Apple Music vs. iTunes Match

iTunes Match uploads any of your music that is not available on the iTunes Music Store. For example I have numerous classical albums that I converted from vinyl LPs that simply aren’t found anywhere anymore. I also purchased CDs from classical music sources that are, again, not available in the iTunes Music Store and most likely not available on Apple Music either. Some of us have non standard musical tastes, especially when it comes to classical music. The same could be true for older music by bands that have not released their work to online music stores.

If your entire music library consists of songs that are all available on Apple Music then yes, iTunes Match is probably redundant for you. If you have custom ripped music that you want to be available on all your devices then you will want to keep iTunes Match.

Well explained and that helps a lot. Thanks!

thanks a lot for help. i think apple should write your help, somewhere on site.

Here's where I get confused. This is copied from the "Discover" page of the Apple Music section on Apple.

"Your entire library lives in iCloud when you’re an Apple Music member. First, we identify all the tracks in your personal collection and compare them to the Apple Music library to see if we have copies. If we do, we make them instantly available in iCloud across all your devices. If you have music that’s not in the Apple Music library, we upload those songs from iTunes on your Mac or PC. And because it’s all stored in iCloud, it won’t take up any space on your devices."

Yeah, that is confusing. What gives?

I have a few albums that are from CDs that are not on the iTunes store as well. iTunes uploaded all of these to my iCloud Library and they showed up on my iPhone which I could then select for listening offline and have them downloaded and cached locally.

It appears that iTunes Match is going to be for anyone that doesn't want to go for the monthly fee but anyone already paying for Apple Music will get the same benefit as iTunes Match but with access to the expanded library without having to buy the albums outright.

It will end up being a personal choice as to whether the annual fee is worth it for Apple Music versus the lower cost of iTunes Match if you're interested in only streaming the music you already own.

Does anyone know if the limitation of only purchased iTunes music with Apple Music is shared with all members with Family Sharing the same as with iTunes Match? Non iTunes purchased music is not shared with Family Sharing in iTunes Match.