iTunes how to tell if music is downloaded or added by me?

Question

Level 1

66 points

iTunes how to tell if music is downloaded or added by me?

I'm using OS 10.14.6 Mojave and iTunes.

Over the years I have bought music albums through iTunes and added music to iTunes from my CD collection. I am now going to using Spotify. To make more space on my hard drive I wish to remove from my Mac all the music imported from my CDs.

Is there a way to tell if the album has been bought through iTunes or imported from a CD?

If I have bought the music through iTunes is it possible to remove the downloaded files from my hard disk, but still have access to the music (presumably through the cloud)? How can I tell if the files are downloaded to my hard drive or am I listening to the music already through the cloud?

Thank you

MacBook Pro 15", macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 19, 2020 2:16 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Feb 21, 2020 12:44 PM in response to Sparky Marky

Hi Sparky Marky,

I understand that you're looking for an option to remove purchased music from your computer, and I'm happy to help you get some answers.

In iTunes, you can right click a song and choose Get Info to learn more about each song. In the File tab, you'll be able to see details regarding ownership of each song. It may say something like, "Purchased AAC audio file" which means it was purchased via iTunes, or just "AAC audio file" meaning that it is an AAC audio file, but it wasn't purchased from iTunes. You may encounter other file types in this area as well.

Additionally, when browsing through your library, you can see if a song is stored in the cloud by checking to see if there is an icon showing a cloud with an arrow pointing down. If this icon appears, the song is not stored on your device currently.

This article has a few more helpful details: Add and download music from Apple Music or buy music from the iTunes Store - Apple Support

I will go on to note that it's always advisable to keep a local copy of the content that you've purchased.

Enjoy your day.

Reply

iTunes how to tell if music is downloaded or added by me?

Similar questions