After a series of drive problems and a re-install of Mojave, I find that all my iTunes files are in the cloud. I didn't ask that they be moved to the cloud, but that's where they are. Are they as accessible as if they were on my computer? Where is the space coming from? Where is the best place for them?
Mac Pro, macOS 10.13
See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community. Typically your unhidden past purchases are listed in the cloud in a new empty library. Ripped music would be missing unless you subscribe to iTunes Match or Apple Music. Cloud content can be streamed from Apple's servers or download to your computer. It is generally best to keep local copies and backups of your data just in case something goes wrong. It is rare, but occasionally content is withdrawn from the iTunes Store which can affect your ability to redownload it.
tt2
My personal experience has been that iTunes doesn't play nicely with SymLinks, although they can be used successfully to move where iOS backup data ends up. See Make a split library portable - Apple Community for background. If the files you now see in the cloud were previously on your computer, and you haven't actively deleted them, then they are probably still there. A corrupted library will often show your unhidden purchase in the cloud and nothing else. iTunes Music is an outdated name for the media folder. It ought to be called iTunes Media these days.
You can select items in the cloud, right-click, and select download from the context menu. But I would start by importing all you have locally first (or reverting to an older database) before you do that otherwise you'd be adding to any deduping you probably need to do.
tt2
Thank you for the reply. Since I sent in the question I've mucked about with my iTunes files and with iTunes itself, and the problem has shifted a bit. I would like to download all the currently-iCloud files to my iTunes library, but I can't find a clear and accurate reference for how to do that. In order to leave room on my boot drive, a 1TB SSD, I stashed iTunes on a separate HD, accessible via a Symlink. It works, in spite of the fact that the iTunes folder on the linked disk has 3 slightly different "iTunes Music" folders in it, one at around 10 GB, one at 15 GB, and one at around 21 GB. So: Is there any way to reduce or combine the folders, to waste less space, and: How do I download the iCloud files to my computer? I tried following a 2016 description of the process, and it didn't match my Mojave iteration of iTunes.
Thank you. I Do need to dedupe the collection, and I will scrutinize it carefully to see if everything I hope is there really is there. Thanks for the help.
What are the disadvantages of leaving my iTunes files in the cloud, and who is paying for it?
