Turn off iTunes Match Permanently, and....

Thanks Walter for the kind comments. Glad the instructions were helpful. The iTunes Match premise is good, it just needs much better execution. I love what you said "iTunes Match is a solution worse than any problem" that's it excatly, but hopefully Apple comes up with a better solution at some point in the near future. Frankly, I'm not even missing it.

To anyone who turned off iTunes Match, don't forget to disable iTunes Match "Auto renewal" in your iTunes account so you don't get charged the 24.99 for another year. To do it.

1. Access iTunes Account Information by Logging into iTunes
From the iTunes Store, click either your iTunes email address or "Sign In" in the upper right corner and enter your user name and password. (password only if you are already signed in).

2. Under the "iTunes in the Cloud" heading Click the "Turn off Auto-Renew" button.

3. Click the "Done" button at the bottom of the page.

Thank you Rod_V for your help. I purchased the iPhone 5 yesterday and have spent way to long a time trying to figure out why I could no longer drag and drop from my MacBook Pro iTunes library into the new iPhone 5. Your instructions were awesome! I should know by now that this Forum is truly the best place to go first when problem solving.

I have no idea what Apple's thinking was behind iTunes Match and Genius suggestions but I am VERY happy to have eliminated both!. I would think Apple would know by now we are all capable of managing our iTunes Library!

Cheers!

Candace

Hi narkurs, When you say "not active" I am assumming you mean that it is says "Turn On iTunes Match" in the iTunes drop down menu under Store instead of "Turn Off iTunes Match". If that is the case try turning iTunes match on first (on all devices), then try following the instructions from the begining to the end. That should work.

Oh man! Bless you, Rod!!! I HATE ITUNES MATCH!!! I do not understand why APPLE would design such an ineffictive service/application/solution. So happy to get rid of it and finally get my music library downloaded onto my iPhone... I mean, REALLY! UGH!

Thanks again, Rod!

Hi Rod

I've turned off Match on all three IOS devices, but when I purchase at iTunes the purchase doesn't appear in my library and i have to download it from iCloud: annoying. Any ideas?

Was such a HUGE mistake getting iMatch, can't believe Apple would hype such rubbish.

Thanks for all your help!

Narkurs.

Hi narkurs

Go to "settings" on your IOS device and then select "iTunes & App Stores". Now make sure you are logged in. You should see your apple ID in the the top right box. iTunes Match should be off. Next under Automatic Downloads make sure Music, Apps and Book are turned on. Use Cellular data is optional, but without it on understand you will only be able to download if you are on a WiFi network. I have Use Cellular Data off on my iPad but on on my iPhone. With those settings correct, your purchases (Music, Apps and Books at least) should download to your IOS devices automattically. To test I just purchased a song on my iPhone and then checked to see if it was on my Mac and iPad. It was. So that should work for you as well.

Good Luck

Hey, I recently turned Itunes Match on and I really don't like it. I turned it off on my computer and phone. How do I make sure all my music downloads back to my computer and phone? I just want everything back the way it was before I made the mistake of buying this annoying thing.

Hi Rod, I just turned on Imatch and hate it. I tuned it off on my computer and phone but how do I get all my music back? I just want everything to be as it was before I turned on Itunes match. Thanks.

Hi,

I HATE it too. Have managed to turn it off - though I've paid for a year! - but still have issues with it. The worst product apple has sold us. I can't find iTunes purchases, playlists are doubled and no way to delete them. And the new iTunes is also s**te, can drag stuff around and the overview is bad.

Sorry, am off laoding here and not actually gving you and constructive advice, but; you have my deepest sympathy!

Post any useful hints you may discover here please!

thank you for this great info. i have been reading this thread and planning to disable itunes match permanently now that i'm back from vacation (which was musically challenged and annoying because of itunes match). unfortunately, i can't even find "turn off itunes match" in the itunes store on my computer. what am i missing? thanks.

thank you so much for replying to my post. i always forget the regular menu. i turned off itunes match on the computer and all devices, signed out of itunes, turned off the automatic renewal option (and thanks for that tidbit also), turned off my computer and all devices to be safe, turned everything back on and so far, knock wood, have all my songs and no itunes match. seriously, thanks for your time helping us sort this out. shame on apple for doing this to its loyal customers.

My pleasure... :-)

I am sure they (Apple) will get it together with ITunes Match at some point, but they better hurry because I really don't even miss it now. And considering this thread has been viewed over 27,000 times, looks like there are quite a few others like us that are not happy with it in its current state.

Hi erikthred101,

Once you have turned off iTunes Match on all your devices, your orginal music should still be on your computer. So you really should only need to get music back onto your phone. To do that, just sync your music with your phone (like you did prior to iTunes Match).

OMG! There's no "Turn Off iTunes Match" under store, it just says to turn it on, yet there is still a cloud next to music and I still can't get my music into itunes! I've literally been trying to figure this out for 6 hours.