Apple Music Apple Music - to merge or not to merge?

[Robcat101]

Apologies if this has been asked before, but I’m a little confused about the implications of the merge option now I have Apple Music (family).

I‘ve ripped all my CDs (remember them?) onto my PC. Most are mp3s at a bitrate of 192, but latterly I used 320 (Vbr).

If I merge the library, I understand that iTunes will find and download iTunes versions of ones that it can. Am I right in saying that these are 256bps Apple codec? This means the quality will be better than my old rips, but worse than latter ones?

Are the old files replaced?

If I leave Apple Music in the future, do the downloaded files become unplayabl?

Thanks for any help in this.

 

[mallbritton]

That's not exactly how Apple Music works. The existing tracks in your library will be either Matched to tracks in the in iTunes Store, or uploaded if no match is found. No tracks will be replaced and nothing will be downloaded without your express action.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Do you plan to listen to your library on other devices? Lots of threads here with posts about how "matching" ripped songs/albums can lead to mismatching.

mallbritton is right…nothing is downloaded unless you make it happen. You can switch out the old mp3s for better quality downloaded AACs, or now lossless in Big Sur, but they won't play (or they'll disappear?) if you unsubscribe…so have a backup.

I went through all this when I subscribed. What I ended up doing was only adding ripped songs/albums if Apple Music didn't have it.

 

[Robcat101]

Thanks, I think I’ve misunderstood the way it works. I’ve backed up my cd rips, irrespective of whether they are 192 or 320, so I guess I can take a punt. I sometimes play mp3s (via a SD card) in my car, but other than that I’m in the Apple ecosystem. I’m just wary of where I stand if I stop my AM subscription, and if I need to re-rip my cds (which would take a long time).

 

[mallbritton]

Keep in mind that CD rips, already in your library, will not be affected at all. Also, purchased music will still be in your library. The advantage of Apple Music, and other streaming services, is you get access to the full library as long as you keep paying the subscription fee. If you do cancel your sub those CD rips and purchases will remain unaffected.

Now, if all you are concerned with is getting your CD rips into the cloud so you can play them anywhere then you might want to look at iTunes Match instead of Apple Music. The biggest difference in the services, besides the cost, is iTunes Match does not give you access to all the music in the iTunes Store, like Apple Music does. Another advantage is if you do choose to "upgrade" a ripped track the track you download will be DRM-free, and if you cancel the sub you can keep the upgraded tracks. This is not the case with an Apple Music sub.

 

[Robcat101]

Ta. I need the Apple Music sub (as I’ve stopped Spotify), so just having Match isn’t an option. To be fair, I doubt I’ll stop it any time soon (and therefore have access to lossless quality), so in reality it’s only a question of what happens to my current collection of mp3s, particularly if stop my sub at some point in the future. Worst case scenario, I’d re-rip our CDs, but that would take quite a long when we’ve got hundreds between us. I’ve backed up my iTunes media folder anyway.

 

[haralds]

I have both Apple Music and iTunes Match. Apple Music is part of Apple Family One.
Some of my albums and artists are not in Apple Music.
In iTunes Match, albums are either matched or uploaded. Your local copies remain.
Matched titles are 256Kbs AAC. If you delete the local copy and download them again that is what you will get.
I currently convert all my CDs to lossless (24bits/48Khz.) The uploads of these are also converted to 256Kbps AAC.
On my MacBooks, I will download the matched titles and for my favorite titles copy the lossless versions from my main machine overwriting the downloads. This prevents collisions by attempts to sync the same title again.