iTunes Match is not dead! Do not ditch it yet, read this...

[Paco II]

I'm curious as to what Apple said. With the radio that's part of Apple Music, is an iTunes Match subscriber supposed to still be able to listen to it on multiple devices with a single user AM subscription, or not?

I'm saying iTunes Radio is more restricted on AM than it is on Match with a single user account. AM limits iTunes Radio for a single user to 1 session. A family account is limited to 6. There was no limit previously on iTunes Radio on iTunes Match - only the number of devices that you can have authorized.

Apple is very much aware. Two levels of support I discussed this with.

 

[fischersd]

I'm curious as to what Apple said. With the radio that's part of Apple Music, is an iTunes Match subscriber supposed to still be able to listen to it on multiple devices with a single user AM subscription, or not?

When you subscribe to AM, those rules supersede your IM rules (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have noticed any difference).
Neither of them really seemed aware / to acknowledge that this was more restrictive. They just kept chirping how AM is supposed to work. It's kinda like the Apple CS folks take a tour through Stepford as part of their training.

Hopefully when my trial ends on Sept 30, my iTunes Radio on IM works the same as it did previously. If it doesn't, I see another discussion or 3 with Apple.

 

[gsingham]

I can confirm that songs added to my iTunes library before the launch of apple music was matched or uploaded and could then be downloaded DRM free with my iTunes match subscription.

After the launch of apple music and with my existing iTunes match subscription songs in the cloud that were uploaded prior remain DRM free.

Purchased songs from another countries iTunes account (DRM free) that were added to my main iTunes account behaved in 2 ways. Songs that could be matched were downloaded DRM free. Songs that however could not be matched and were uploaded had DRM added to it based on the account that they were bought from (not added from)

At first I didn't realise this because I could play these uploaded songs in iTunes on my mac. However when these songs were downloaded to device, they would throw an error when the iPhone tried to sync with "this computer is not authorised"

Correct behaviour and behaviour that would have happened prior to apple music is that the song would have been uploaded and remained DRM free and these then could be downloaded and transferred to any device.

 

[Soni Sanjay]

I can confirm that songs added to my iTunes library before the launch of apple music was matched or uploaded and could then be downloaded DRM free with my iTunes match subscription.

After the launch of apple music and with my existing iTunes match subscription songs in the cloud that were uploaded prior remain DRM free.

Purchased songs from another countries iTunes account (DRM free) that were added to my main iTunes account behaved in 2 ways. Songs that could be matched were downloaded DRM free. Songs that however could not be matched and were uploaded had DRM added to it based on the account that they were bought from (not added from)

At first I didn't realise this because I could play these uploaded songs in iTunes on my mac. However when these songs were downloaded to device, they would throw an error when the iPhone tried to sync with "this computer is not authorised"

Correct behaviour and behaviour that would have happened prior to apple music is that the song would have been uploaded and remained DRM free and these then could be downloaded and transferred to any device.

The thing is... That shouldn't be happening, if you have iTunes Match YOU SHOULD NOT, under any circumstance, receive a DRM-file, regardless if the track matched it uploaded.

Try deleting the song you have received with DRM and adding them again.

It's a very annoying bug, but that's not supposed to happen.

 

[Paco II]

I can confirm the same experience with iTunes Match downloads, with additional information:

Album added to Mac A and uploaded to IML. Open iTunes on Mac B. Matched tracks correctly download as DRM-free file. Uploaded tracks come down as Apple Music offline files.

I then removed all downloaded songs from Mac B, turned off IML, then turned it back on. Once I did that, iTM Uploaded songs correctly downloaded DRM free.

We all know there is a bug, and hopefully it will get fixed soon, but in the short term, it appears that by toggling IML, you should be able to get your DRM-free song file.

It's somewhat depressing that a bug this big made it through testing.

The thing is... That shouldn't be happening, if you have iTunes Match YOU SHOULD NOT, under any circumstance, receive a DRM-file, regardless if the track matched it uploaded.

Try deleting the song you have received with DRM and adding them again.

It's a very annoying bug, but that's not supposed to happen.

 

[Soni Sanjay]

Tot

I can confirm the same experience with iTunes Match downloads, with additional information:

Album added to Mac A and uploaded to IML. Open iTunes on Mac B. Matched tracks correctly download as DRM-free file. Uploaded tracks come down as Apple Music offline files.

I then removed all downloaded songs from Mac B, turned off IML, then turned it back on. Once I did that, iTM Uploaded songs correctly downloaded DRM free.

We all know there is a bug, and hopefully it will get fixed soon, but in the short term, it appears that by toggling IML, you should be able to get your DRM-free song file.

It's somewhat depressing that a bug this big made it through testing.

Totally... What were they thinking? That no one uploads music or... That no one would care now thanks to Apple Music? I don't understand man, thanks for the info though.

 

[gsingham]

iTunes 12.2.1 has fixed the issue for me. Songs are now uploaded as well as matched without DRM.

 

[flur]

well i don't have match, but i am still confused..

is there a way to download the songs for offline use on apple music then use Match to get the DRM free copy?

Like:
Download offline use
back it up some where
remove from apple music & offline copy
re-add the backup
use match to get DRM free copy?

Notes: no rule breaking here since ur using apple's own services...

That would be piracy, because in the end you'd have a DRM-free version of a song you didn't buy that is now yours to do with as you want. Streaming is rental, not ownership.

