Hi, ClementR.
Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities.
It sounds like your ultimate goal is to mirror your music library on your MacBook Pro on your iPad, and you’re curious about a few different methods for potentially effectuating this. We certainly understand needing to access your music library no matter where you are, and we want to try and help explain the different processes that you mentioned. Hopefully, we’ll also find a way to get your music library to your iPad for you.
First, we’ll explain Home Sharing and using the iCloud Music Library. Understanding how these two features work may help us form a plan to match your needs.
- Home Sharing is a way for you to access the library that is saved on your computer from your other devices. It doesn’t actually transfer the content to the other devices, and it’s only accessible when the devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. This article will explain Home Sharing in detail:
Use Home Sharing to share media from a computer to other devices - Apple Support
- You also mentioned trying to connect to the iCloud Music Library on your iPad. This is a feature that allows you to store your music library in iCloud. Any device where you are logged in with your Apple ID and connected to the internet will sync the same library and allow you to access your music anywhere. You can learn more about this feature here:
Turn on Sync Library with Apple Music - Apple Support
Basically, if you are an Apple Music subscriber you won’t be able to sync music from your MacBook Pro to your iPad (or save it on a USB drive) because it should already be on all your devices where you’re logged in with the same Apple ID.
If you’re not an Apple Music subscriber, and you want to put the music that you have on your MacBook Pro on your iPad, the best way to do this is to connect the two and sync them as outlined here:
Sync music between your Mac and iPhone or iPad - Apple Support
Which brings us to your last question. You can save your music library to a USB/external drive using the steps outlined in “Back up your library and media files” here:
Back up and restore your iTunes library on your PC - Apple Support
However, you won’t be able to use that drive to load music onto your iPad. The syncing method we linked just above is the only way to get music from your computer to your iPad without an Apple Music subscription.
Please let us know if you have any questions, or if you need assistance. We're happy to help.
Warmest Regards.
