Play songs together

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Level 1

48 points

Play songs together

I would like to "glue" two songs together, such that the songs are always played together. There used to be a workaround using "Part of a compilation" together with "Gapless album". But I can't find that option anymore. Is it gone, or is it because I'm iTunes Match + iTunes Music? The songs I am trying to play together are in iTunes Match, and are downloaded locally. I would like the option to work on my iPhone too.

Previous responses suggested joining the songs while ripping the CD. Unfortunately, my MacBook Pro doesn't have a CD-player, so I can't use this suggestion. Any other options that I haven't come up with?

iPhone XS

Posted on Aug 10, 2019 2:25 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

277,967 points

Sep 1, 2019 9:46 AM in response to Justin J. Rebbert

You could set values for Grouping and use the Shuffle Groupings feature in iTunes. That's all.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

277,967 points

Aug 11, 2019 3:30 AM in response to jmvdkolk

Yes, rip again or use joining software.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

277,967 points

Sep 2, 2019 12:50 AM in response to jmvdkolk

Use the Songs view of your library. Right-click on the headings area and enable the Groupings column to see existing values. You can select a number of related tracks that you want to play together, press Cmd+I to get info and set a unique value for Grouping. Use Controls > Shuffle > On and Controls > Shuffle > Grouping to shuffle play the library or a playlist in a way that ensures this group of tracks are played together.

Note that Apple Music includes all of the features of iTunes Match. You don't need to pay for both services.

tt2

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

277,967 points

Sep 3, 2019 11:50 AM in response to jmvdkolk

See this footnote to Subscribe to iTunes Match - Apple Support:

1. You might also see iCloud Music Library talked about as a feature of Apple Music. iCloud Music Library is a feature of both iTunes Match and Apple Music. If you're an Apple Music member, you don't need to subscribe to iTunes Match unless you still need to access your music on an Apple TV (2nd or 3rd generation).

I guess iCloud Music Library with iTunes Match is supported on those older Apple TVs while Apple Music is not, so a minor oversight on my part. As a current Apple Music user and former iTunes Match user I can say from practical experience that I'm not missing anything having closed my iTunes Match subscription, and that I can get DRM-free downloads of my matched or uploaded media if I download them to another library.

tt2

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Answer 5

jmvdkolk Author

Level 1

48 points

Aug 11, 2019 12:12 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you turingtest2. So, is ripping the songs again the only option available within iTunes/Apple Music? If it is, I will have to look at software to join the audio files.

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

277,967 points

Aug 10, 2019 7:22 AM in response to jmvdkolk

The Join CD Tracks option is only available while ripping a CD. Portable optical drives can cost as little as $25/£25. Or you can find free software that can split and join audio files, preferably without re-encoding them.

tt2

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Answer 7

jmvdkolk Author

Level 1

48 points

Sep 2, 2019 12:45 PM in response to turingtest2

I found the grouping setting again. Thanks for pointing me to it. I found I had already set the grouping a long time ago, probably when I still had an iPod Classic. Unfortunately, the grouping option doesn't work anymore. It doesn't work in iTunes on my MacBook, and it doesn't work on my iPhone. When the first part of the group completes, iTunes shuffles to a completely unrelated song, instead of the next song in the group.

As far as I know, iTunes Match is not part of Apple Music. iTunes Match provides me with access to my ripped music (a copy of all my CDs) on all my devices. This includes music that is not available through Apple Music. When I download my library on a second MacBook, I get a DRM-free copy of my music, whereas Apple Music would give me a copy that I cannot copy elsewhere. If I ever decide to switch platforms, I still have a copy of all my ripped music available. As far as I know, Apple Music doesn't provide me access to songs that I have ripped myself, and that are not generally available through Apple Music. Apple Music certainly doesn't allow me to download the songs DRM-free.

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Answer 8

turingtest2

Level 10

277,967 points

Sep 2, 2019 1:55 PM in response to jmvdkolk

Shuffle by Grouping is an iTunes only feature. It should work in the current build of iTunes.

Apple Music is now a superset of the features of iTunes, although I don't believe it was at the outset. If you have Apple Music then your own ripped media can be matched or uploaded just as it is with iTunes Match, and if you redownload your own content it should be DRM free. Of course given the potential for mismatches, change of audio format, or accidental but permanent deletion of content that is only stored in the cloud I would always recommend at least one complete library with locally stored media that is also fully backed up. You can save yourself a subscription.

tt2

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Answer 9

jmvdkolk Author

Level 1

48 points

Sep 3, 2019 8:27 AM in response to turingtest2

Can you provide me with a link that shows that iTunes Match is included with Apple Music. I can’t find any information that confirms this. The Apple Music pages do not show any reference to the features of iTunes Match.

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