What if I want to sync my music the old way but still want to save reference to Apple `for you` playlists, without downloading them?

I have the exact same issue, so many of my songs are incorrectly matched that I cannot use icloud music library, I have many lossless songs which I would like to be able to enjoy the extra quality of so I cannot use icloud music library. I frequently travel and listen to my music on the plane and abroad, due to the common issues of icloud music library randomly deleting songs that have been made available, I cannot use icloud music library.

If I want to use apple music I have to enable icloud music library or have massively limited functionality, no offline listening or customised playlists. I went along to the apple store to ask how I can sync my music locally whilst still using apple music to add songs to playlists and I was told, categorically, it's not possible. I shall be returning to Spotify.

I have this issue too. iCloud music library destroys my existing music library and renders it unusable; but I LOVE the "new" section and the curated playlists. I have had to turn-off iCloud music library and restore my library from a backup I made before I subscribed. Now I can still use the new section and listen to the playlists; but only in a very limited way. I'm not sure I can justify the subscription cost now. I really don't understand why Apple won't let us use the other features without forcing us to upload all our existing music. I have sent feedback to them. I hope they listen.

One thing I would mention is that while iTunes on the desktop cannot save offline music without iCloud Music Library, iOS seems to have absolutely no problem with it.

Music.app on my iPhone allowed me to add an album to "My Music" and add it to local playlists as well. I then went into Airplane mode to test if it had actually saved locally, and it absolutely did.

Soo...I dont know what the reason is for the difference, but at least Apple threw a bone here...