 

[Tech198]

Yes... you would think Apple would state on their site explaining Apple music "oh, and by the way, this is all DRM"

i guess it could be assumes, but since the original plug with users not liking DRM back in the day, and the fact Match doesn't have it, we automatically assume Apple music wouldn't either. Further, Apple won't even say unless u ask the question.

So, that's even more baffling. But it IS DRM.. IF you stop paying for Apple music which is matched, via your iCloud library, i only hope u have another copy somewhere

You pay more, you get convenience

Yes, if u have pay for Apple music u do not need Match... all music can be streamed even from local library.... iTunes Match is only part of this... It matches/uploads from your own library only to whats in the store, and streams THAT content only. Nothing else.

Apple music steams all plus local, but u also pay the monthly price for that too, plus the "restricted" DRM music added to you local stuff. however that's what Match is for.. if you want the freedom of keeping your local music DRM free, use Match.

 

[Paco II]

Sorry but this is a twisted way of thinking about Apple Music. Apple Music is a streaming service that provides an offline capability. Just like Spotify and all the others, those offline tracks are designed to be piracy proof. A feature of Apple Music is the ability to also stream your own music library. If you want to make those offline on other devices, they too will be offline piracy proof files. Apple Music is not adding DRM to your personal library (once the bugs get fixed )

Yes... you would think Apple would state on their site explaining Apple music "oh, and by the way, this is all DRM"

i guess it could be assumes, but since the original plug with users not liking DRM back in the day, and the fact Match doesn't have it, we automatically assume Apple music wouldn't either. Further, Apple won't even say unless u ask the question.

So, that's even more baffling. But it IS DRM.. IF you stop paying for Apple music which is matched, via your iCloud library, i only hope u have another copy somewhere

You pay more, you get convenience

Yes, if u have pay for Apple music u do not need Match... all music can be streamed even from local library.... iTunes Match is only part of this... It matches/uploads from your own library only to whats in the store, and streams THAT content only. Nothing else.

Apple music steams all plus local, but u also pay the monthly price for that too, plus the "restricted" DRM music added to you local stuff. however that's what Match is for.. if you want the freedom of keeping your local music DRM free, use Match.

 

[ErikGrim]

Yes... you would think Apple would state on their site explaining Apple music "oh, and by the way, this is all DRM"

Please explain how you think a DRM free streaming service would work.

 

[Icaras]

Personally I am going 100% streaming, and I don't really mind the DRM files since I don't need them for anything, and when I love an album so much I usually buy the CD, mainly for the physical booklet.

Sorry for the late reply. So since you are going 100% streaming, I'm curious will you be cancelling your iTunes Match subscription?

DRM doesn't bother me too as long as the music i purchased from iTunes and any "non-matched" uploaded music from my library can be downloaded DRM-free.

 

[Soni Sanjay]

Sorry for the late reply. So since you are going 100% streaming, I'm curious will you be cancelling your iTunes Match subscription?

DRM doesn't bother me too as long as the music i purchased from iTunes and any "non-matched" uploaded music from my library can be downloaded DRM-free.

No, I'll keep it since there are some rare tracks and remixes that I still have and I want them available at any time, so if for some reason I decide to skip a month of Apple Music I'll have them. And tbh, I kinda regretted my decision, I won't go 100% streaming just yet.

However, I think that if you are not a Match subscriber, if you upload something that's not in the AM catalog, and you delete your original copy you will get a DRM-file, even if it was yours originally. So in that case, Match is worth keeping.

 

[gsingham]

Yes without iTunes Match, everything matched or uploaded has DRM attached.

I think it's fine to add DRM to matched songs but don't think the idea of adding DRM to uploads is nice.

In either case, iTunes Match with Apple music allows songs to match or upload without DRM.

 

[craigmadge]

hey quick question, i use a USB in my car to play my music through. Now i have apple music i can't transfer songs to the usb due to DRM. If i had match would this allow me to download audio files that would play through my usb?

 

[bobr1952]

hey quick question, i use a USB in my car to play my music through. Now i have apple music i can't transfer songs to the usb due to DRM. If i had match would this allow me to download audio files that would play through my usb?

Songs you own can be saved to other media drives and played--Apple Music files can not.

 

[Supermallet]

Reading through this thread, it sounds like it makes sense to either have iTunes Match or Apple Music, but not both, and certainly not both if you have iCloud Music Library turned on in Apple Music.

I'm thinking I may do iTunes Match and then use a different streaming service for music I don't already own.

 

[bobr1952]

Reading through this thread, it sounds like it makes sense to either have iTunes Match or Apple Music, but not both, and certainly not both if you have iCloud Music Library turned on in Apple Music.

I'm thinking I may do iTunes Match and then use a different streaming service for music I don't already own.

Mostly true but not entirely. Songs that are not available on Apple Music such as the Beatles catalog need iTunes Match if you want to stream them from the Apple cloud.

 

[Supermallet]

Right, hence me using iTunes Match for music I own and a different streaming service for music I don't own.

 

[driverjoe]

You didn't address that now we don't have use of the radio part of itunes! Also it doesn't match all the songs even if they are in itune store. What is up with that?

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.

 

[npmacuser5]

I wonder about Apple Marketing at times. Selling these services one might want a simple chart of the options with a good marketing spin as to why each is important, the best combinations for each users need, etc. Apple lately is putting services out there hoping we will buy them after trial and error.