Music isn't included in an iTunes backup/erase/restore? Is that normal?

[AVR2]

All the music stored on my iPhone has gone following a backup/erase/restore. All my apps, personal data, photos, videos, contacts etc are back as before, but none of the music has been re-transferred back onto the device.

Instead, the Music app just lists all the songs I've purchased from the ITMS (ignoring everything I ripped from CD) and indicates that they're available for streaming. I *never* use streaming, I always store my music on my devices.

Has something gone wrong somewhere, or is this expected behaviour for a backup?

I manually manage my music, but surely that doesn't apply when restoring a backup? Or does it? Do I need to set iTunes back to "automatically sync" before I run the restore?

 

[akadafni]

This is expected behavior. Backups have never included music, purchased or otherwise. Just sync your phone to the computer.

 

[AVR2]

I don't expect the backup to contain the actual MP3 files, but I *do* expect it to contain the playlist data for the songs I had stored on the device, and to use that data to re-sync all those specific songs. But it's not happening. No matter how many times I sync, the music doesn't come across.

So every time you restore a backup, you have to manually re-add your music? I don't keep my entire music library on my devices, only selected songs.

 

[KALLT]

Don’t you have that playlist in your iTunes music library? The reason why it is not included in backups is because of this redundancy. You already sync this media manually, so all you need to do after an erase is sync your media back.

 

[AVR2]

Don’t you have that playlist in your iTunes music library?

Nope. I just drag music directly to my devices, I don't create playlists and then sync them.

 

[chabig]

No matter how many times I sync, the music doesn't come across.

You said in your first post that you manually manage your music. Of course it won't sync music if you're manually managing it.
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So every time you restore a backup, you have to manually re-add your music?

Yes, if it's manually managed. Those of us who let iTunes manage our songs do enjoy auto-syncing.
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Nope. I just drag music directly to my devices, I don't create playlists and then sync them.

Then you'll have to do that again. I encourage to try playlists and auto-syncing. It's so much easier. You can still have manual control by choosing to sync only checked songs.

 

[AVR2]

I think it could be clearer in iTunes that if you manually manage your music, backups will not restore your music unless you've created a playlist. I honestly don't think it's too much to expect that a backup would store the metadata for your music regardless of whether you've synced a playlist or just clicked Add To Device. If it's data on your phone, a backup should register it somehow.

Still, here we are. Is there an easy way to create a playlist in iTunes from the songs that I've already manually added to the phone?

 

[chabig]

I think it could be clearer in iTunes that if you manually manage your music, backups will not restore your music unless you've created a playlist. I honestly don't think it's too much to expect that a backup would store the metadata for your music regardless of whether you've synced a playlist or just clicked Add To Device. If it's data on your phone, a backup should register it somehow.

I agree with you. Unfortunately, I am traveling without my Mac and it's media library, and only have my iPad.

Here is Apple's support document. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201253
It says you can sync playlists and music. In your case, you chose not to use playlists, and not to sync music. So I think it worked correctly. If you had any playlists at all, this would have been so much easier.

When you recreate everything, make a catch-all playlist for the music you put onto your phone.