You can download the music to your device for offline play. I mean, I think all of it is available that way, but I’m not sure.
Thanks. Another question: If I switch from iTunes to Apple Music, what happens to the thousands of songs I’ve downloaded over the years? Can I still play them?
Never tried. I borrowed the CD from the library, uploaded it, then swore never to buy from iTunes again.
I also still use iTunes, largely because I uploaded a bunch of CDs many years ago, plus downloaded a bunch of MP3s, and use their matching to make that music available through Apple Music on my iPad. Complicated, but there you are.
Remember the carousel feature? I miss that.
Nothing happens to them. They’re still there and you can still play them.
Did they replace Itunes or just change its name and make a new version? Is this Apple music thing even super different?
There is still iTunes, or at least there was a couple of months ago. My own version started glitching, and I found a blog post that said reinstall, but not from the Microsoft store, rather directly from the website, and I thought that was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, but I did it, and it worked. That is, after I found another blog post that told me to delete the system file that was keeping it from installing.
What about all they playlists I created? Are they also preserved?
Playlists should be preserved. But since it’s always a good idea to make backups before an upgrade — select the playlist, go to File in the menubar > Library > Export Playlist > Format: XML and save.
I ended up switching from iTunes when my 5th gen iPod became unsuitable for everyday use (battery and sound issues). I now sync my iPod Touch through Finder. It syncs my songs and playlists with no problem, but podcasts can be hit or miss. I can’t rely on streaming for much of the day, so I have to download all of my podcasts. I’ve had problems with downloads disappearing from both the iPod and the Mac before I can listen to them; I’ve also had issues with syncing new episodes of some shows. And don’t get me started on podcast artwork. >.<
I loved that so much! The visualizer was neat too.
I have an iPod Nano. The only piece of Apple hardware I have ever owned, or plan to own. I have a portable stereo in my downstairs office that has a slot for plugging in the iPod. That’s what I use to listen to music during the day while I’m working. I have most of my music library imported to iTunes on an old laptop and use that to reload the iPod every week or two. Every time I start iTunes it asks me if I want to download an update and I tell it no. Last time I updated, it somehow wiped out my entire iTunes library.
These days I have nothing to do with the Apple ecosystem and wasn’t even aware that Apple Music was the new thing. The name does strike me as a rather odd one in view of the history of litigation between Apple Computer and the Beatles-founded Apple Corps, which owns Apple Records. I gather that a lot has happened since the various lawsuits between the two, including iTunes becoming a major channel for the Beatles catalog, but it’s funny to look back on the fact that the terms of the first settlement in 1981 required Apple Corps to stay out of the computer business and Apple Computer to stay out of the music business so there would be no confusion between the two. Who’d ever have thunk that a few years later, Apple Computer (now Apple Inc) would be operating a service called Apple Music!