I am thinking about trying the three month free trial of Apple Music because I never tried it before because I was afraid it would mess up my iTunes library. I have close to 3,000 songs in my iTunes library and never tried AM because I didn't know what would happen if I didn't keep AM after my trial was over. If I decide to try AM and decide to not keep it, does it mess up your purchases from iTunes? The main reason that I am interested in AM is because I spend more than $10 a month on music and I kind of like having everything at your fingers and you can stream whatever you want at any time. Another thing that is holding me back from trying AM is that your $10 is just for streaming and it isn't like you actually own anything in the end if you decide to unsubscribe after a year. I have mixed thoughts on Apple Music and am wondering what some of you guys have done, if you have tried it or not and what you recommend that I should do. I don't want the free trial to mess up my iTunes purchases or imported CDs. Just tell me your experience with Apple Music and any responses would be greatly appreciated.
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Try Apple Music or not. Need advice.
- Thread starter Jerhen
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Thanks for the advice. I am thinking of trying it but I don't want to mess up my current library. Is it true with Apple Music that your current songs that are purchased from iTunes are put under DRM protection?
No more than they are now, ie. 'watermarked' with your AppleID. There won't be any changes to the file restrictions.
After the trial ends if I decide to not continue my subscription, will my iTunes purchases be like they are now and not get affected when I subscribe to Apple Music?
I am torn between doing it or not. I like the idea of having all of the songs at your fingertips and being able to listen to any song on there whenever you want. I currently spend around $25 a month on iTunes and most of it is music and I don't even come close to buying everything that I would like to listen to. With my purchases now, I tend to not even listen to a good 3/4 of them because for some reason I go to iTunes radio (Apple Music radio) and listen to the top songs. I am very disappointed that Apple is discontinuing the free Apple Music Radio just because they want you to subscribe to Apple Music to get an ad-free experience with unlimited skips. I like the idea of streaming everything but I don't like the idea that after lets say a year, you decide to unsubscribe and the money you spent for the year, you basically got nothing out (You have nothing to show for it) if you unsubscribe. Are you an Apple Music subscriber?
Try to think of it as a service and not music rental. We pay for lots of services that leave us with nothing upon cancellation and think nothing of it.
We pay crazy amounts for TV service. We have instant access to TV shows and movies on demand. We have DVRs to build sort of a personal library. If we cancel our service, it's all gone. Streaming music services aren't any different. It's a service, a convenience. That's why I suggest subscribing, and still purchase what you truly love, much like you'd buy a Blu-Ray of a movie you really loved or a box set of TV series.
We pay crazy amounts for TV service. We have instant access to TV shows and movies on demand. We have DVRs to build sort of a personal library. If we cancel our service, it's all gone. Streaming music services aren't any different. It's a service, a convenience. That's why I suggest subscribing, and still purchase what you truly love, much like you'd buy a Blu-Ray of a movie you really loved or a box set of TV series.
You have a good point. It is kind of like my subscription to netflix. I share a plan with my family, which is the $11.99 plan and if we cancelled today, we would't have anything physical to show for it but we would remember the movies and tv shows that we have watched and which ones we really enjoyed.
Do you have an Apple Music subscription?
Yeah. I do have an Apple Music sub. I've been bouncing around the past year between Google Music and Apple Music with a sprinkle of Spotify thrown in. I think I've settled on Apple Music as my go-to favorite.
Nice points on Netflix. Same idea. You could put that $12 toward buying movies on DVD or digital copies from Amazon or whatever. But which gives you more entertainment for your dollar? Most likely the subscription. That's why we do it. I subscribe to Netflix as well. I've watched countless hours of content well worth the money I've paid in.
Before you set up your Apple Music account, did you have imported CDs and purchased iTunes music in your library? The main reason that I haven't given Apple Music a try is because I don't want it to mess with my iTunes library (which I have about 26 gb of music in) or somehow delete my iTunes purchases if I try the free trial and it's not for me. Like I said in a previous post, I spend about $25 a month in iTunes and most of that is with music. For around $25 a month, I don't even come close to getting all the songs and albums that I like from iTunes. At $9.99 a month for Apple Music and getting access to that many songs (which is basically everything off of iTunes but a few things) seems like a better deal and a lot cheaper than what I am doing. I also have to think to with iTunes, it isn't like it is permanent like a cd. I can't pass my iTunes library on to someone else (at this moment) if something should happen to me. If you think about it, I am basically renting the songs off of iTunes also. They might be in your library for as long as you use it but it isn't like Cds or vinyl.
