Can't play a song I own without Apple Music subscription

Hey I know this thread is a few years old, but I thought I'd chime in.

I've had the same issue as you did. What I did however to fix it was I created an AAC Version (File>Convert>Create AAC Version) of the track and then synced it. The songs now play with no issue, and Apple Music does not prompt up.

Hope this helps!

I had this issue as well, where my free trial had run out and all my bought music disappeared. To fix this, Click on your name at the top right of iTunes (unless you do it on your iPhone, then just go to Purchased), then click "Purchased". Re-download any content you want from there. Hope this helps 🙂

I Cancelled Apple Music also. It replaced a couple of my ripped cd tracks for imatched versions or something, which were different. I wonder if it did the same to you and now thinks apple owns those tracks not you?

I'm having the same problem. Music that was mine before apple music that I burned from my Cd's apple music thinks it owns it now. Has anyone found any solution to this problem? Is apple aware of the problem?

crescentish wrote:

I had this issue as well, where my free trial had run out and all my bought music disappeared. To fix this, Click on your name at the top right of iTunes, then click "Purchased". Re-download any content you want from there. Hope this helps 🙂

Exactly. Music not physically downloaded to your iPhone and/or Mac via iTunes purchase download and/or synced between your phone and your Mac will not be playable when your Apple Music subscription ends.

During your Apple Music subscription, any CD ripped to ONLY your Mac's iTunes Library or iTunes purchased song downloaded ONLY to your Mac, showed up on your phone via Apple Music (iCloud Music Library). So, when you stopped Apple Music, anything that was "going through" iCloud Music Library (a.k.a. "matched") to your phone will not be available. You will have to download your iTunes purchased music to your phone, as stated above, and sync to your Mac's iTunes Library to get ripped CD's to your phone, if not there already.

If for some reason, during your Apple Music subscription, you deleted your ripped CD from your Mac's iTunes Library, but, then re-downloaded it to your Mac from Apple Music, or for some reason you replaced your ripped songs with Apple Music "matched" versions, they will no longer work either. You will have to re-rip the CDs and sync to your phone. Just like the old days.

I am experiencing the same issue. Hundreds of songs I have ripped from CD's I own are not playable now that the Apple Music trial has expired. This is not only infuriating but it also shows disregard for the user experience. I would appreciate any help, if there is a solution to this, other than reseting my iPhone, creating a new iTunes library on my Mac and resyncing. It has to be a better way.

I cannot download my music which i bought in the iTunes store to my iphone either...

combine the seriously annoying interface of the new music app and this annoyance, i start wondering why i still have an iphone...

how hard can it be to just copy rdio's or spotify's interface, highly specialised copycatting should also be in these guys' curriculum, shouldn't it

I got the same message today!! I bought an entire album but one of the songs won't play. It keeps telling me my Apple Music membership expired and to renew it!! Why do I have to PAY $9.99 a month to listen to music I already own!!? Or it keeps telling me I have cellular data turned off. I don't want to use up all my data just to listen to music. That's crazy!!! When I have my phone on airplane mode I can't listen to ANY music!!! Apple ***** big time. Time to get a Galaxy.

LET ME GET THIS STRAIT, IF I DON'T HAVE A APPLE MUSIC SUBSCRIPTION OR MEMBERSHIP I CAN'T EVEN SYNC MY MUSIC TO MY PHONE??? BTW I HAVE 24HRS TRYING TO GET THIS WORK, I HAVE THE LATEST ITUNES AND IOS... ANY EXPLANATION???... AND YES I TRY EVERYTHING...

I have the same issue. It would not let me log in to itunes until I agreed to their new terms. So I agreed. Now it says I can't get my music because it is in the cloud and its theirs. I put all my vinyl in itunes. I put all my mothers 50's and 60's music in itunes. I spent HUNDREDS of hours putting MY music in itunes and because I tried Apple Music now they own MY music. But now for the other problem. It will not let me update my phone until I accept the terms of the new agreement. Obviously I do not want to lose those songs as well so I do not update. But now I can not update my email of bank apps either until I accept their new terms. I have had their products from the beginning and this is how we are rewarded. I got an ipod in 2007 and a new phone every two years, now if I continue I will lose my music that took me a lifetime to collect. I do not want to give up the iphone or itunes but I do not feel I should have to pay $10 a month in perpetuity either. I called Apple several times and was hung up on 3 times and finally a woman told me that I agreed to these terms so there was nothing they could do for me. So where does that leave us with Apple products?

MY solution... Cancel Apple Music and switch it off on all devices. Eradicate any trace. If you signed up for itunes match as I did in a fruitless attempt to get the online functionality without the downloading and playlist get issues of Apple Music, then switch that off completely on every device also. This will involve going through and online chat solution with Apple through their website. Eventually when you get them to see what it's done to your library, they'll refund you, switch match off at their end and this has so far fixed my problem. I feel like I've gone 'off the grid' but it's the only way to recover my music how it was.

ps I had 11000+ tracks, all cds burnt to the mac, old mp3s, iTunes track purchases or 12"s ripped to MP3. Everything looks hunky dory at the moment and I will not be going back online with any music services for the time being. I can still discover new music without Apple Music and can buy any tracks I like from iTunes Store. If I like an album I go to the shop and buy it on cd then burn it to the computer, just as I have for the last 20 years.

When you created your iTunes library with all the music on your computer, did you not back up all those carefully burned and created MP3 files? Preferably before you signed up for itunes Match or iCloud music library? Because if you did do that, why can't you just turn off Apple Music and ICML, create a new itunes library and add back all your stuff?

The only time Apple has limited my access to my own music - not stuff I added from Apple Music - was on my secondary devices (meaning not the ones that has my original iTunes library physically on them) and I turned off iCloud music library. On the original computer (in this case my wife's iMac because her library was only a small portion of mine) I have never either lost my music or access to playing my music, even when to do some testing I turned ICML off.

THe $10 per month is required to give you access to the entire Apple Music library and to allow you to listen to your entire music library through ICML on your other devices without having to out your entire library on them also.

Many of us after the 3 month trial of Apple Music don't want to even get back, in my case I don't need it, the radio station are really bad, I look for Spanish Rock and I end up listening Urban Pop or some sort of trash like that, Now that I want to sync my own music, storage in my computer, and I can't do it, but sync ringtones and apps, but my music don't, and just because I refuse to pay 10 buck a month for a trash service, as far as I know, I walked into a store, sign a contact for 800 something dollar to own a iphone, so as far I understand that make it my device, so that means I can do whatever I want with it, why shout be restrain to want the company thinks is the "Next Big Thing"?.

PS: I already backup, restore, restore from backup, erase, restore again, disable all traces of apple music, uninstall iTunes, installed again, Update, and NOTHING... I been 36 Hours awake trying and looking for a solution and I beyond of simple mad or bother. NEXT STEP, JAILBREAKING!.

I just encountered this problem yesterday when trying to download a new CD to my phone. Not only does the "Apple Music Subcription" thing show up, it also won't let me download them directly from my computer. Thanks to iCloud and Apple Music, I cannot download music directly from computer to phone anymore.

This is utterly ridiculous. I am beyond dissatisfied with my iPhone and am currently seeking other smartphone alternatives. I will not be buying an Apple smartphone or tablet in the near future. Little issues like these keep piling up and eventually they push past a breaking point. This whole "Apple Music" thing is the last straw.