Do I have to pay for Apple Music to sync across devices?

Same problem here. It looks as if with Catalina, and the splitting of iTunes into separate Music and TV apps, you no longer have access to your library unless you subscribe to Apple Music. The first three months are free, and then they want $9.99/month. For me to access music I have already purchased. This is most unsatisfactory.

Yes, but you provided no context, no background. You had not mentioned your iPhone at all. Only your Mac. Hard to offer any kind of advice with no details whatsoever and only an angry rant.

papagnigroup wrote:

However, on my iPhone, only a fraction of my music shows up. I am perplexed. I do not have "more than one iTunes account." I have only one.

Since you provided no context or background, I mistakenly assumed, by the error you posted, that you had created a new account on your MacBook and were not able to see your music because of it. That was my mistake and I apologize.

Anyway, having provided a bit more context and if your music appears and can be accessed on your Mac in its entirety then perhaps you can tell us what happened on your iPhone prior to this occurring?

Did you get a new iPhone, and you set it up from a backup of a previous one?

Did you wipe your exiting phone? What exactly prompted this?

How did the music get on the iPhone originally? Was it all purchased from iTunes?

With that said Apple Music is a subscription service, unless you were using it before, then it has no relevance here, and has nothing to do with the current state of your music.

It is still annoying that you have to pay to have access across all devices with music that you already own, but at least its less than $9.99 a month for iTunes Music.

Let's be clear...you are paying for a cloud based streaming service and storage for up to 100,000 tracks of music. That service has costs and Apple charges as a result.

I have a subscription and have additional storage.

Let's be clear...you are paying for a cloud based streaming service and storage for up to 100,000 tracks of music. That service has costs and Apple charges as a result.

a site to scold those who have problems.

You don't have a problem. You don't seem to understand why there is a fee for Apple Music or iTunes Match. Streaming your music library over the internet is a premium service.

35 years with Mac and it is new

The iCloud Music Library has always been a paid service and began in 2016.

I too am experiencing the same issue -- I'm expected to PAY for music I already BOUGHT a license copy of? Maybe Apple should have stuck with their original setup. I use Spotify for most of my music now, but I have nearly a decade of downloads (movies AND music) from iTunes. This is utterly ridiculous, Apple. I'm not going to DOUBLE PAY for access to my own curated media library.

Not true about needing an Apple Music subscription for the iCloud library feature. I had used the feature without Apple Music for a while but now it seems that I too am suffering the same issue with Apple Music not being linked to my account. I’m still trying to figure it out, I’ll get back to you guys if I solve it myself.

I have a similar question and situation. Here's what's going on:

I can access and download my music on iTunes on my PC, as well as my iPhone no problem. However, I am now trying to set myself up on a MacBook and keep getting the message

This account does not have iCloud music enabled.

Apple music has not been linked to this account.

Here are the steps to reproduce the issue:

1. Log in to Music app on Mac OS 10.15.1 (Catalina)
2. Navigate to Music >> Preferences
3. Under the "General" tab, click the box "Sync Library" at the top and click OK
4. This is when the message pops up

Mind numbingly, I've been trying to do online research and everything directs back to this article, which suggests clicking the "Sync Library" checkbox to correct the issue...when this is what is causing the issue.

Also of note, with regards to the aforementioned article, I have tried the steps on my iPhone and I don't even have the "Sync Library" option. Nothing looks like or is behaving like what the article suggests it will.

Would love any help or insight here! I've even already tried deleting and recreating my entire user account on the Mac.

Have thousands of dollars on music that I have not access to because I have the same problem described above. This is a new problem. 35 years with Mac and it is new. It is frustrating and it has nothing to do with iCloud. I have a subscription and have additional storage.

Is this a community or a site to scold those who have problems.

Hi there-

Can you please tell me how to "Syncing directly over usb through iTunes is still free"? I recently put a bunch of new music onto my MacBook Air (old Cd's and such) and want them on my iPhone. When I plug my iPhone into my Air and try to go through the Finder steps, I am getting the same error as others:

Can you help direct me on how I get the music from my Air to the iPhone?? Thanks!

I'm having the exact same issues and I'm so glad to discover that I'm not alone. Purchased music has not been much of a problem, but I have not been able to sync all my uploaded music from CD's to all my devices like I used to. It seems that Apple Music has turned the music we have already purchased from a right to a privilege for a price. It puts customers into the position of repurchasing every month music they already own. If that's not highway robbery, I don't know what is. INFURIATING!

You're right, DuskSky, but be careful: the Apple moderators tend to delete as "unhelpful" any posts on here that simply point this out. I guess, as state-sized financial and infrastructural operations, the big tech companies will also, where possible, apply censorship to the feedback customers leave them. Which is to say -- you're not even a dissatisfied customer any more, but some kind of information threat. And I suppose if there were a huge amount of choice out there you could always just take your business someplace else -- but such is the size of their monopoly, and so dependent have we become on them (especially in the middle of pandemic lockdown), that this is less of a real option than ever. If you read back through the responses above, you'll notice that the tone is consistently one of disdain that you -- foolish customer -- haven't kept apace with their constant changing of the frameworks and culture of planned obsolescence.

Thank you for that solution. I realized that I have used the purchased option in the past to download music onto my other devices. My problem, actually, is sharing music I have uploaded from CD with my other devices.

Click on not Now. Then open Preferences in iTunes or the Music app if using Catalina, and make sure Sync Music is turned off.

Do the same on your iPhone.

See here for steps to get to the option: Turn on / off Sync Library with Apple Music - Apple Support

Then follow the steps here to sync via USB: Use iTunes to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with your computer - Apple Support