If I subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match, I can use iTunes to import the contents of a physical CD to my iTunes library, whence I can sync it to all my devices. Having downloaded the new Apple Music app on my windows computer, I cannot see how to import a CD. Do I have to keep iTunes on my computer solely for this purpose?
Windows, Windows 10
As someone who still believes in physical media and manages 1000s of songs in itunes from ripped CDs, this is a potentially big issue.
For years I've been using iTunes downloaded from apple.com (not the windows app) to manage my music and apple devices on various PCs. From reading the new Apple Music for Windows guide, it doesn't look like there is any ability to rip CDs into your music library like iTunes could. It also looks like when you install Apple Music/TV/Devices, you can no longer use iTunes for your music library.
Since Apple mentions iTunes is still needed to access podcasts and audio books, can iTunes still rip CDs once Apple Music is installed?
In theory if you're running Win 10 or 11, you should be able to rip a CD using the newer updated Windows Media Player (replaced Groove). Then use the new Apple Music app to import the ripped files into your music library, and then the Devices app to transfer to your Apple device. But I wouldn't recommend being the guinea pig.
For now I'm sticking with iTunes 12.13.1.3. But I'm concerned that we'll eventually be forced to use the Apple Devices app to stay current and manage our iphones and ipods which will then require the music/tv apps and shut out iTunes ... meaning no way to rip our physical media libraries.
If iTunes currently allows ripping and listening to CDs, how was it omitted from the Music app ??
As someone who still believes in physical media and manages 1000s of songs in itunes from ripped CDs, this is a potentially big issue.
For years I've been using iTunes downloaded from apple.com (not the windows app) to manage my music and apple devices on various PCs. From reading the new Apple Music for Windows guide, it doesn't look like there is any ability to rip CDs into your music library like iTunes could. It also looks like when you install Apple Music/TV/Devices, you can no longer use iTunes for your music library.
Since Apple mentions iTunes is still needed to access podcasts and audio books, can iTunes still rip CDs once Apple Music is installed?
In theory if you're running Win 10 or 11, you should be able to rip a CD using the newer updated Windows Media Player (replaced Groove). Then use the new Apple Music app to import the ripped files into your music library, and then the Devices app to transfer to your Apple device. But I wouldn't recommend being the guinea pig.
For now I'm sticking with iTunes 12.13.1.3. But I'm concerned that we'll eventually be forced to use the Apple Devices app to stay current and manage our iphones and ipods which will then require the music/tv apps and shut out iTunes ... meaning no way to rip our physical media libraries.
If iTunes currently allows ripping and listening to CDs, how was it omitted from the Music app ??
Yes and no. In their infinite wisdom Apple have hobbled iTunes while Apple Music is installed. Remove the Apple Music for Windows Preview app and use iTunes as intended. The replacement really isn't ready yet.
tt2
I have exactly the same issue.
I contacted Apple support directly and asked them where the ‘import from CD’ function had gone and the person on the other end of the phone was just as annoyed. They said that it’s generally agreed that the version of Apple Music they rolled out this year for Windows is very bare bones and very half baked.
Customer support said that although he thought the function would be included in a future update - he suggested letting Apple know directly through one of their feedback forms and/or leaving a review for Apple Music on the App Store as apparently that’s the best way to make them take notice. That’s what I’ve done since and that’s what I’d advise other do.
I have exactly the same issue.
I contacted Apple support directly and asked them where the ‘import from CD’ function had gone and the person on the other end of the phone was just as annoyed. They said that it’s generally agreed that the version of Apple Music they rolled out this year for Windows is very bare bones and very half baked.
Customer support said that although he thought the function would be included in a future update - he suggested letting Apple know directly through one of their feedback forms and/or leaving a review for Apple Music on the App Store as apparently that’s the best way to make them take notice. That’s what I’ve done since and that’s what I’d advise other do.
LASpooner, thank you for taking that time to call and find that out. I've been fearing that this will be a permanent feature (or lack there of) not allowing us to import via CD. Hopefully that person was telling the truth.
Well the feature to import CDs into Apple Music already exists in the Mac version, I’ve seen Youtube tutorials that outline the process and it’s basically the exact process that ITunes uses.
I think it’s just a case of Apple short changing windows for now and drip feeding us the proper version they already have on their own system, so hopefully it’s just a matter of time.
It's no longer a preview--the official version was released yesterday. So one would think that there is a way to get the Apple Music app to read and play a CD the way iTunes does.
It took a while for me to figure this out, but even when Apple Music and Apple Devices are installed (which means that iTunes is crippled to only display audiobooks and podcasts), CDs can still be ripped in iTunes.
Open iTunes, put a CD in your CD drive, iTunes will prompt you to rip it (say yes) and wait until it's done. Once it's all done, go into "Recently Added" and you'll see everything you just ripped, but under "Audiobooks". Select everything and then drag-and-drop into Apple Music. That will then copy everything to the music folder in Apple Music (i.e. you old iTunes media folder). Then delete what you just ripped in the "Audiobook" folder.
Update: By default, the iTunes folder is C:\Users\name\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media whereas the default Apple Music folder is C:\Users\name\Music\Apple Music\Media, so need to make sure you're using the same folder so everything will sync properly.
I may have time over the weekend to reinstall it on my Windows 11 system to see whether there have been any improvements, but I don't hold out much hope.
tt2
Any of the Apple Music, Apple TV, or Apple Devices apps will cripple iTunes. It should be enough to uninstall all three for iTunes to revert to normal function.
tt2
Once I installed the Apple Music app on my computer, iTunes stopped letting me do anything but listen to audiobooks and podcasts. This is true even though I didn't uninstall or otherwise change iTunes.
The situation is worse than I thought. I uninstalled the Apple Music and Apple Devices apps and reinstalled iTunes; and it still is limiting itself to podcasts.
I suppose I can use a CD ripper to copy the CD to an appropriate collection of files and then import them; but shouldn't Apple continue to support a feature it advertises?
It isn't--even after uninstalling Apple Music, Apple Devices, and iTunes (noting that I never installed Apple TV), and then reinstalling iTunes, iTunes is still limited to podcasts.
However, it looks like I can rip a CD into .m4a files using third-party software and then import those files into my Apple Music library. I don't know for sure, because to test it, I need a CD that is not already part of my library.
I found a software package from NCH Software in Australia that can read CDs into a variety of file formats. Apple lossless is not among them, but FLAC is. I would expect that if you put a CD into your iCloud library and Apple already knows about the title, they will play it back in lossless format; but I would also expect that if you were to import it in FLAC form in the first place, it would be more likely to be lossless on playback.
I did successfully read a CD that I had purchased into .m4a format and imported it into my Apple Music library, and when I played it back, it showed up as being lossless. I did the same thing with another, much more obscure (i.e., self-published by my cousin) CD, and that one did not show up as lossless, so I am pretty sure that they're doing something like matching against the database of commercial CDs they know about.
On a Windows computer, can I use the new Apple Music app to add a CD to my library?
