Will a new Apple Music subscription transfer my past songs and playlists?

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Level 1

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Will a new Apple Music subscription transfer my past songs and playlists?

My entire music library and playlists from the past several years are on my Music app (originally transferred from my iTunes) on my MacBook Air hard drive. If I subscribe to Apple Music, will all of my songs and playlists from my MacBook, including mostly songs imported from CD's, automatically transfer to the Apple Music cloud? And then can I sync multiple devices to this cloud library that matches my MacBook library and playlists so that my iPhone/other devices can access the same songs and playlists as my MacBook? Lastly, can I add new songs (obtained after purchasing Apple Music) to past playlists or do I need to create new playlists after I buy a subscription? I don't want to subscribe if I have to start from scratch and create all of my past playlists to manually add all of my songs to them again. I appreciate any clarification.

MacBook Air 13″

Posted on Feb 27, 2024 8:14 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jimzgoldfinch

Level 7

28,733 points

Feb 28, 2024 12:20 AM in response to bwoodlandca

Hi,

When you subscribe to Apple Music, your existing library is scanned so that the music will be either matched or uploaded. You music and playlists will not be changed. See Use Sync Library with your Apple Music subscription - Apple Support. You can add new music and playlists.

When you add new music, they will be added to your iCloud music library as either matched or uploaded.

Jim

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Answer 2

Feb 28, 2024 9:59 AM in response to bwoodlandca

Hi,

Make a separate backup of your original library. Apple Music is not a backup service. Whilst it is true that you can use iCloud music library to re-download your music, matched music may no be exactly the same as the original. A quirk in the matching routine for example, an original version being matched with the remastered version.

Jim

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Answer 3

bwoodlandca Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 28, 2024 8:51 AM in response to Jimzgoldfinch

Thanks for this information. One more thing to clarify. After I subscribe, if my MacBook (that has all of my songs/playlists) crashes, can I download all of my library to another or new device from the Apple Music cloud to have as a back-up in case I stop the subscription down the road? Or should I use another method to back up my library? Thanks again.

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Will a new Apple Music subscription transfer my past songs and playlists?

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