iMatch and play counts

Works as intended here, although there some unpublished rules of how much, or which portions of a song, have to be played before the count is advanced.

Confirm that iTunes > Preferences > Sharing > has the option about computers and devices update play counts checked.

If that's iTunes Match, it does update play count. However, it may not happen immediately, if you play a song on your iPhone and sit there watching your Mac's iTunes library to see if the play count for that song updates. If you quit iTunes and then re-launch it, iTunes accesses your iCloud music library, and you'll see that the song's play count has been updated with the latest data.

With iTunes Match enabled, your Mac's iTunes library is no longer your primary library (for music). Your primary library is now your iCloud Music Library. Your Mac is just one of your associated devices that (equally) accesses your iCloud Music Library.

I also have this question. I use play counts to create separate play lists for my wife and I. It only updates the first song that I play. It's been two weeks and only one song updates. Very frustrating.

Kenichi Watanabe wrote:

With iTunes Match enabled, your Mac's iTunes library is no longer your primary library (for music). Your primary library is now your iCloud Music Library. Your Mac is just one of your associated devices that (equally) accesses your iCloud Music Library.

Hi Kenichi,

I thought that the primary library was the one on your main computer! The iCloud Music library is created from this library and for changes to be made to the iCloud library, you need to make changes in your main library e.g. add new tracks from CD rips or update metadata.

Is my understanding incorrect?

Jim

That was the concept initially, when iTunes Match first started. The iCloud Music Library was an online reflection of your main computer's iTunes music library. But when the Apple Music service rolled out, that concept evolved. iCloud Music Library became primary, with all associated computers and devices having equal access to it. You can make changes from any associated computer or device; those changes are seen immediately "everywhere." When you start your iCloud Music Library now (as a new subscriber), I believe you have the option to "merge" the libraries on your separate computers and devices into your one iCloud Music Library (instead of starting it from one main computer). I noticed wording of related commands in iTunes subtlety changed to reflect the conceptual change.

You can still treat your main computer's iTunes library as the primary place where you make all changes. I still have all my song files stored locally in my main Mac's local iTunes library, but what I see in its iTunes window (when viewing music library) is my iCloud Music Library. I have a second Mac (connected to my HDTV) that sees the same iCloud Music Library, with zero song files stored locally. My iPod touch also sees the same iCloud Music Library. I can buy a song on iPod touch, it gets added to my iCloud Music Library, and I see this change immediately on either Mac.

Because my main Mac has all song files stored locally (and I back it up using Time Machine), I can easily cancel my subscription to iTunes Match (and Apple Music), and say goodbye my iCloud Music Library. My main Mac would still have all songs in its iTunes library. But since I do have my iCloud Music Library right now, I could sell my main Mac, get a new Mac, and immediately access my music library just by signing in with my Apple ID. I don't need to have song files stored locally anymore anywhere, although I don't think that would be very prudent. 🙂

Hi Kenichi,

I totally agree with your comments in paragraphs 2 & 3.

I would continue to argue that the library on your main computer is your primary library. Agreed that you can add iTunes purchases from your other devices and add non Apple Music (CDs / Digital downloads) on other computers that had iCloud music library but you could do that with iTunes match.

Kenichi Watanabe wrote:

When you start your iCloud Music Library now (as a new subscriber), I believe you have the option to "merge" the libraries on your separate computers and devices into your one iCloud Music Library (instead of starting it from one main computer).

🙂

I have not read anything about this other than on an iOS device "If you already have music on your device, you're asked if you want to keep the music that's on your device. If you choose Keep Music*, the music from your device adds to your iCloud Music Library. If you choose Delete & Replace, the music on your device is replaced with the content from your iCloud Music Library."

Jim

Well, if you can completely destroy your "main computer" and still have access to your complete music library (from you new computer and other devices) like nothing happened, doesn't that mean that your iCloud Music Library is indeed your primary music library.

iTunes Match and Apple Music now use the same concept for iCloud Music Library. The only difference with the two services is DRM on downloaded songs that "match."

the music from your device adds to your iCloud Music Library.

Which is "merging."

Hi,

I don't agree. iTunes Match and Apple Music are NOT back up services. Yes, you have access to your music in the iCloud Music library but this does not take account of your ALAC or other music that would be transcribed to 256 Kbps. I prefer to have my music physically on my computer so download 60,000 tracks would take time BUT I would be able to restore from my back up in any event.

DRM is no longer applies to Matched music in Apple Music. Only music from Apple Music library has DRM

Jim

Yes, that part is true, which is why users should keep local copies of song files (the original ones if higher bitrate) and also back them up locally. I do not personally use or rely on iCloud Music Library as my backup.

However, CONCEPTUALLY, in how iTunes is now designed to work with iCloud Music Library, your iCloud Music Library is the primary music library. For example, song files stored locally are referred to in current iTunes as "downloads" from your iCloud Music Library (even if they're your original song files that were never "downloaded"). The command to delete a locally stored song file is now Remove Download, not Delete. The command to Delete is now used to delete song from your iCloud Music Library.

Your iCloud Music Library is accessed equally from multiple computers and devices associated with your Apple ID. There is functionally no primary computer or device, as defined by the system. Users can treat a particular computer as their main computer (like we do), but that's only a user decision, not part of the system design.

DRM is no longer applies to Matched music in Apple Music. Only music from Apple Music library has DRM

Not according to this document, which still appears to be current

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

"Using Apple Music - ... We make these matched songs available to your other computers or devices in high quality 256 Kbps AAC, and they can be played on them only while your Apple Music membership is active." [DRM]

"Using iTunes Match - ... all of the songs that we matched or uploaded using iTunes... can be downloaded DRM-free (if matched) or in their uploaded form and are yours to keep. These songs can continue to play after your iTunes Match subscription ends." [no DRM]

Basically, if you only have Apple Music, matched songs downloaded from your iCloud Music Library are treated the same as direct downloads from Apple Music streaming service. A distinction that many Apple Music subscribers (who sometimes intentionally delete their original locally-stored song files to free up space) do not understand.

Hi,

The support document referenced by you is sadly out of date. It has not been updated since Apple Music started to use the same audio fingerprint as iTunes Match.

This is one of many articles http://www.macworld.com/article/3093473/streaming-services/apple-improves-icloud -music-library-matching-ditches-drm-file…

Jim

That's good news. But the article does say this is being rolled out "gradually," so the old (not as good) standard is still "officially" in effect, until the roll out is complete and everyone has this new benefit. So, that's probably why that Apple document has not been updated (or removed) yet. 🙂

Hmmm... My iTunes Match subscription auto-renews in Nov. Since I have both, I hope there's a way to find out roll-out status for my Apple Music subscription, so that I can safety stop auto-renewing iTunes Match before Nov. Or maybe Apple will cancel it automatically, once my Apple Music subscription officially makes my iTunes Match subscription unnecessary.