Can I use Music app without subscription?

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Can I use Music app without subscription?

I thought I’d try the Apple Music app again after a few years not using it. I downloaded it but my purchases from a few years ago weren’t there. I then decided to purchase an album from the iTunes Store and it appeared in Apple Music. I didn’t realise I had to actually subscribe to Apple Music in order to view and download all my previous purchases.

My question is: can I use iTunes and Apple Music without an Apple Music subscription?

What I would like to do is download all my purchases on my Mac, sync it with my phone and play it on my phone. Through iOS only, I can’t seem to figure out how to do this.

iPhone XR

Posted on Oct 16, 2019 12:50 AM

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Answer 1

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Limnos

Level 10

411,229 points

Oct 16, 2019 7:20 AM in response to coffee-bean

I assume you are referring to doing this on your iPhone and not a computer (your forum and hardware selections indicate such)?

As long as you are using the same Apple ID your old purchases should appear unless the distributor pulled them from the store. You do not need an Apple Music subscription for that. Apple Music lets you sync via iCloud, plus it gives you access, on a subscription basis, to any music in Apple's collection.

At this stage it helps to know the exact hardware for which you are asking, plus system version information. There is a big transition in software and naming in the Apple environment right now. Apple certainly isn't helping by calling 3 different things "Apple Music". How you do things such as syncing are right now very hardware and software dependent, unless you want us to bombard you with 10 different links and leave you to sort out which ones you need. ;-)

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Answer 2

coffee-bean Author

Level 1

12 points

Oct 16, 2019 12:47 PM in response to Limnos

The hardware in question: 2017 MacBook Pro on Catalina and iPhone XR on iOS 13.1.3

I should have tried it out before asking the question.

macOS Catalina got rid of iTunes and replaced it with a single Music application which has the iTunes Store embedded in it which is actually a good idea.

I downloaded my previous purchases and synced with my iPhone without the need for a subscription.

All my purchases stay in the cloud and anything that I’ve ripped off a CD is not (which I expect).

Its been such a long time since I’ve used iTunes on a Mac, let alone a PC, I should have tried it out before asking the question, sorry!

Thank you

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Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

411,229 points

Oct 16, 2019 12:54 PM in response to coffee-bean

I think the Music app is just old iTunes with the movie and podcast parts stripped out, then re-branded. :-) People are in a tizzy about iTunes "disappearing" but in fact people have been complaining about iTunes becoming bloatware for years now so I guess you can't win. Mind you, I think the real bloat has been Apple's media marketing components, and those are all still in there!

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Can I use Music app without subscription?

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