Lost personal music collection on iMAC desktop

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Level 1

8 points

Lost personal music collection on iMAC desktop

In a nutshell: I can no longer access my personal CD music collection, originally uploaded on a 2010 iMAC Desktop with now obsolete disc drive. Was the music only on my computer or was it picked up in the cloud storage? If so, where is it? It isn't in my Apple purchased music on my MacBook Air.

Further Background: iTunes had a share feature at the time, that allowed another user to access the music, but only one of us could play the music at a time. When my sharer's computer crashed, he had access to the collection, and I did not. The music collection was lost to both of us at that time. All that remained was music purchased from iTunes.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Oct 15, 2022 3:29 PM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

272,937 points

Oct 15, 2022 4:15 PM in response to brianel123

You've posted in the iTunes for Mac forum, so I assumed we were talking about iTunes. Apple Music is the name of Apple's cloud music subscription service, and also, confusingly, the name of the replacement app for iTunes in Catalina and later. When you sign into your Apple ID in Apple Music (the app) and enable Sync Library (see Turn on Sync Library with Apple Music - Apple Support) then you get access to your iCloud Music Library which can be streamed or downloaded. Without a subscription you get your unhidden purchase history in the same way.

By host drive I meant the drive that used to hold your library. You say the drive is obsolete. It may still be possible to recover content from the drive if you have it, though removing the internal drive from an iMac is no small task. Does the machine no longer boot up?

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

272,937 points

Oct 15, 2022 4:35 PM in response to brianel123

Mac hardware isn't my speciality, but you could start here: If your Mac starts up to a blank screen - Apple Support.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

272,937 points

Oct 15, 2022 3:39 PM in response to brianel123

Are you certain the host drive cannot start in a drive bay? Any backups or devices that hold your media? Unless you subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match signing into your Apple ID in a new instance of iTunes gives you access to your unhidden purchase history alone.

tt2

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Answer 4

brianel123 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 15, 2022 3:56 PM in response to turingtest2

I am sure your response is helpful, if I could understand it fully. I did have a back up devise, I can look into. I subscribe to Apple music, not iTunes Match. What do you mean by signing into Apple ID "in a new instance of iTunes." As I understand it iTunes is now Apple Music. The original computer is now defunct. Please clarify "host drive." Do you mean the original computer?

Thank you.

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Answer 5

brianel123 Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 15, 2022 4:28 PM in response to turingtest2

The machine no longer boots up, black screen, etc. I am considering having it looked at, but can’t remember my password either. Is there a way around that? Needless to say this has been on hold for a while. I cant find a shred of the collection in my computer now or in the cloud and neither can my mate in his.

Thank you for responding.

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