Another question, have you found anything that isn't in Apple Music that is on iTunes?
Now and then I come across an album not on Apple Music. It's pretty rare that happens though.
My actual CD-RIPPED iTunes library is about 100GB worth.
For Apple Music though, I created a new empty library and called it iCloud Music Library. This way my main library stays untouched. If you want more details on how I manage it let me know, but it's worked out great. Much more organized and trouble free.
As far as passing stuff on, I've thought about that a lot. I was born in the 70s, spent my teens in the 80s. I learned a lot about music from rummaging through my uncle's and older brother's record collections. I still have a lot of those records in my collection.
It's a shame but I kind of think those days are over. I can't see my kids rummaging through my MP3 files or iTunes library. It's just not the same physical / sensory experience. But I see your point for sure.
My actual CD-RIPPED iTunes library is about 100GB worth.
For Apple Music though, I created a new empty library and called it iCloud Music Library. This way my main library stays untouched. If you want more details on how I manage it let me know, but it's worked out great. Much more organized and trouble free.
As far as passing stuff on, I've thought about that a lot. I was born in the 70s, spent my teens in the 80s. I learned a lot about music from rummaging through my uncle's and older brother's record collections. I still have a lot of those records in my collection.
It's a shame but I kind of think those days are over. I can't see my kids rummaging through my MP3 files or iTunes library. It's just not the same physical / sensory experience. But I see your point for sure.
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With you creating a separate library for Apple Music, are you able to sync your non Apple Music library to an iPad or iPhone and also have Apple Music on?
There's no need to. I use the Apple Music library to build my library. Anything that is missing in the Apple Music catalog that I own and want to add, I make a copy of those MP3 files and add them to the newly created library. (I drag them into iTunes from Finder after navigating to the folder containing my non-AM library).
The reason I use AM to populate my new library, instead of using my own tracks, is to avoid redundancy. Why bother syncing albums, just to risk mismatched artwork or tracks when AM already has there own available already? if that makes sense.
I love Apple Music with my Apple Watch and iPhone 6 +. Got in the car today after work. All bundled up--phone in pocket. Was feeling nostalgic but didn't want to dig my phone out. Raised my wrist and said, "hey Siri, play a playlist of 80s Soft Rock." AM promptly started playing some Elton John, Paul Simon, etc. mind you, this is not a playlist I created... It was built on the fly just from my hey Siri instruction. Pretty impressive.
Those are some of the good things about Apple Music. I am tempted to give it a try but don't want Apple Music to mess with my current iTunes library. Maybe I will make a separate library and try the free trial. I am still unsure of what I want to do.
Which model Apple Watch do you have? I was tempted to get an Apple Watch around christmas time but all of the rumors where suggesting that Apple was going to come out with the Apple Watch 2 this March. The rumors say now that there might not be an Apple Watch 2 in March. The model that I kind of wanted to get was a stainless steel model with blue leather band until I found out the price of it. I then decided if I would get one, I would get the aluminum gold model with blue band.
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I guess I never thought that through before I typed it. That makes sense that you just rebuild your library in your iCloud Music Library and keep your current library also. I still am unsure if I should give it a try or not.
I've had the 42mm SS since June. Started with a 42mm sport for two weeks before that, but like it so much I decided to upgrade for the nicer materials and the ability to dress it up more. I have the black and saddle brown classic buckles, a third-party nylon strap, and sport bands in white, black, midnight blue, and red.
I think that when the Apple Watch 2 comes out, I will get one. I probably would have gotten one when they first came out but I don't have an Apple store in my area. I was glad when both Bestbuy and Target got the Apple Watch because they are somewhat near me (about an hour drive) and I could just buy one there. By the time though that Bestbuy and Target got them, I thought that it was getting to be to late because this year they will probably come out with an Apple Watch 2.
I'm not judging you just commenting.
Many Americans have a "need to own stuff". To collect, to store, some of which never gets looked at again. Why?
I enjoy the experience of Netflix and have no desire to "own the content". A movie I love gets viewed a second time and that's enough. There's so much to see and do, owning stuff just doesn't appeal.
