New Laptop: Is iTUNES MATCH the only option for music?

[GuyInTheBack]

https://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/

Is this the best way to transfer my music to the new laptop? (which is not currently stored on iCloud or my iTunes account in any way.)

I can use a manual drive for my other files, but that's the one I would like to... elegantly sync or what have you.

Are there any free alternatives? (I'm only transferring it to one device--the new laptop--not any iPhones/iPods, etc.) $24/year is a recurring cost I'd rather avoid.

 

[Chundles]

Grab your iTunes folder and move it from the old machine to the new one.

Is the old machine a Mac? Just use Migration Assistant when you're doing the first setup.

 

[GuyInTheBack]

Grab your iTunes folder and move it from the old machine to the new one.

Is the old machine a Mac? Just use Migration Assistant when you're doing the first setup.

Thanks for the reply, and pardon the unsurmountable noob, but wouldn't you then have to play every song?


P.S. The new mac is refurbished. It's empty and only has microsoft installed in it, but it's not a fresh off the Apple store computer.

 

[garirry]

Thanks for the reply, and pardon the unsurmountable noob, but wouldn't you then have to play every song?


P.S. The new mac is refurbished. It's empty and only has microsoft installed in it, but it's not a fresh off the Apple store computer.

No, just copy the iTunes Media folder from your old computer to your new one, or just copy everything to the Automatically Import to iTunes folder and it should be automatically placed. Oh, and, I suggest you do a clean install of the OS on your Mac, always a good idea.

 

[GuyInTheBack]

No, just copy the iTunes Media folder from your old computer to your new one, or just copy everything to the Automatically Import to iTunes folder and it should be automatically placed. Oh, and, I suggest you do a clean install of the OS on your Mac, always a good idea.

Thanks. The guy who sold it to me did the clean install for me. he just installed the latest microsoft for me free of charge after.

So, if I can do this, what is the point of "iTunes Match" then? :-/

P.P.S. I assume that this does not include podcasts, etc? iTunes is not the best for streaming & then Synching to my Windows Phone but that's my burden, ha.

 

[rigormortis]

Thanks. The guy who sold it to me did the clean install for me. he just installed the latest microsoft for me free of charge after.

So, if I can do this, what is the point of "iTunes Match" then? :-/

P.P.S. I assume that this does not include podcasts, etc? iTunes is not the best for streaming & then Synching to my Windows Phone but that's my burden, ha.

iTunes match allows:

1) commercial free music on iTunes radio
2) you no longer need to sync music from iTunes to your other devices, whatever you want to play is either streamed or downloaded to the phone
3) you can store 25000 songs on apple's servers.
4) any music that was purchased from apple can be traded for DRM FREE iTunes plus files
5) any music you legally obtained or otherwise uhh downloaded (heh) can be traded for 256 bit AAC iTunes Store copies.
6) whatever music that is not matched is uploaded to icloud as is

if you cancel iTunes match, the music you traded in is yours to keep

trade in?
yes.you take your low quality mp3s, iTunes match, matches them with the copies they sell in the stores, you then delete the mp3s you have kept around since napster, and download the same copies iTunes sells to people for 1.29 each

so for 25 a year you can get up to $32,250 worth of iTunes music


google does the same thing for free, but i couldnt tell you which songs are matched and which ones were uploaded. i don't know how.

theres been talk about updating iTunes match to 100,000 songs but i don't think thats allowed yet

if you don't mind syncing and don't really care for AAC DRM free music and the cloud, you can continue to just store music in iTunes for free and sync to your phone.

 

[rigormortis]

once the DRM has been removed from all the music, computers ( especially iTunes clients ) do not need to be logged onto apple at all. and that saves your precious activations

 

[GuyInTheBack]

Thanks. The guy who sold it to me did the clean install for me. he just installed the latest microsoft for me free of charge after.

