cloud functionality, that's the big advantage of actually buying the songs, but the actual downloaded copies will remain in your library forever.

3.- Apple Music does offer cloud functionality, matches your songs and uploads the rest, but... It doesn't give you DRM-free files, it gives you .m4p files, so your matched music won't remain with you forever, and even if you keep paying for Apple Music they are only protected AAC files, not regular AAC files, plus, iTunes Match matches songs from the iTunes Store, Apple Music matches from the Apple Music catalog only, so if you upload some songs of The Beatles, they won't get matched, they will get uploaded, as The Beatles are not in Apple Music's catalog, but they are in the regular iTunes Store.

So, if you are still reading this, the point is... If you just care for iTunes Match solely for the cloud capabilities, you can ditch it right now, as long as you pay for Apple Music your music will be in the cloud. However, if you actually want to keep your files forever, and upgrade the files you already own (either legally or illegally, again, that's another story) you should keep iTunes Match as it complements Apple Music.

Plus, if you try to add a song from Apple Music to Your Music... If you bought the song from the iTunes Store OR if you matched it with iTunes Match, Apple Music won't allow it, it will recognize that you already own that song, that it is already in your library, so if you decide to download it for off-line listening, it won't give you an AAC protected file, it will give you a regular DRM-free file. That's the big difference between Apple Music cloud service and iTunes Match, but the cloud is the same, it just got renamed, iTunes Match is an extra, optional feature, they are not separate clouds, only one. Hence the "iTunes Match complements Apple Music" sentence.

Last thing... If you have Apple Music + Match, and you add an album or a track from Apple Music to Your Music, let's say... "Uptown Funk" and later on you decide to buy the song elsewhere, or somehow you got a copy of the song, and you upload it, it won't allow you to do it. It will detect that you already have the song and won't match it... So you are stuck with the DRM-file...

To avoid this, you need to delete the song from your music, (also deleting the offline copy if you downloaded it) and then add the copy you've got, and THEN upload it to the cloud, that way it will recognize it as a song you don't have in your music and finally it will let you download a DRM-free copy.

That way, when you go to the album or track in Apple Music, it won't let add it to Your Music, there won't even be an option to do so, as it recognizes that you already own the song... So to have a DRM-free copy you must delete the Apple Music copy first, it is not automatically done... It's a complete mess.


Thanks for this - it certainly clears up all the confusion! I've just tested this using my account (which currently has iTunes Match) and my Daughter's (which doesn't) and it works exactly as you post above. I can also confirm that uploaded files can be streamed without iTunes match - the only difference is the DRM that you get with uploaded / matched files without iTunes match
 
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Spankey

macrumors 6502a
Sep 30, 2007
869
341
NJ
I'm not going to renew Apple Music unless this cluster gets sorted out. Right now I can't update any apps, my Music app is trying to download 10,000 songs to my device when I only tried downloading two small playlists with a combined 2,000 songs.

Match was working well enough for me. I enjoy the limitless skipping on Radio but I can do that and pay $3.00 a month on Slacker with much better stations.

In the interim I would suggest this. For any Apple Music songs you download, keep them in a playlist or keep good track of them so you don't end up deleting songs that are yours. My library is almost all ALAC so I can easily identify the songs that should be there.

What a mess.
 
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tkermit

macrumors 68040
Feb 20, 2004
3,586
2,921
Can confirm this happens to me, also. This is a horrible bug.
Indeed. Weirdly enough I've now had the opposite happen as well. Some of the Apple Music I've added that had not been part of my library now shows up as 'Matched' and I am able to download several albums completely DRM-free. I just hope Apple doesn't charge me for 'em. o_O
 
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Soni Sanjay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 25, 2013
329
885
Indeed. Weirdly enough I've now had the opposite happen as well. Some of the Apple Music I've added that had not been part of my library now shows up as 'Matched' and I am able to download several albums completely DRM-free. I just hope Apple doesn't charge me for 'em. o_O

How did that happen? That's certainly great, but what did you do exactly?
 

tkermit

macrumors 68040
Feb 20, 2004
3,586
2,921
How did that happen? That's certainly great, but what did you do exactly?
No idea honestly. Certainly nothing out of the ordinary that I noticed. I simply added the albums on my iPhone. It's either a bug with certain songs / albums (e.g. El Condor Pasa by Los Incas) or it had something to do with the fact that right around the time I was adding the albums I've updated a few of my libraries in quick succession to iTunes 12.2 that were all connected to the same Match account. Or the only thing that I could think of is that I manually initiated the 'Update iCloud Music Library' command in iTunes.
 

Scarpad

macrumors 68020
Jan 13, 2005
2,152
655
Ma
talked to apple via chat I did not set the new iTunes to sync that computer to ITunes cloud, once I do I'm assuming it will replace my former ITunes match albums with my new library, I'll test it later
 

andreyirra

macrumors regular
Oct 27, 2014
173
19
Mexico
How do I set up my Mac to sync to the cloud? I chose Update iCloud Music Library but it only made available 3 songs I added to My Music in an iPhone, it doesn't upload anything.
 

sofakng

macrumors 6502
Dec 5, 2008
270
32
OK - So I have iTunes Match + Apple Music. A few months ago, I used iTunes Match to match my entire library (maybe 20k songs?) and then I deleted my local copies and downloaded fresh copies from iTunes.

What will happen to these songs if I cancel my iTunes Match membership? Are they forever considered "purchased" and will be DRM free? ...or do I have to maintain my iTunes Match membership forever?
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
Should be free and clear. There is no DRM of any sort on Matched music.
 

sofakng

macrumors 6502
Dec 5, 2008
270
32
Thanks! So even if I cancel my iTunes Match membership and format my hard drive, I will be able to re-download a non-DRM AAC file from iTunes?
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
I would personally make my own local backup, but what you ask might be doable through iCloud. Me, I'd definitely keep my own backups of 'my' music.
 

Soni Sanjay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 25, 2013
329
885
Thanks! So even if I cancel my iTunes Match membership and format my hard drive, I will be able to re-download a non-DRM AAC file from iTunes?

No, if you cancel iTunes Match the cloud functionality is gone, you DO get to keep your locally downloaded copies, forever, without DRM, but if you don't back them up and somehow lose them, you would be left with nothing.
 

Soni Sanjay

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 25, 2013
329
885
Should be free and clear. There is no DRM of any sort on Matched music.

True, although I encountered a bug today where I matched a song and it gave me an Apple Music DRM file instead of a regular file, I had to delete the original file, re-add it to the library, re-upload it and then it gave me a regular file... This is a very serious bug that needs to be fixed.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
Yeah, Apple Music combined with Match is a pile of strings waiting to tangle everyone up. Well, frankly, Apple's entire cloud ecosystem has been this way from the beginning, and it's not getting any better. The whole system needs to be revamped by Apple circa 2005. The problem is that'd be incredibly hard to do without stripping out a lot of functionality in the short-term.
 

tkermit

macrumors 68040
Feb 20, 2004
3,586
2,921
I noticed this as well after adding some Apple Music Playlists. So, I thought maybe, if I delete the playlist, the song with Apple Music DRM will return back to matched. Nope.
The only thing that worked for me was to do this ridiculous little song and dance: delete the playlist, delete the song from iCloud, update iCloud Music Library, re-add the original song to iTunes, update iCloud Music Library again. At this point it'll show as 'Matched' . Of course you lose certain metadata that I personally rely on, like your play count (can be fixed with AppleScript) and the date the song was originally added (can't be fixed as far as I know). :(
 
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