iTunes 11 Cloud is Confusing

[jason.siegel]

I'm throughly confused about what the iTunes 11 cloud has done to my media. Did it actually delete the local copies of my movies and music? Do I now have to re-download the movies & music I already bought in order to watch/listen to them when my Internet connection goes down? If I re-download, does that forever disable cloud services for that media? Do I even own my media anymore? Are things going to magically start disappearing from my library—even media that I did not buy through iTunes?

[bigMAC28]

Originally Posted by jason.siegel

I'm throughly confused about what the iTunes 11 cloud has done to my media. Did it actually delete the local copies of my movies and music? Do I now have to re-download the movies & music I already bought in order to watch/listen to them when my Internet connection goes down? If I re-download, does that forever disable cloud services for that media? Do I even own my media anymore? Are things going to magically start disappearing from my library—even media that I did not buy through iTunes?

Your local media should be in the Music->iTunes->iTunes Media Directory. You should be able to download them to your local computer. (I'm assuming you have iTunes Match) All of your other stuff should remain the same on iCloud. You can access your movies and stuff under downloads in the iTunes store.

-Mike

[bluespark]

Unless something went horribly wrong with your installation, none of your media was deleted from your computer. You can verify by looking in the folder where you stored your media, presumably the iTunes Media folder.

Is the source of your confusion the little iCloud symbols next to certain items? That simply means that the item exists in the cloud (whether or not it's also on your computer). If something else is confusing you, please be specific so we can try to help.

[jason.siegel]

I guess something went horribly wrong with my installation, because my files are gone.

[sannesley]

I don't think something has went horribly wrong with your installation. I am experienceing the same problem as you since I upgraded iTunes. All my iTunes purchased media has a little cloud symbol next to it but when I open the album I find that I have to download the songs from the cloud.

Most annoying . I checked the iTunes media folder and it would appear that all my stuff in that folder has vanished

I've connected my ipod now for the first time since the upgrade and it's telling me that there are items on my ipod that are not on itunes and now I've set it to download them to iTunes so hopefully this should sort the problem with missing media. UPDATE: connecting my ipod and syncing it has restored the music from the ipod to iTunes

Check out this page at Apple Support Communities and specifically the post from rejoyce318 on how to get all the cloud media back onto iTunes easily

The following seems to have worked for me:

Get all the missing cloud media downloaded back into iTunes
Go to: Edit->Preferences->Store->Show iTunes in the Cloud Purchase
Untick this box and this will only show the media on your local PC or Mac.


I purchased a single after doing this and it downloaded ok into iTunes the way that it had done in previous versions of the software. Personally I don't use the cloud so having it turned on in iTunes is only confusing the matter for me

[jason.siegel]

Originally Posted by bigMAC28

Your local media should be in the Music->iTunes->iTunes Media Directory. You should be able to download them to your local computer. (I'm assuming you have iTunes Match) All of your other stuff should remain the same on iCloud. You can access your movies and stuff under downloads in the iTunes store.

-Mike

I actually don't have iTunes Match. I frankly do not understand what iTunes 11 is doing, and I am computer literate. If I download files locally (again), can I no longer use iCloud for that media unless I delete my local copy (which apparently restores iCloud availability?) Do I really own anything I buy anymore, or is it going to be like the disappearing Kindle books that made the news recently?

[Bec88]

Can anyone help ? CDs which have collaborations on seem to have split off, so when you select an album, you so not get these tracks and the whole CD (eg. Michael Buble Christmas CD, about 4 tracks are missing and are listed on their own). Is there a way to sort this out ?

[bigMAC28]

Originally Posted by jason.siegel

I actually don't have iTunes Match. I frankly do not understand what iTunes 11 is doing, and I am computer literate. If I download files locally (again), can I no longer use iCloud for that media unless I delete my local copy (which apparently restores iCloud availability?) Do I really own anything I buy anymore, or is it going to be like the disappearing Kindle books that made the news recently?

The only music that is stored in the cloud is the music you buy off of iTunes. If you want all of your music in the cloud you would have to buy iTunes Match. I have it and I can say that it is worth it. Did you look in the directory that I put in my last post? All of your music should be there. If not try to go to iTunes preferences and go to Advanced. Make sure that the "keep my iTunes folder organized" box is checked as well as "copy files to itunes media folder when adding to library". You can see all of your purchased music through the iTunes store ( under quick links, about halfway up the page on the right) Other than that you dont really have any other music in the cloud. But you do own your music.( you just cant do anything with it but listen to it over your computer/iphone/ipod). Hope this helps!

-Mike

[jason.siegel]

Thanks. Let me clarify: My library is not large. A have a few movies and about a hundred songs bought through iTunes. The rest of my media is local, and I have no issues with that. My questions pertain to content I bought on iTunes.