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Turn off iTunes Match Permanently, and....

I do not like the way iTunes match works, so i am discontinuing service. I went into my account and turned it off, downloaded all 15,000 songs and thought I was done. But the iTunes match seems to want to keep doing something.....it still periodically goes through it's whole sync process (where the icon spins next to iTunes match, it goes through the three steps. It is not uploading or anything (to the best of my knowledge)...how to i get rid of it. And the cloud is still next to my music category...HELP!!!! I'll pay another $25 to get rid of it!

Steve

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 12 GB ram, iPad, iPhone 4s and etc.

Posted on Apr 27, 2012 7:46 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on May 3, 2012 11:02 PM

Steven,


I decided to stop using iTunes match also. I couldn't find a way to stop Genius from forcing its way onto my iPhone and iPad. Then I found this in Apple's Terms of Service:

You will not be able to disable Genius while using iTunes Match, so if you prefer that we do not collect and use information from your iTunes library in this manner, you should not use iTunes Match.

They should have also added "and force you to view Genius Mixes above all your playlists and not allow you to delete them" also. Anyway, that did it for me. So here is how I disabled it and what worked for me:


Step 1: Turn off iTunes Match on your computer
(iTunes: store > Turn off iTunes Match).


Step 2: Turn off iTunes Match on all your devices
(iPad: settings > music > iTunes Match [off]).

(iPhone: settings > music > iTunes Match [off])


Step 3: Sign off of your iTunes account
(iTunes: store > sign out)


Step 4: Disconnect your iPhone and/or iPad if they are connected to your computer. Then reconnect.

(Now you see the Sync Music dialog back and you should no longer see the iCloud message).


Sync away and enjoy your new found freedom.


Hope this helps.

90 replies

Mar 23, 2014 12:05 PM in response to Steven Wilson

Apparently this has been an issue for quite awhile and I've read through the thread and tried every suggestion but I can't get rid of match on my iPad. Its turned off on my Macbook (the store menu give me the option to "Turn On Match"), "Show iTunes in the Cloud" isn't checked, and my iPad doesn't give me the option to turn on/off match - it give the option to "Subscribe to iTunes Match" - then won't let me do anything but subscribe...even though I already have Match...so I've turned off Match, turned on and then off, reset my iPad, etc. and so far nothing works.


This is really frustrating!!!! Anyone have any other ideas that I can try, short of switching back to Windows now that SJ is gone....

Mar 26, 2014 7:51 PM in response to Steven Wilson

I hated it too but I left it turned on until it expired. Now I when I try to sync over USB it says that the device has music match enabled. The computer it is attached to has had it turned off but I can't do anything to the iPhone because the only option in the settings>iTunes&App Store is to renew iTunes Match which I would rather take a punch to the face. What a cumbersome pain in the butt. Has anyone figured out how to turn this off without renewing?

May 5, 2014 8:19 AM in response to Steven Wilson

iTunes Match always seemed to be in a permanently ongoing sync state with Apple's servers so I had to kill the upload process (just hit the "x" next to the process listed in the top-middle frame in iTunes). That enabled the menu options to turn off match.


I have enjoyed using Match but certain aspects always drove me crazy. I hated how it would spend days syncing my library even though I haven't changed a thing or addded a new song in quite some time. I found that, although more expensive, Spotify Premium has turned out to be my go-to for music on my devices.

May 6, 2014 8:06 AM in response to lmcfarlin

Since discontinuing my iTunes match and using a more superior product, I couldn't be happier. I can now look at these silly forums for iTunes match and just smile. Many days of **** were endured to get to this point of peaceful music enjoyment. Unbelievable the quality of Apple products these days. I think we might be witnessing the fall of greatness. Now I can focus on other things in life, while my music hums along in the background as it should be. 🙂

Jul 26, 2014 10:30 AM in response to Steven Wilson

I wouldn't turn off ITunes Match... EVER. Discontinuing Match sounds like great money saving idea until you start reading the many posts of people who did so and regretted It. Yeah, lost libraries of music that folks have put endless time and money into only to watch it all disappear by applying the wrong technique to correct the problem. Some say that if any music is left the music is in a jumble, not in any specific playlist. My situation was that individual playlists were disappearing everyday (pre-iTunes Match). Nobody at Apple could figure it out, hence the switch to Match. Besides the ability to wirelessly sync from my Mac on all Apple devices, a central source makes sense unless you are set for life with your existing library, or never plan to buy another iDevice. Match is $25 a year which also includes the commercial-free iTunes Radio. That works out to around $2.10 a month for my music library of 4000 songs. One less fountain drink per month should pay for it.

Nov 22, 2014 3:18 PM in response to kshane

I wasted hours today trying to figure this out. So annoying. Makes me want to go back to using a PC and buying CDs from Amazon.


Here's what worked for me: I signed out of the iTunes store on both my iPhone 5 and my Mac. This allowed me to sinc my music like before. I'm afraid what might happen when I log back on to the iTunes store.

Dec 23, 2014 2:49 PM in response to JaBourg65

Despite stopping my iTunes match subscription I had "iTunes match is turned on" displayed in the "music" tab of the iPhone summary in iTunes and it stopped my music from syncing to my iphone6. I signed out of the iTunes store on both my Macbook and iPhone and it solved my problem. I signed back into the iTunes store and my music is syncing across as I type this message.

Jan 22, 2015 4:52 PM in response to Boyzville

ITunes Match has been a nightmare! My entire music library is still showing up in my PC ITunes account database. The majority of these songs were uploaded from personal cd's and there are approximately 60 purchased through ITunes. After trying to set up ITunes Match, and beginning with the entire library on both my PC and IPod, now the only songs showing up on my IPod and IPhone are the 60 purchased through ITunes. When I click on a song on the PC, nothing happens except an ! shows up. I have removed ITunes Match from my PC, IPod, and IPhone and signed out of my ITunes account. Before all this started, the database screen said approximately 8 GB free, now says 26.97 GB free. I'm nervous about syncing, as if my music is still somewhere on the PC I don't want to lose it. Any solutions to retrieving the library would be greatly appreciated! Also, not sure about Auto backup on ICloud or This Computer and Manually Backup and Restore. HELP!!

Turn off iTunes Match Permanently, and....

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