Apple Music Why were my music files downloaded as HLS and not ALAC in Apple Music?

[Mity]

Yesterday, after reading the following: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212183 I signed up for Apple Music Premium because I wanted to start re-downloading my entire music library in ALAC. I tried this on my M1 Macbook Air running Big Sur 11.16.3 but I couldn't get it to work. The songs that get downloaded are still showing as AAC / MPEG (via iTunes Store) or HLS (via Apple Music) instead of ALAC.

Here's an example of what I did:

1. On my iPhone, I set the download quality to lossless in Apple Music.

2. I did the same on my M1 MBA.

3. I download a new song that I had never downloaded before (Long Way by Eddie Vedder) in the iTunes Store and then deleted it.

4. I then searched for the song on Apple Music Streaming App and added it to my Library.

5. I pressed the download button in Apple Music and noticed that in finder, the file is not ALAC - it is an HLS media file. i.imgur.com/vBiHkNn.png

What did I do wrong? If nothing, how can I get a local ALAC file as the original support article above stated?

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Here's the relevant bit from the support article:

What you need to know about lossless in Apple Music

* Streaming lossless audio over a cellular or Wi-Fi network consumes significantly more data. And downloading lossless audio uses significantly more space on your device. Higher resolutions use more data than lower ones.

* AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, AirPods (3rd generation), and Beats wireless headphones use Apple AAC Bluetooth Codec to ensure excellent audio quality. However, Bluetooth connections aren't lossless.

* To get a lossless version of music that you already downloaded from Apple Music, just delete the music and redownload it from the Apple Music catalog.

 

[Reggaenald]

Hit Cmd and , /open Music Preferences and go to Playback, I believe. There you’ll see the settings for streaming and download quality, make sure download quality is set to Lossless.
On iPhone, open Settings>Music>Audio Quality

 

[Reggaenald]

Note that you’ll only be able to listen to these ACAL files as long as you’re subscribed. They aren’t yours, you just have access for the time being. Don’t get rid of your personal library or files.

 

[Mity]

Note that you’ll only be able to listen to these ACAL files as long you’re subscribed. They aren’t yours, you just have access for the time being. Don’t get rid of your personal library or files.

This is what I suspected. What a rip off! They deliberately structured this article to make it sound like you could convert your library to ALAC if you already own the songs.

To get a lossless version of music that you already downloaded from Apple Music, just delete the music and redownload it from the Apple Music catalog.

It seems you are just renting the lossless track instead of owning it. What a joke.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Can you redownload the song you paid for in a format that isn't tied to Apple Music?

 

[Mity]

Can you redownload the song you paid for in a format that isn't tied to Apple Music?

Yes, just go back to iTunes and download it like we've always done. The problem is that it's still in AAC, not lossless.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Yes, just go back to iTunes and download it like we've always done. The problem is that it's still in AAC, not lossless.

Aren't you getting, in both cases, what you paid for…an AAC file you can keep and a lossless file you're allowed to hear with a subscription?

 

[Mity]

Aren't you getting, in both cases, what you paid for…an AAC file you can keep and a lossless file you're allowed to hear with a subscription?

The way the support article is written suggests otherwise. They use the word "download" but it's not really a download in a common sense way. The article even talks about ALAC but why does that matter at all if you're just streaming or getting a temporary file? Where in the article do they mention HLS?

I'll gladly pay for the ability to download ALAC like I so with FLAC on other sites but that's not the case here.

 

[WebHead]

I read in another thread that newly added songs are downloadable in lossless, just not previously added. It would be massively time-consuming, but I'm wondering if deleting and re-adding your entire library would work?

(Personally I think I've come around to the belief the quality improvement of lossless wouldn't be discernible enough to make it worthwhile.)

 

[Mity]

I read in another thread that newly added songs are downloadable in lossless, just not previously added. It would be massively time-consuming, but I'm wondering if deleting and re-adding your entire library would work?

(Personally I think I've come around to the belief the quality improvement of lossless wouldn't be discernible enough to make it worthwhile.)

I tried both deleting old songs, then redownloading them and also buying a brand new song that just came out and it didn't work. Did that thread specify the tracks were in ALAC?

Is it worthwhile, I suppose, a matter of personal preference. I downloaded Voluspá by Wardruna in FLAC from Bandcamp and the instrument/note separation is absolutely incredible. But for many songs, especially pop songs, that doesn't hold so, I partially agree.

The recording industry makes it difficult for us to get lossless downloads. But I could also argue that Spotify and Tidal are not practical. What if you want to move your playlists elsewhere when these apps die down in popularity?

In general, I am strongly opposed to renting over owning and it's unfortunate that's where all of this is heading.

 

[WebHead]

I tried both deleting old songs, then redownloading them and also buying a brand new song that just came out and it didn't work. Did that thread specify the tracks were in ALAC?

There's a difference between deleting locally and removing from your library altogether.

See here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lossless-itunes-match-now-a-problem.2300037/

In general, I am strongly opposed to renting over owning and it's unfortunate that's where all of this is heading.

Me too. I'm surprised iTunes Match has lasted this long as a standalone product.

 

[Mity]

There's a difference between deleting locally and removing from your library altogether.

See here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/lossless-itunes-match-now-a-problem.2300037/

I deleted both locally and from my library. But this should not matter for a brand new song that was previously not in my library. In both cases, the files were HLS, not ALAC.