I'm not judging you just commenting.
Many Americans have a "need to own stuff". To collect, to store, some of which never gets looked at again. Why?
I enjoy the experience of Netflix and have no desire to "own the content". A movie I love gets viewed a second time and that's enough. There's so much to see and do, owning stuff just doesn't appeal.
Music collections are different, or at least used to be. Records were passed down a generation or two or three. It's passing culture. I learned a lot from browsing through my elder family members' records.
Unfortunately, as I loosely suggested above, the digital age has already sort of squashed that. My kids can't exactly browse my digital music collection while I'm at work.
And I won't say I don't agree with you somewhat on the ownership thing. I wish I owned less stuff. The exception being my musical instruments and my music collection. Those are dear to me, both for what they are and what they represent.
I'm not judging you just commenting.
Many Americans have a "need to own stuff". To collect, to store, some of which never gets looked at again. Why?
I enjoy the experience of Netflix and have no desire to "own the content". A movie I love gets viewed a second time and that's enough. There's so much to see and do, owning stuff just doesn't appeal.
I kind of agree with you. I have movies and tv shows on dvd and have only watched them once and probably will never watch them again. I also have tv shows and movies in my iTunes library that I have watched once and will probably never watch again. I also have music that I bought in iTunes that i probably listened to once and will probably never listen to it again. Apple music would be a good solution for me but I just don't want the hassle of it messing up my current library or iTunes purchases.
Before you set up Apple Music, did you have a current iTunes library like mine that consisted of imported music from CDs and purchased from the iTunes Store?
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I thought about Apple Music over the past day and kind of what more info on how you created a separate iTunes library for Apple Music. I kind of like the way that you did that because then Apple Music won't affect your current iTunes Library. You can also rebuild your library by adding things from Apple music and basically have the same thing. If I create a separate iTunes library for Apple Music and I want to switch back and forth between a non Apple Music library and my library now, do you have to shut something off so it doesn't upload you non Apple Music library to Apple Music? Is that what iCloud Music Library is? Are the quality of Apple Music songs the same as purchased songs from iTunes? Since the songs from Apple Music are DRM, is the only thing that you can't do is copy them? Are there other restrictions to DRM music, such as can't play through bluetooth? Can you save music videos on Apple Music and add them to your library, and what quality are they in?
I think I found your post on how to do it
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I don't know much about the DRM thing. It doesn't concern me, as it's never affected me that I can tell. DRM has nothing to do with Bluetooth though. It'll work fine.
Switching back and forth... Hold down option when launching iTunes. Choose your main library. iCloud Music Library should still be unchecked from before so there should be nothing to worry about (though I haven't done this yet and might try it some time today).
The quality on Apple Music is great. Again something I don't worry about. As long as you're not talking about crappy Napster-era low bit rate files, don't sweat it.
Switching back and forth... Hold down option when launching iTunes. Choose your main library. iCloud Music Library should still be unchecked from before so there should be nothing to worry about (though I haven't done this yet and might try it some time today).
The quality on Apple Music is great. Again something I don't worry about. As long as you're not talking about crappy Napster-era low bit rate files, don't sweat it.
Yes; I did. All of my library is backed up on an external drive connected to my iMac. I didn't worry about it at all. I don't notice any problems with AM, but I don't pay much attention to specific album art and such. I understand how that could be frustrating to some--it's just not to me (and I couldn't even tell you if AM changed anything). I enjoy having access to all of my music and the AM library from my MacBook, iPhone, and iPad wherever I am.
I also think I should have my music backed up to an external drive. I use time machine on my Mac and iTunes should be in it. If I do give Apple Music a try, I should be able to delete the iTunes library on my Mac and copy the time machine backup to where I deleted my local library. I think that is how it should work. Do u buy music from iTunes or not since you have Apple Music? It would be pointless to buy music from iTunes if you have Apple Music. I read somewhere that some people still buy music from iTunes even though they have an Apple Music subscription because they think that Apple could pull any album or song off of Apple Music at any time. What are your thoughts?
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If you give it a try today you should get back to me to see what happens. So, is iCloud music library about the same thing as iTunes Match except for the drm thing? What is the point of iCloud music library besides just matching your music to Apple Music? Do u need it enabled to do certain things?