Music Library on Windows PC now unavailable without Apple Music subscription?

Question

Level 1

5 points

Music Library on Windows PC now unavailable without Apple Music subscription?

Years ago I ripped hundreds of my CDs to iTunes on our Windows PC (because my Mac didn't have a CD drive). The Music Library would sync to my Mac, iPad, and iPhone, as I was logged into all with my Apple ID. I did not have an Apple Music subscription at that time, and it synced beautifully. A year or so ago I took an Apple Music subscription to share a playlist temporarily. I cancelled that subscription recently. Since I cancelled my subscription, I can no longer access my Music Library on my Apple devices. All that music in my Library I ripped is trapped on the Windows device, but will not sync to my Apple/IOS devices. It seems as though Apple now wants me to pay to listen to my own music which is already ripped on iTunes on the PC. Something must have changed during the past year when I was paying Apple monthly, and didn't notice the change. Seems iTunes for Windows and an Apple ID, with ICloud turned on is not enough to sync a music library, unless I purchased the music directly from Apple. Is there a way I can access this Music Library without paying Apple?

Posted on Dec 19, 2022 6:39 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

turingtest2

Level 10

274,528 points

Dec 20, 2022 12:02 PM in response to tukitak

You can turn off the iCloud Music Library/Sync Library options in your computer and iOS devices, then sync content over USB as you did previously. See Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod using your computer - Apple Support.

tt2

Reply

Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,528 points

Dec 22, 2022 3:51 PM in response to tukitak

You can sync multiple devices to an iTunes library over USB, each with its own selection of synced content. Syncing from device to computer isn't supported but if you have content on any of your devices that isn't in your library see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device - Apple Community.

Perhaps you had Home Sharing enabled in the past allowing content you added on one computer to be added to the other, but your original post suggests you had iCloud Music Library as part of either iTunes Match or Apple Music. Without one of those services you need to use something like the advice in Move your iTunes library to a new computer - Apple Community when you want to switch computers.

tt2

Reply

Answer 3

tukitak Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 21, 2022 12:33 PM in response to turingtest2

This seems to be an option only for Apple Music subscribers, which I am not. There is no option to turn off the iCloud Music Library/Sync Library in settings on my iPhone. I cannot find it on the Mac, either. When I tried to sync from the PC, the sync button on the PC is greyed out.

Reply

Answer 4

tukitak Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 21, 2022 7:08 PM in response to turingtest2

Looks like I had set the sync to only include select songs. Now it is syncing the entire music library of all 5400+ songs to my iPhone! Once that's done I hope it syncs to my Mac using iCloud. If not, I'll try wifi, and if that doesn't work I'll have to buy a USB cable to connect my MacBook to the PC.

Thank you very much for your help, turingtest2!

Reply

Answer 5

tukitak Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 22, 2022 1:19 PM in response to turingtest2

Apple will allow me to sync only one device with the Windows PC. I chose the iPhone. Therefore, I cannot also have my Mac and iPad synced. So I can have my music library on only one of my three Apple devices. I don't understand why I still cannot have my music library on all my Apple devices as I did I the past. Also, I don't know whether the music was shared in the iCloud or actually synced. All I know is that all my music was available on all my devices, with the original files ripped onto the Windows PC. What has Apple changed in the past year in this regard?

Reply

Answer 6

tukitak Author

Level 1

5 points

Dec 23, 2022 6:53 AM in response to turingtest2

To be honest, I'm not sure what I had set up before, but I think it may have been called iCloud Music Library during my year-long subscription to Apple Music. I don't know what it was prior to that, but all the music ripped onto the PC synced to all my IOS/Apple devices just fine. No more. Thanks to your replies to my and other users' inquiries, I have concluded that the only way to automatically sync my entire CD library across all devices is with iTunes Match. I may spring for an adapter to connect my lightening to USB (Windows) in order to sync the library to my MacBook. I still don't know what's changed in my set-up. My devices are mutually authorized; I've got all sharing options turned on, but there are too many variables for me to understand (iCloud, home sharing, etc, subscriptions, etc). I think I'll give up for now. Thank you for trying to help me.

Reply

Answer 7

turingtest2

Level 10

274,528 points

Dec 21, 2022 12:37 PM in response to tukitak

Have you previously trusted the computer on connection of the device? Have you set up sync selections after selecting the device with this (or similar) icon?

tt2

Reply