OlliM
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Major DRM issues when recovering songs from iCloud Music Library

Hi all!

 

Let me start by apologizing for a rather long posting - but I guess the whole picture is important to understand where I'm coming from with my current frustration.

 

Dear Apple,

 

On June 30th I started to use Apple Music and iCloud Music Library.

 

I'm using (or better used, until it decided to die a couple of days ago) a 2TB TimeCapsule as network storage and for backup of my MacBook Air. My iTunes library, preferences and all that were also saved directly to the TimeCapsule - so none of the data was saved locally to my MacBook Air. This worked great ever since Mid 2012.

 

Until iCloud Music Library, I would use home sharing to access music and films while my MacBook Air was running basically more or less 24/7/365.

 

When I switched to iCloud Music Library, which went pretty well taking into account the major issues other people are reporting, just a couple of album artworks were wrong and about 2 or 3 songs couldn't be uploaded.

 

Until the beginning of the year I backed up my TimeCapsule every now and then manually to an other external hard-drive. Until I encountered major problems doing so especially while trying to copy the "large" iTunes folder (460 GB) and my Aperture library (20 GB). Stupid me decided to not solve this immediately - and then it happened a couple of days ago - my TimeCapsule died/failed. Luckily it was "just" an error within the filesystem of the "apdata" partition of the TC hard-drive, so I was able to recover most data. (I gave it a shot before sending the hard-drive to a professional because I was very sure it was not a hardware defect)

 

Among the Data I could not recover was, of course, the iTunes library file.

 

Well, since I have everything stored in my iCloud Music Library, I thought this was going to be an easy fix. Started iTunes, gave it some time to load everything it needed and then I marked all Titles and started to download. Up to this point, great.

 

What I didn't think of in first place is, that I have/had two AppleIDs. One from when I started out with an iPod on a Windows iTunes many years ago, and one from when I started to get more serious about using Apple products. Up until now this never was a problem, because one could easily activate a PC/Mac iTunes for two AppleID.

 

I noticed when I first used Apple Music and iCloud Music Library on my iPhone/iPad that I could not play certain songs, there would be an error message that I had not bought this song with my AppleID. Upon further inspection I noticed that in all cases I checked, this was wrong - as the files on my ITunes clearly showed they where purchased with my now main AppleID. So I guessed this is a bug of some sort - and since it affected only a couple of titles - I can wait.

 

Fast forward with my current problem and downloading all songs from iCloud Music Library I noticed that a lot of my music, music I legally purchased through iTunes is no longer my music, but Apple Music and stored in a different folder. Albums are parted some titles still show purchased by my AppleID, other titles of the same album (that was definitely purchased complete) show "Apple Music" and are copied to the corresponding folder.

 

So what I want to know is, is this a bug? Is there the slightest chance that this will ever be resolved through Apple? (Without having to go through a complete restoring process by myself which would be a pain in the ***...)

 

Did this problem: multiple AppleID activations in iTunes and how Apple Music/iCloud Music Library would "react" to it, ever come up during a What-If analyses? Is there a solution?

 

I'm going to be very clear and precise here: if there is not going to be a fix for this - I will not waste anymore time with restoring and rebuilding iTunes on my Mac, I will not restore my iPhone or iPad - I will go straight for another manufacturer and products and start anew. I lived without Apple until mid-2012 - I can live without it starting mid 2015 - no problem.

 

And just to put some icing on the cake: To recover my data from the TimeCapsule I had to open it and get the hard-drive out. Now remember, Apple advertised this as network storage, professional performance, accessible by multiple users i.e. - guess what my face looked like when I found a Western Digital "green"/"eco" home desktop hard-drive in it. I would have expected at least a WD "red" hard-drive or something on par with it. Now I don't wonder anymore why that Hard-Drive gave up after about 3 years of use.

 

Sorry, I'm fed up - and I'm not even taking about all those other problems, >restoring of iPhone/iPad after minor updates, the throwing away of Aperture and replacing it with "Photos", to name just a few< I encountered during this 3 years. Back when I was a windows user, I had troubles sometimes - but never, ever to this extent or as harmful in nature as right now.

