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Confusion after syncing Apple Music

Hello!

I recently synced my music to the iCloud in order to save storage on my new MacBook Air. I have an Apple Music subscription and was under the impression that this came with music storage for a certain number of songs that did not impact my regular cloud storage. I also assumed that after syncing music to the iCloud it would remove the music from my device, much like when my photos are stored to the iCloud. The music appears to be synced to the iCloud and I can now access it across multiple devices, but is it also still stored to my computer. Am I missing a step? Do I need to delete the music from my computer (and wouldn't that in turn just delete it from the cloud)? Do I just not understand how this works?

Thanks in advance for the help!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.3

Posted on Jul 8, 2021 6:26 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 9, 2021 3:02 PM

Hi kitkaticus,


We understand the confusion with the Sync Library feature of Apple Music, and we're happy to assist.


To get started, you can sync up to 100,000 songs with your Apple Music subscription, and it does not count against iCloud storage, so you are correct there.


As to your music, Apple Music won't automatically delete your downloaded songs when 'Sync Library' is turned on, however so long as 'Sync Library' is turned on, you can manually delete your downloaded music to make space and it won't delete the sync of the files in iCloud.


See more info here:


Cheers!

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6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 9, 2021 3:02 PM in response to kitkaticus

Hi kitkaticus,


We understand the confusion with the Sync Library feature of Apple Music, and we're happy to assist.


To get started, you can sync up to 100,000 songs with your Apple Music subscription, and it does not count against iCloud storage, so you are correct there.


As to your music, Apple Music won't automatically delete your downloaded songs when 'Sync Library' is turned on, however so long as 'Sync Library' is turned on, you can manually delete your downloaded music to make space and it won't delete the sync of the files in iCloud.


See more info here:


Cheers!

Jul 11, 2021 12:55 PM in response to kitkaticus

kitkaticus,


We understand the confusion and would like to investigate further. In short, so long as sync library is set up properly on your Mac, you can delete your locally stored songs as they've been matched in iCloud through Apple Music.


If you're receiving this error, the sync is either not on, or there is a song that iCloud is unable to match in Apple Music. To start, confirm on your Mac specially, that Sync Library is enabled under Music > Preferences > General. If it is already enabled, do you encounter this problem with all of your songs, or only specific ones?


Check here for additional details regarding the Sync Library feature:


Cheers!

Jul 11, 2021 4:08 PM in response to kitkaticus

It looks like you may have deleted the media files without deleting the track in Apple Music. So the music app is likely still pointing to the original location of the file and trying to load that one first.


I recall having a similar issue. Here's what I would try.

  1. Restore all of the deleted items (hopefully you didn't empty trash or have a backup handy). It's probably unnecessary but I had over 40,000 songs and don't want to lose my purchases. If you're feeling adventurous, you could simply delete/remove download on all of your current library (especially if you have a backup). This will clear out the location to which the music is pointed. Keep in mind, depending on how your original songs were /added to the library/purchased/synched, you may lose any songs that are no longer available on the Apple Music store. If you're feeling less adventurous, keep reading on.
  2. I wanted to understand what the issue might be. It seems that the Music app is still pointing to the original file. Add additional column headings to display the "cloud download" and "cloud status." You can do this by right-clicking or two-finger clicking one of the column headers. This will give you more info.
  3. Pick one song that is "matched" in cloud status and right-click/two-finger click. Then select remove download.
  4. Play the song to see if it now streams through Apple Music.
  5. You can then select remove download for a series of songs. I'd probably try one of each cloud status to begin.
  6. This should have the same effect as throwing caution to the wind.

Jul 11, 2021 2:15 PM in response to Leanne_68

Hello,

The settings are correct and I can actually play all of the music from my phone without a problem, however music "cannot locate" any of the songs in my library (as can be seen by all of the ! next to the each song) from my computer. When I hit locate it takes me to the folder where my music used to be stored. It does appear the songs play when I hit "cancel", but I have to hit it for each individual song or they won't play. Is there a way for me to get around this or will I have to hit "cancel" 10,000 times?


Jul 11, 2021 6:17 AM in response to Eric--F

Ok, so I deleted the files from the library on my computer after syncing to the cloud but now when I go to play my music from my computer I get the notification that "The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?"

So I just deleted all of my music.....? I still do not understand why, if this is hosted on the cloud via Apple Music, I have to have the original files stored directly on my computer to listen to them. Shouldn't my computer be playing these songs directly from the iCloud? The songs plays fine from my phone via the cloud.


Confusion after syncing Apple Music

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