Q: Itunes removed my local iPhone  music library - why - and how do i put it back

Hi, I understand your frustration. Are you asking about iTunes on a Mac or Music on an iPhone? There is no iTunes on an iPhone so your question is not straight forward to me. Did you enable Apple Music? Hopefully the following article will help you (not full of ToU details, LOL). Best... 

Using the new Music app - Apple Support

Suit yourself....  Regardless, there is no iTunes on an iPhone, any iPhone. It is only on Macs or PCs. And if you still want help, do you have a backup of all this music in either iCloud or iTunes (yes on your Mac)? If you do I can show you how to get it back.... If not good luck. 

Gee... we are all volunteers here offering our time to help....

Do you want help? If not, have a good day.... 

If you do want help, is there any music on your phone now?

If not, is the music in your Mac?

If yes, just do a sync from the Mac to your phone and select any and all music you want.

btw, I did not ask questions to be pedantic - your original message may be clear to you but is not clear to me (and likely others). Asking for more info to assess an issue is standard on this forum.  

So, to sum it up, this statement: "when I updated to the 'latest' version of iTunes, it has apparently removed my entire local collection of music" was entirely incorrect. What you meant was, "when I updated to Apple Music, it has apparently made my entire local collection of music only available online, not offline." No one is trying to be pedantic, but it's hard to provide help when it's unclear what the problem is.

As for your question, it was how to put your music back. You already provided the answer, which is to download the music by tapping Make Available Offline. That's how it's been designed. If you're unhappy with the change, you can send a complaint to Apple at http://www.apple.com/feedback.

Right on..... 

It is a known bug since iOS 6, when the sync was not successful, the media database is damaged and you can not access the stored music on the phone. Only way reset the phone or remove the music folder on the iphone to free up the space used by the useless music files. Apple is ignoring this since years. Reproducible with the latest iTunes versions on Windows or Mac with all types of devices.

I am not having any problems with my Music...  sorry to hear that you are.

Did you find a solution to this other than the smart *** remarks?  I am so frustrated with this iOS. My phone went into the drink and I have no access back to iCloud for pics and won't maje available my iTunes unless I go to each individual album.  Apple store was useless

    I do not like the way this question was addressed by the original support agent.  The fact that they are volunteers makes no difference on how they should address paying Apple customers and this should be escalated to a supervisor. Perhaps one that isn't a volunteer ?! If not I'd copy a link to this thread and call apple support directly.  Furthermore , I'm attorney specializing in cyber law, business law, and patent / copyright infringement. The music you purchase is your intellectual property and it can not be taken away or deprived from you.  You paid for it, if you want to put that music on your pc and cancel your iTunes account or even all apple accounts , you are legally entitled to without worry of losing it because you have no apple accounts anymore. If this the level of customer service that will be provide, apple should anticipate a large decline in sales and a large increase in lawsuits. I'd love to represent a plaint against Apple for violating your intellectual rights. You can also sue civially the rep for punitive damsges on tort of misrepresentation because the threat of staying silent is equal to giving false statement of fact in federal court which is the venue you would have to take due to diversity of citizenship. Ok rant over. Regardless of being a volunteer or not, you are an agent acting under Apple and according to the rule if respondent superior they can be held responsible for your actions.  They can also file for indemnity which means what they lose in court can and will be passed to you for repayment .  My advice to this rep is if this is how your going to treat people, you should stop responding and find a hobby you enjoy more

Good luck with that...

And BTW, I am no more an agent of Apple than you. In fact, I am an Apple customer and ASC Forum member, exactly like you, who posts my own opinions, again exactly like you. Read the Terms of Use Agreement which you agreed to when you joined.

Have a good day...