 

I will be waiting for the next update, if that doesn't resolve the obvious DRM issues and thus, forces my to start anew, I will - but surely not with any Apple product.

 

Best regards,

Oliver Mendl

MacBook Air (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4), FritzBox 7270 (Europe)

Posted on Jul 22, 2015 11:47 PM

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OlliM

Q: Major DRM issues when recovering songs from iCloud Music Library

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Jimzgoldfinch,

    Jimzgoldfinch Jimzgoldfinch Jul 23, 2015 7:36 AM in response to OlliM
    Level 6 (9,312 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 23, 2015 7:36 AM in response to OlliM

    Hi,

    Sorry to hear about your issues but as this is a user forum, you should address your issues with Apple. Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

     

    However I would add that If you have Apple Music, any music that you download from iCloud library will have DRM.

     

    iCloud Music Library: Understanding differences between Apple Music and iTunes Match - Apple Support

     

    Extract: "When Apple Music adds these matched songs to your iCloud Music Library, Apple Music doesn’t change or alter your original music files that reside in iTunes for Mac or PC". However, if you have used your MacBook to stream then download tracks, those tracks will have DRM except for those purchased from the iTunes Store (with current Apple ID) .


    Jim

  • by OlliM,

    OlliM OlliM Jul 23, 2015 10:54 AM in response to Jimzgoldfinch
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 10:54 AM in response to Jimzgoldfinch

    Hi Jim,

     

    thanks for your reply! However it does not address my issue.

     

    I'm fully aware that "Apple Music" streaming titles which have been saved will come with DRM - all fine by me. But that is not my issue.

     

    What I'm talking about is that titles I previously owned, are now labeled "Appple Music" - after I tried to restore my music on my Mac via the iCloud Music Library. We are talking about legal iTunes purchases and a few legally bought CD's I ripped. Also this does not always affect complete Albums - just a few titles from certain albums - others are shown correctly as purchased.

     

    This leaves me either stuck forever with Apple Music - because this won't be an issue as long as I pay (or as long as Apple can offer the corresponding songs, it's not said that everything will be offered/can be offered forever...) OR I need to wipe everything and restore my iTunes from scratch. (Which also means restoring iPhone, IPad ...)

     

    Of course I tried to restore from my rescued backup files - well luckily I only tried with one album, because I ended up with the same album twice. Once locally, once still in iCloud Music Library.

     

    Given this experience, I ask myself what will happen when I restore my iTunes from scratch and turn iCloud Music Library back on? (Which I basically want to use)

     

    I'm not looking for a workaround/solution by the support community users, that is true. My posting here should be understood as a warning for each and every user who might find him/herself in a similar situation.

     

    I'm not going to contact Apple by telephone - I have no interest in being stuck in first line phone support. As another issue I have had in the past and that was discussed here shows, Apple monitors this forum pretty closely - I was contacted by someone from Apple to gather more information that went directly to the pros.

     

    So my hope is, they read this, understand where I'm coming from and fix the issue.

     

    Best regards,

    Oliver

  • by OlliM,

    OlliM OlliM Jul 23, 2015 1:50 PM in response to OlliM
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 23, 2015 1:50 PM in response to OlliM

    Just some "proof" of one of the issues.

     

    I bought an Album by "The Common Linnets" called "The Common Linnets". Even after I recovered it via iCloud Music Library it shows correctly that this was a purchase through my current, main AppleID, it was correctly downloaded to my ITunes folder and not to the Apple Music folder. (Hey, where I am right now, that's something to be happy about) I can play all of it's tracks on my Mac. I will show you the corresponding "File" Tab for two songs.

     

    Bildschirmfoto 2015-07-23 um 22.28.45.jpg

     

    Bildschirmfoto 2015-07-23 um 22.29.23.jpg

     

    Now I try to play "Sun Song" on my iPhone (which of course is registered and activated to my current main AppleID) through iCloud Music Library. It says I have not bought this track and therefore cannot play it.

     

    IMG_3663.jpg

     

    Now I try to play: "Where Do I Go With Me" - works flawless.

     

    IMG_3664.jpg

     

    Best regards,

    Oliver