Old iTunes Match library won't go away

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Level 1

35 points

Old iTunes Match library won't go away

This is a totally bizarre situation, but here goes.

I subscribed to iTunes Match probably the year it was first offered (2008?). Paid for it for a couple of years then decided it was really more than I needed, so I cancelled.

I *ASSUMED* that cancelling would zap the copies of my music from Apple servers, but over the years, I have seed bits and pieces of music getting duplicated on my devices (Mac and iPhone) that appeared to have come from Match.

This week, watching network stats on my iPhone, I discovered almost exactly the same amount of data in my music library (~21gb) get uploaded to "somewhere". Totally freaked me out, because I could only think of someone hacking my iPhone and getting a copy of everything.

My real question here is "If I cancelled my iTunes Match 10-12 years ago but think it's still syncing with my devices, how can I turn it off?". Guessing Apple Support would get confused about this real quick.

Any ideas?

iPhone 12

Posted on Apr 7, 2023 9:12 AM

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Answer 1

Ali_E1

Community Specialist

Apr 10, 2023 10:22 AM in response to LakeLifeLG

Hi LakeLifeLG,

We can understand how the a message about a music upload from a subscription you had 10-12 years ago would be alarming. Basically, both Apple Music and iTunes Match give you access to create an iCloud Music Library. When you discontinue your iTunes Match subscription, your iCloud Music Library is likely removed as Apple needs to make room on their servers. This means it doesn't get deleted immediately, you just lose access to it for syncing purposes.

If you an Apple Music subscription or trial, and Apple hasn't deleted your iCloud Music Library yet, you may see your old music library come back when you enable "Sync Library" on your device(s). This article will show you how to disable it everywhere:

Use Sync Library to access your music library across your devices - Apple Support

Thank you for being part of the Apple Support Communities.

Kindest Regards.

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

279,465 points

Apr 10, 2023 9:36 AM in response to LakeLifeLG

You're supposed to have access to your unhidden past purchases when signed into your Apple ID. See Hide and unhide music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and books - Apple Support. An iCloud Music Library associated with an iTunes Match or Apple Music subscription should reset about 30 days after a subscription expires.

tt2

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Old iTunes Match library won't go away

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