confused by music sync'ing options adding apple music to my 'manual sync' library

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confused by music sync'ing options adding apple music to my 'manual sync' library

All my music is on my Mac (w/Catalina). I sync the entire library to my iPhone manually. It's a mixture of stuff I've purchased via iTunes and stuff from CDs which are not on iTunes or Apple Music. Sync'ing has issues (dupe playlists galore) but the tracks are at least in sync as far as I know.

I've now subscribed to Apple Music for 6 months after switching to Verizon. My understanding is that if I turn on "Sync Library" on my Mac and iPhone, Apple Music will sync the two but ONLY if the track is in Apple Music which will not be 100% of my library. Without turning on Sync Library, my understanding is I can stream Apple Music but not download tracks to listen offline.

Can I continue to manually sync my library as well as turn on Sync Library? Which one takes precedence and would Sync Library remove stuff it can't find in Apple Music, and the manual sync keeps putting it back?

Or do I have to pay for iTunes Match to make this situation work?

iPhone 11 Pro, iOS 13

Posted on Nov 27, 2019 8:20 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

274,264 points

Nov 27, 2019 9:55 AM in response to ringspa

Both iTunes Match and Apple Music are able to scan your library and either match your existing track against what should be an identical track in the store (it isn't always right) or upload a copy of your own track to Apple's servers (just for you to use) when there is no match.

In the early days of Apple Music there were some limitations for personal content, but they no longer apply. See Subscribe to iTunes Match - Apple Support. In particular the line:

If you have an Apple Music membership, you get all of the benefits of iTunes Match, plus access to the entire Apple Music catalog.

You don't need both services any more. I have Apple Music so I'm speaking from experience. There is plenty of rare content in my library that I can play on any of my computers or devices because it has been uploaded to my personal iCloud Music Library with the Apple Music service. Sync Library is new and clumsy wording for what was previously called iCloud Music Library. Either way, you turn it on in your library or device to allow access to your (i)Cloud Music Library. The same feature that lets you download or stream past purchases with a regular Apple ID is extended to allow music in your library to match or upload so it too becomes available to stream or download to any devices where Sync Library (or iCloud Music Library) is enabled. See also Identify cloud status icons in your music library on your Mac or PC - Apple Support to see how to check what has been matched, uploaded, or excluded for some reason.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,264 points

Nov 27, 2019 9:02 AM in response to ringspa

See Turn on Sync Library with Apple Music - Apple Support and Identify cloud status icons in your music library on your Mac or PC - Apple Support. When you enable Sync Library you no longer need to connect to your computer to transfer music. Everything that is in your Cloud Music Library becomes available to stream or download to your device, including eligible playlists. Check your status column to see if there are tracks are are ineligible or removed. Apple Music is a superset of the features of iTunes Match, you don't need both. Manual syncing of music isn't an option once Sync Library is enabled.

tt2

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Answer 3

ringspa Author

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140 points

Nov 27, 2019 9:27 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks but to be clear, I don't have a "Cloud Music Library" all my music is on my Mac. Apple Music will not have everything that is on my Mac.

In the second link you provided there is a comment "When you turn on Sync Library in the Music app on your Mac or iTunes for Windows on your PC, Apple Music uploads and matches every song in your music library."

So I'm still confused what "Sync Library" with Apple Music is physically doing - does it replicate my entire library whether it knows the songs in Apple Music, or not?

"Manual syncing of music isn't an option once Sync Library is enabled." is helpful. That is what I thought required iTunes Match to plug that gap of stuff Apple Music doesn't know, and based on this article it implies they work together rather than Apple Music superseding it - which contradicts these comments about Apple Music uploading all my songs... or has that wrong/changed? (the article is very recent).

https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/iphone/sync-mac-music-3630990/

section Sync music from Mac to iPhone using iCloud or iTunes Match :

"iTunes Match is also ideal if you have rare albums on your Mac that you want to be able to access on your iPhone alongside the Apple Music tracks. This is because if you only subscribe to Apple Music you only have access to the 50 million songs in Apple Music. If you happen to have a lot of music that's not on Apple Music the only way to get it to sync in the cloud is to also pay for iTunes Match. Once you have paid for iTunes Match all your unique music will be uploaded to the cloud so you can access it on all your devices."

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Answer 4

ringspa Author

Level 1

140 points

Nov 27, 2019 6:55 PM in response to turingtest2

So it's a bit of a trainwreck which was not unexpected given track history of sync issues and track duplication. I tuned on sync on the Mac and let that process then this evening turned on sync on my iPhone. The messages on both no longer show that it is sync'ing the library so I assume it has completed.

Spot checking some artists and looking at the cloud status on Mac, I have

tracks duplicated. one version has cloud with an X ("Removed"? I didn't remove them), one version has cloud with arrow awaiting download (why waiting, why doesn't it download it?)
albums duplicated with some or all of the tracks in one of the copies greyed out.

Some big examples I looked at don't have the same problem on the iPhone. But the iPhone has other examples where it has track duplication and the second copy shows awaiting download.

Any advice on next steps to clean up the duplication much appreciated.

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Answer 5

ringspa Author

Level 1

140 points

Nov 27, 2019 1:25 PM in response to turingtest2

ok that helps clear up the confusion, guess the info in that article is out of date (I emailed the author). I'm turning on the sync'ing, see how it goes and will confirm back and close the discussion.

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confused by music sync'ing options adding apple music to my 'manual sync' library

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