Why can't I transfer my iPhone 13 music to my Music 1.2.5.7 on my iMac desktop?

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Level 2

214 points

Why can't I transfer my iPhone 13 music to my Music 1.2.5.7 on my iMac desktop?

Our desktop Music is logged into iCloud under a family member's iCloud acct. My iPhone is logged into my iCloud acct. At one time we shared the one iCloud and I was always able to transfer my songs to the desktop Music files. Now I can't but I have her music on my phone. I can't get that music off and can't get my iPhone Music playlist into the Music Library.

I understand about needing to be in the same iCloud account on all devices so I logged the desktop out of her iCloud acct. and logged it into mine. Then all devices (my iPhone and iPad Pro) were logged into my iCloud account. I still can't transfer/sync my playlist to the desktop. Nor have I found a way to get her music off my iPhone that's displayed within Finder. My iPhone only has my music on it. When I connect to my phone via Finder, the Music section does not display my music; it displays hers and syncing doesn't change anything. I toggle off her music, so it doesn't transfer to my phone but neither does my music sync to the desktop, regardless of who's iCloud I'm in.

We had a lot of music in Playlists but lost most of it when she didn't understand how it works and just discontinued Apple Music. But now I'm also struggling to create a new playlist on the desktop without getting drawn back into Apple Music.

I've read that you lose access to music uploaded to Apple Music, if you unenroll. However, I can't imagine how it's even legal to lose access to your own music that was paid for and held before Apple Music was even developed. I also find it misleading and difficult to distinguish between Music and Apple Music since both belong to Apple!

Bottom line is our music got tangled at one time; we both lost a ton of music to Apple Music and I can't find a way to get her music off my phone and my music into the desktop Music Library (even within the same iCloud acct.)

Can someone help with this, please? Thanks.

iPhone 13

Posted on Feb 15, 2023 10:31 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

273,263 points

Feb 15, 2023 6:19 PM in response to Dedo

I don't know why some Mac users refer to Music as iTunes, but it certainly happens. And it doesn't help that Apple already had a service called Apple Music because that adds confusion when discussing problems here.

Transfer purchases should do just that, transfer any purchases on a device that belong to an Apple ID that the computer is authorized for and are not in the library, into the library. But it won't copy over other content. Often there is other media on a device that needs to be recovered.

Apple Music (and iTunes Match) are library syncing services, that allow the same selection of music and playlists to be used across a number of computers and devices. Another key feature for users who have limited amounts of memory is that they allow music to be offloaded to the cloud and streamed on demand. The downside of this is that content that is only stored in the cloud will be lost when a subscription is terminated, and may even be deleted in error while a subscription is active. A full offline backup of the library before starting either service is really recommended.

I'm not sure exactly what you have where, but it seems that the content you currently have on your device can be copied into your Music library with the help of some third party tools. Once it is in your library you can organize it, back it up, and copy what you want back to the device.

tt2

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Answer 2

Dedo Author

Level 2

214 points

Feb 15, 2023 4:55 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you tt2, you're always quick to help. However, when I right click transfer purchases nothing happens. I tried it while logged into first one then the other iCloud account. Also, my songs do not show up in the Music Library 9songs or Artist) but when I'm in the Music app and click on the 3 bars icon on the top right, it opens a list of three of my songs. When I try to drag them into a new song list, it wants me to go into Apple Music or iCloud Music Library. That is definitely somewhere I don't want to be.

And I'm curious, why do so many people continue to refer to iTunes rather than Music.

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Answer 3

Dedo Author

Level 2

214 points

Feb 15, 2023 6:49 PM in response to turingtest2

Thank you again. You're right, I should pursue a third party app. I will and post back here.

Perhaps this shouldn't be said here but I'll say it anyway. I'll be surprised if there isn't a class action suit against Apple for the Apple Music practice of disallowing and not returning (upon subscription termination) music that belonged to and was paid for by people prior to joining Apple Music. Not purchased through Apple Music but before. How can they just keep previously owned music? It's not hard to download back to the original owner. That's my stuff and I'm angry!!

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