Can I delete an album from my Apple Music library without losing songs?

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Level 1

8 points

Can I delete an album from my Apple Music library without losing songs?

I have an album (Sandinista by The Clash) that I want to remove from my library because I never listen to it. However, there are 4-5 songs on the album that are on various playlists that I've created over the years.

I already know the answer to this, but I just want to say it really blows that I can't delete the album from my library without those songs being deleted from all of those playlists. Playlists should not be tied to Library. I can add songs to playlists that aren't in my library, right? So, all playlist songs should be unrelated to the Library.

I literally have to keep this album in my Library forever just to avoid having to track down all the places where these songs occur on playlists over the years.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Dec 3, 2024 7:03 PM

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Answer 1

Zurarczurx

Level 5

4,552 points

Dec 6, 2024 7:33 AM in response to crapples145

You can find which playlists a track is on by right clicking it and going to Show in playlists.

You can't do what you want to. You could:

Delete all the Album tracks you don't want and just leave Sandinista as a 5 track album.
You could move the Sandinista tracks you want to keep to another Clash album - edit the tracks and change the album name - and delete the tracks you don't want.
You could move the Sandinista tracks you want to a relevant Various Artists album if you've got any - edit the tracks, change the album name and the album artist to Various artists
You could just leave the album - that's what I'd do. If you don't want to hear tracks then edit them and mark them to Skip when Shuffling

If you don't know how to edit tracks then come back and ask.

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,735 points

Dec 5, 2024 1:53 PM in response to crapples145

The Apple Music subscription service has a feature where you can add playlists made by other people to your library without adding the individual tracks to your main library playlist. I don't believe there is an easy way to make your own playlists work in the same way, except perhaps by sharing the playlist somehow (How to share an Apple Music playlist on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support) then deleting it from your library, and the album in question, and then adding back the shared list. I've no idea if this works but you can test it if you wish. Personally I have a large library that includes many tracks I haven't listened to in years. It causes me no angst at all. If I'm shuffling my library I may hear such a track and enjoy listening to it again, or I can skip it if isn't right in the moment.

tt2

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Answer 3

crapples145 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 6, 2024 7:22 AM in response to turingtest2

I think you're addressing something different. I'm saying the album is in my library and some individual songs from that album are on 6-7 various playlists. If I delete the album from my library, the songs on the playlists will disappear.

The only option I have is to track down instances of the songs on various playlists (I don't even know for sure where all of them are), delete the album from my library, then manually add the songs back to the playlists.

And yes of course I understand that there's no real harm just leaving the album in my library. But why should I have to? I prefer a clean library. I don't like having albums (especially triple albums like this one) sitting there, year after year when I don't want them there.

I understand that there's no solution to this. But I guess I'm saying, there should be.

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Answer 4

crapples145 Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 6, 2024 7:50 PM in response to Zurarczurx

Those are great suggestions that I've never heard before. I still wish I could delete albums without having any impact on my playlists. But this list of workarounds is really excellent. Thanks.

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Can I delete an album from my Apple Music library without losing songs?

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