Q: WARNING: iCloud Music Library just destroyed my Mac's iTunes Library

It's probably just me, jctez, and it wouldn't be the first time. First and foremost and disregarding anything I may have said, I would like for Apple to just fix iTunes/Apple Music. I'm going to keep it anyway. Then I would like to get a second library/player, separate from iTunes, where I can copy whatever I want from my iTunes library. I would like to be able to manage what is copied and how manually at my own pace. I don't want a program that simply scans my iTunes library and matches whatever it can based on a set of guidelines established by someone else. Like you I have a lot of songs that are not studio versions. I do not want those songs matched or tampered with in any way. I have EQ'd many, made my own album covers, set genres the way I like plus I have a lot of boots. If Google can upload this without screwing it up, I'm ready to try it. Yet I want to upload the music on my terms and at my pace to see how it goes. I want to download songs as I go along onto Google Music's library on my computer. Then I want to back it up on an external drive and be able to stream music.

If I can do all of this, then I'm ready to try. What do you say?

Collection size has no impact on ability to create or use playlists or to select albums to play. But yes, the project filled a *lot* of free time through the years I was working on it. But it was very rewarding time, and time that took me very close to a lot of off-the-grid music. And now I've got a collection for the ages - one I'll be proud to pass on to my child someday. It was time well spent, but I'm glad the bulk of the work is done. Now just need to trim it down, get it into the cloud, and move on.

then google is your answer. everything you said you want is there, except perhaps your custom eq jobs. doubt that can/will happen with ANY service. You can customize eq playback with the spotify app though. I have no faith in Apple Music to be fixed. They never fixed itunes match and it has been years. AM is not for music lovers like us. Apple has abandoned all their pro apps. What they did with Aperture was diabolical. They have made it clear they are only concerned with the masses, and the masses don't care about music, it is disposable to them. Great post right here, and I agree completely with the writer:

http://www.loopinsight.com/2015/07/22/apple-music-is-a-nightmare-and-im-done-wit h-it/

BTW: custom EQ are useless. At least use predefined settings. I found custom EQ (even sets for each song separatelly) useless when I started using AirPlay and Apple TV. The best setting is Classic (for everything). Custom EQ setting work only on iTunes (on computers), they are always ignored on iOS synced devices. You can not use custom EQ settings for each  song separatelly on iOS devices. In shorter words: storing custom EQs in cloud is not argument. It is just useless even if it will be stored in cloud (in meaning of cloud use, in fact: not listning only on stupid iTunes, but with sync to other devices like iPhone or iPad). Just use (predefined) EQ in settings for device (or iTunes) and not for individual songs. Predefined EQ settings in iTunes are the same on iOS devices.

I don’t know if someone else has posted this link already, but Kirk McElhearn has talked to “knowledgable people” (at Apple, I suppose) and explains why this whole drama happened:

http://www.mcelhearn.com/why-itunes-12-2-changed-metadata-artwork-and-icloud-sta tus-for-files-in-some-users-itunes-libraries/

It’s an interesting read and explains why I didn’t have any issues with iCloud Music library at all - I got the dialog asking wether to “merge” or “replace” the music on my iPhone & iPad when turning on iCloud Music Library, and I chose “replace”.

Thanks for sharing your opinion.

If you use a third party software music editing program like Audacity, you can change a music file to sound anyway you want. Then you can import it into iTunes or whatever library you are using , and it will sound just the way you edited it.

sweet-jane,

Your link was one of the most useful articles I've seen about this whole thing. Thanks.

Good article but not a solution. And not really a reason per se. I DID get the merge/replace option and it still messed up my library. I stand by my conviction that a large connissuer's library will never be a smooth, perfect fit with Apple Music. Ain't gonna happen. It is not made for us. I hope and wish this not to be true but experience tells me nah. I don't even care anymore. Even if it didn't mess up my library, the app is a mess. Not user friendly at all. Just want my music and not all the other cr*p. I'm not 16 I don't need or want to ''connect'' with Pharrel or Taylor Swift. Very happy with Google and Spotify.

jctez,

I'm with you on this. I'm ready to move on. Do you use iTunes anymore at all? I take it you have signed out of Apple Music. Do you still have your iTunes library?

Have you moved or duplicated your iTunes library to either Google or Spotify? Where do you search for and buy new music? Which streaming service are you using?

If you use an iPad or iPhone or both, how have you incorporated them into your system?

If there's anything else important, address that too.

Thanks

You did not ask me, but here is what I did and do Looking forward to feedback from everyone out there

• I disabled Apple Music and iCloud in iTunes, then I replaced everything with an older backup.
• I'm uploading all my music to Google Music (since ages) and use it for streaming to Sonos.
• I'm buying and ripping CDs regularly, sometimes I buy them used or I get them from the city library.

After the Apple Music trial, which is still running on my iPhone, I might look into Spotify (again). But I am pretty sure I will not try Apple Music again. I did not use iTunes Match or something and still my iTunes library was destroyed.

Have a nice weekend, everybody out there I really enjoy reading all your posts. Sharing the suffering takes a little bit of the pain away

@jctez, well no, there is no solution. But I think the article is interesting nonetheless and offers a little more insight into how iCloud Music Library ticks.

As for the argument that Apple Music is just targeted at the mass market (or “teeny bopper market”, as someone put it) and not suitable for “serious music listeners” with heavily customized libraries: I gotta disagree. I absolutely consider myself a serious music listener, music is an integral part of my life. 95% of my music has been purchased on CD (the rest from iTunes) and I have invested an enormous amount of time and effort into organizing, tagging and perfecting my library - still, my experience with Apple Music has been great so far, I find it to be extremely enjoyable. Yes, it has bugs and it has flaws, but I’m sure it’ll improve and grow, like every new product.

“For You” is just delightful, the playlists are fantastic and the recommendations I get are spot on. I don't listen to Top 40 Music, mainly stuff from the 60s to the 90s, and I haven’t been a teenager for more than a decade... so I am definitely not part of the target market But Apple Music works for me - I’ve never gotten a single bad recommendation (no Miley/Justin Bieber anywhere to be seen ;D). Instead I get everything I like, from Post-Punk to Lo Fi, from The Velvet Underground to Pavement, and tons of stuff I’ve never heard of. I will never use Connect because I’m not interested in a feature like that, but “For You” has me seriously excited about music discovery again and I absolutely love the tight integration with my library and the fact that I can tag every album I add from Apple Music the way I like. That’s one of the reasons why I cancelled my Spotify subscription after almost exactly 5 years - Apple Music is just a better fit for me.

I understand that Apple Music might not be the right choice of service for everybody, that’s absolutely legitimate - and I am really sorry for everyone who had their libraries altered, this should never have happened. But I think it’s not true that Apple Music has no value for serious music listeners.

Good post, derzornigemarkus.

I have hod NO ONE problem

sweet-jane wrote:

 

…As for the argument that Apple Music is just targeted at the mass market (or “teeny bopper market”, as someone put it) and not suitable for “serious music listeners” with heavily customized libraries: I gotta disagree.

 

[…]

 

…I have invested an enormous amount of time and effort into organizing, tagging and perfecting my library - still, my experience with Apple Music has been great so far…

Are you saying that your album art has not been disrupted? Did you invest "an enormous amount of time and effort" in it?

If you've curated a lot of your album art, and Apple Music hasn't messed it up, then you're in the minority.