So, if I can do this, what is the point of "iTunes Match" then? :-/

P.P.S. I assume that this does not include podcasts, etc? iTunes is not the best for streaming & then Synching to my Windows Phone but that's my burden, ha.

iTunes match allows:

1) commercial free music on iTunes radio
2) you no longer need to sync music from iTunes to your other devices, whatever you want to play is either streamed or downloaded to the phone
3) you can store 25000 songs on apple's servers.
4) any music that was purchased from apple can be traded for DRM FREE iTunes plus files
5) any music you legally obtained or otherwise uhh downloaded (heh) can be traded for 256 bit AAC iTunes Store copies.
6) whatever music that is not matched is uploaded to icloud as is

if you cancel iTunes match, the music you traded in is yours to keep

trade in?
yes.you take your low quality mp3s, iTunes match, matches them with the copies they sell in the stores, you then delete the mp3s you have kept around since napster, and download the same copies iTunes sells to people for 1.29 each

so for 25 a year you can get up to $32,250 worth of iTunes music


google does the same thing for free, but i couldnt tell you which songs are matched and which ones were uploaded. i don't know how.

theres been talk about updating iTunes match to 100,000 songs but i don't think thats allowed yet

if you don't mind syncing and don't really care for AAC DRM free music and the cloud, you can continue to just store music in iTunes for free and sync to your phone.

That's a lot of really useful information. So theoretically, I could "buy" iTunes match for a one-time usage; use it to synch up my music to the new laptop.... and then cancel it immediately so it's not renewed every year?

- Is the music downloaded unto a new device (in this case the new laptop) or is it just accessed remotely?
- What is the deal with podcasts? (I try to only keep the latest episode of the 40+ I listen to regularly so I wouldn't try to transpose those.)


(Thanks for all your helps!)

 

[rigormortis]

That's a lot of really useful information. So theoretically, I could "buy" iTunes match for a one-time usage; use it to synch up my music to the new laptop.... and then cancel it immediately so it's not renewed every year?

- Is the music downloaded unto a new device (in this case the new laptop) or is it just accessed remotely?
- What is the deal with podcasts? (I try to only keep the latest episode of the 40+ I listen to regularly so I wouldn't try to transpose those.)


(Thanks for all your helps!)

i would just copy the music library from one computer to the new one. after copying, don't forget to de authorize your computer if you no longer need it

if you have music you want to store on their cloud then you should pay for iTunes match

it doesn't cost you anything at all to manually copy music from one computer to the other and to sync

with iTunes match you no longer sync your device with itunes , all music is downloaded from the internet

if you wanted to , you could buy iTunes match for 1 year for $25
upload your music library
and delete all the lower quality songs that were matched
download matched copies

and then tell it not to resubscirbe and let it expire in 12 months

whatever music you matched or traded in is yours to keep

i would strongly advise you not to use iTunes match to simply move a library from one computer to another.
its so you can always have your music with you, without having the music stored on your phone
a lot of people complain that 16 gigs on their iPhones is not enough , and usable space is only 11 gigs
and iTunes match allows you to have 25000 songs, like 160 gigs of music accessible on your 16 gig iPhone

the other thing to watch out for is apple music. when you stop paying for apple music you lose your music , it expires

i don't know anything about podcasts. i only subscribe to a few podcasts. i don't think iTunes match keeps podcasts on the cloud

 

[rigormortis]

another thing you can do is just leave the music on your old computer, and turn it onto an iTunes server. that way you can use your new computer to play music over your network

click on iTunes, go to preferences
you should see a sharing tab
click on share my library on my local network
share entire library

this will allow you to play all your music on your new computer... this is for computers only. if music has no DRM the client iTunes machine does not need to be signed onto apple

this is not the sharing method you use if you have an apple tv or iPhones / ipads/ iPods
that is clicking on file
click on home sharing
click on turn on home sharing


a lot of people think ' share my library on my local network ' is obsolete. and only used for legacy iTunes, but
it kicks butt, because clients don't need to be signed on. but it sucks because it doesn't work on iOS devices


i believe with iPhone home sharing, you can transfer the music from iTunes librarys via ethernet/wifi

 

[Chundles]

Thanks for the reply, and pardon the unsurmountable noob, but wouldn't you then have to play every song?

Why would you have to play every song?

If you move the whole library folder, iTunes will just keep on keeping on as if it was on your old machine.

 

[GuyInTheBack]

Thanks, everyone. I think I'm about to make the leap and give iTunes Match a whirl.

Just two last questions...

1- You can download the songs that are iCloud stored, right? You can't only access them via streaming. (I like my music accessible wi-fi-lessly.)

The general goal is "Laptop A's music ---> Apple Watch Cloud ---> synched into Laptop B & downloaded permanently unto laptop B"

2- Are there ANY options for accessing this 'iTunes match library from a Windows Phone? Or will I just have to keep synching it manually from the new laptop)?

 

[GuyInTheBack]

ALSO:
There's no way around the matched email address, is there? I apparently won't be able to copy MP3s into a folder once songs are matched as they'll be tagged with my email address? I won't be able to make zip folder playlists for say my girlfriend anymore, will I?