Has anyone else noticed that you can't download a single song via ITunes Match on the iPod app?

Your observation is correct, IOS 6 will work with playlists but not individual songs (unless the Song in question is played over iCloud where IOS 6 automatically caches a local version).

The new default behavior of iTunes Match is to stream songs, not download. You can download entire playlists, albums or artists, though. Just not individual tracks anymore. The "download all" button will be at the bottom of a playlist.

Here's one way to do what you want:

1. Go into the Music app and tap "playlists"

2. At the top of the list, tap "Add playlist..."

3. Type a name for your playlist

4. Tap the "+" next to any song you want to listen to (as many songs as you want).

5. Tap "done"

Now just tap the first song in the playlist, or tap shuffle. They'll all play. Or tap the cloud icon at the bottom of the playlist, and they'll all download so you can play them later when you don't have network access.

There's no need to go back and select a new song after playing each one. If you decide to change what songs are there, you can either start all over or just use the buttons at the top of the playlist to edit the current playlist.

You can also make the playlists on your computer in iTunes, and they'll just show up in the Music app automatically, so you just have to tap the cloud icon at the bottom or start listening (there are a few problems with iTunes "smart" playlists so you may want to stick with the regular kind of playlist).

That's not true. It is possible to delete the music from an iOS device WITHOUT disabling iTunes Match. No, we can't delete single songs anymore, but all the music can be deleted by going to Settings > General > Usage and tapping the Music app. Then swipe across All Music and tap the delete button.

I don't believe I am missing the point. You said "Otherwise the only way to get a song off your device is to disable iTunes Match and remove it via a sync" which I pointed out is not correct.

Like you I do not like the changed functionality. I agree that the "nuclear option" is not a better way, but it isn't necessary to disable iTM to remove downloaded music.

To delete individual songs, download your songs via the playlist method or by quickly stopping the tracks you don't want to download when downloading an entire album, go to Settings/Music, turn off 'iTunes Match', go into the Music app, go to 'Songs', and delete them manually from there. It will list all your downloaded songs. If you just turn off 'Show All Music,' it will list your downloaded AND cached songs.

If you go to

1. iTunes Store

2. Purchased

3. Music

you can see what is on your iPhone/iPad/iPod and download individual songs.

Until Apple fixes it this is the best way I have found to do this.

Oh I see. My apologies. I did read this article that I hope is true. Notice # 2

http://9to5mac.com/2012/11/12/apple-releases-ios-6-1-beta-2-to-developers/

I have an audiobook that is over 100 tracks long and a few GBs in size. I simply cannot believe that there is no way that I can download a single track from that without having to make a playlist for the whole thing. I simply cannot stream it because my cell provider's 3G speeds just aren't fast enough to allow any tracks to be played without skips and my docks won't recognize a streaming track being played as legit so I can't listen through my car unless the track is downloaded. Plus I don't want to eat up many GBs on my phone when I only need a couple of tracks per day.

I don't know why Apple decided to take away the individual track download feature that iOS5 had. It was perfect for me. This new system in iOS 6+ just doesn't work and makes me want to quit using iTunes Match altogether (since I can't just manually drag the tracks I want to listen to to my phone before I leave the house). Maybe it was because Apple didn't like seeing all of the little iCloud buttons next to each track? Perhaps just give us a setting to turn it back on if we want to. Apple has ruined iTunes Match for me. I really hope they bring this feature back in the next iOS update.

You should reclassify the audiobook in iTunes as an audiobook, and not music, so you can sync it via USB to your iOS devices.

1. Turn off iTunes Match in iTunes.

2. Highlight all the tracks of the audiobook.

3. Get Info > Advanced, change Media Kind to Audiobook. Click OK.

4. Re-enable iTunes Match in iTunes. Wait for the process to complete.

5. Connect the iOS device via USB; go to the device in iTunes and click Audiobooks tab.

6. Select the audiobooks you wish to sync, then click Sync in the lower right.