Joe K SC

Q: Did I naively subscribe to iTunes MATCH for LIFE ?

My 1 year MATCH subscription expired, and I now find that I cannot access many of MY songs (songs that I purchased from the Store, or loaded to my library from my own source).   When I select certain songs on ANY of my APPLE devices, in many instances, I get a message "iTunes MATCH or Apple MUSIC subscription required" (paraphrasing).   So, my one year MATCH subscription was a de facto SUBSCRIPTION for LIFE, at $ 25.00 per year.  To access music the rights to which I purchased (either from iTunes store, or from a source I paid-for - CD, or vinyl).   This is a hostage situation. 

Posted on Apr 18, 2016 1:40 PM

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Q: Did I naively subscribe to iTunes MATCH for LIFE ?

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  • by Phil0124,

    Phil0124 Phil0124 Apr 18, 2016 1:48 PM in response to Joe K SC
    Level 7 (27,382 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 18, 2016 1:48 PM in response to Joe K SC

    iTunes Match,will let you access your library from the cloud while you are subscribed. And only while you are subscribed. That's what you are paying for.

     

    If you did not make the tracks available offline while being subscribed to the service then you cannot access the tracks anymore from the cloud.  You would need to get the music onto your devices the old fashioned way, by syncing to a computer running iTunes.

  • by Sparkleberry,

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry Apr 18, 2016 1:49 PM in response to Joe K SC
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    Apr 18, 2016 1:49 PM in response to Joe K SC

    iCloud Music Library: Understanding differences between Apple Music and iTunes Match - Apple Support


    "With iTunes Match, all of the songs that we matched or uploaded using iTunes on your Mac or PC during your iTunes Match subscription can be downloaded DRM-free (if matched) or in their uploaded form and are yours to keep. These songs can continue to play after your iTunes Match subscription ends."


    also see this

    Subscribe to iTunes Match - Apple Support


    and

    http://9to5mac.com/2015/07/02/apple-music-vs-itunes-match-drm/


    Either way, if you’ve used iTunes Match as a convenient way to free up space on your Mac by deleting your own copy of any of your music, don’t cancel your subscription in favor of Apple Music if you want to keep that music DRM free.

  • by Joe K SC,

    Joe K SC Joe K SC Apr 19, 2016 5:44 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Apple Music
    Apr 19, 2016 5:44 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    Thank you Sparkleberry, for your reply.    I THINK I understand the explanation you provided/forwarded, but still do not understand how and why I've "lost access" to certain of my music (even songs that I purchased through iTunes).   Should I have "downloaded" them from the cloud, to my "hard" library on my MAC, before my subscription expired ?   (And because I did NOT do that, have I lost access "forever" ? i.e., unless I re-subscribe to MATCH ? 

     

    One of the primary reasons I subscribed to MATCH is that I was hoping to take advantage of the "upgrade" feature that is supposedly available in MATCH.  My library contains many songs that I have converted from vinyl at 128 kbps-MP3 (or at a rate < than 256 AAC, the rate and format to which the songs would be upgraded by MATCH, if available.)   Most of these songs are popular "mainstream" songs (60's, 70's vinyl), hence I expected that they would be recognized by the iTunes Store and upgraded by MATCH.   Most were not.  (Upon inquiring, I was told that the syntax of a song's name, album, title, etc., must EXACTLY coincide with how the song is identified in the iTunes Store.  If it does not, it will not be upgraded.  OK.  I understand.  No biggie.   

     

    Also, on to a side-track for a moment, I must admit that I cannot identify a song that HAS been upgraded.   If the status states "matched", does that mean it was upgraded ?   (I identify songs I loaded from vinyl in the "comments" of iTunes.   Hence, I can say that ~ 95 % of my vinyl conversions were NOT upgraded.)

     

    Frankly, I simply want to regain access to "my" songs (songs I loaded myself, but particularly, songs that I purchased from iTunes Store) and get them back into my "hard" library.   I have ~ 400 more vinyl albums that I hope to convert (most not in their entirety, but selected tracks).   I now realize (or expect) that most will NOT be upgraded by MATCH, if I were to re-subscribe.   And, the $ 25 fee is not going to bread the bank.  It's more the principle - if I've lost access because I did not DOWNLOAD before MATCH expired, I am NOT happy.   Some (and Apple) would contend that I should have known that access would be lost if not downloaded before the MATCH subscription expired.   Of COURSE I would know that ! -  from having READ and MEMORIZED the X number of pages of Ts & Cs that one "agrees to" when signing-up for any service or feature provided by a company such as Apple  (and this is ANY media related company, not only Apple.)     Yes, Apple did send me 'WARNING' E-mails that my MATCH subscription's expiration was forthcoming.   They could have added "... so, you should consider downloading all of your music to your hard library, otherwise, you may lose access to songs, even those you purchased from our store".    That is, I believe, reasonable - and that is my beef.  

     

    Thank you again for your input, and I would appreciate your further comment.   And thanks for "visually listening" to my lengthy (always !) soapbox ramble.  Cheers - peace - prevail. 

  • by turingtest2,

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Apr 19, 2016 6:16 AM in response to Joe K SC
    Level 10 (85,813 points)
    iPod
    Apr 19, 2016 6:16 AM in response to Joe K SC

    Use iTunes Feedback to tell Apple about the improvements you think they should make to the warning notices when iTunes Match is due to expire.

     

    I suspect renewing your expired subscription will give you access to the previously matched/uploaded library. I don't know for certain however. I'm in it for one year only having used it primarily to release my old 128k DRM purchases. If you resubscribe and it doesn't work I don't think you'd have any trouble getting a refund.

     

    See Hide and unhide purchases in iTunes or iBooks on your Mac or PC - Apple Support regarding past purchases that you don't appear to be able to download. Note if you have any broken links in the library iTunes may assume you have a local copy (even if it cannot access it) and won't necessarily offer to show download links.

     

    The way to use the iTunes Match feature to upgrade older content is to begin with a complete backup of your library in case the replacement tracks turn out to be wrong, e.g. clean vs. explicit, live vs. studio, or sometimes a completely different track altogether. Once you have a backup you can select, for example. all of the tracks of an album and right/option/two-finger-click to bring up the context menu. From there chose Remove download, then access the context menu again and choose Download. Your matched tracks will be re-downloaded in 256k AAC. Tracks that might be worth upgrading will be anything in not better quality than 256k AAC. It should be possible to make a smart playlist that lists suitable candidates. If you're not happy with the replacement track you can restore your originals from your backup.

     

    tt2