Why is the HLS music format the only format avaiaible for music from the i-Tunes store?

I just purchased an album from the iTunes store and it was delivered in the HLS format. Not only am I not allowed to convert this format to Apple Lossless so that I can save a copy to my library, but I can't even add it to a playlist without syncing my library with the cloud per the warning message I received. The last time I synced my music library with the cloud, a number of songs showed up in my library with zero duration and I could not play them. I had to retrieve a copy from backup library because it wouldn't even download. Additionally, all of my playlists had been shuffled and music was missing. Duplicate playlists were created with only suggested titles. This was a nightmare!!!! So, no, I will not be syncing my library again unless these issues are resolved. You can imagine how scary that was since my library is 70 GB. And, no, I will not be purchasing any more Apple music if its only delivered in this proprietary streaming format.I will stream music when I want to stream, but when my internet access is spotty, such as when I'm traveling or commuting, I still want to be able to enjoy my music.