Apple Music Shared iTunes account moving to Apple Music Subscription with iTunes Match

[saxman]

Hello. I am exploring moving to a family Apple Music subscription from my current setup. The wrinkle I am foreseeing is what will happen with my very large ripped from CD content that currently works great shared with family members. Here is my current setup:

My iCloud account as family organizer
Wife's iCloud account
Son's iCloud account

All with shared iCloud storage subscription

We use a separate iTunes account on all devices that is currently NOT part of the family plan that we make all music and app purchases out of and has an iTunes Match subscription. This works great as we all have separated iCloud accounts for documents, messaging, etc. My wife's iCloud account is used for family pictures.

I have over 24,000 tracks in our music library. About 22,000 of those tracks are ripped from CDs (that I still own). I use iTunes Match and we all use the same iTunes account for music. We see all the music and use folders to separate playlists. We don't care at all about play counts, recommendations, etc. This all works great as we have eclectic tastes in music and don't mind seeing the random kids music my wife uses for her teaching. However, with more and more Apple Music app functions moving to the subscription model (looking at you Classical Music App) and my son on the verge of being a teenager, I'm considering moving to the family Apple Music subscription.

If I add our currently shared iTunes account to the family group and by extension the Apple Music family subscription, it seems that the other members will loose access to the iTunes Match content (22,00ish tracks) unless I use home sharing on the same wifi network? Is that true? Is there any other way to have the ripped content available to the family outside of the home without adding all those tracks to their individual accounts? [don't @ me copyright hawks - fair use provisions are really untested within a family]

I am basically an archivist and prefer to own all of my music so I have been very slow to get on the streaming bandwagon. I know I'm not the market Apple is going for but some of the Apple Music subscription perks are calling to me.

Thanks!

 

[pup]

Just like iTunes, iCloud sign in for Music is separate from the rest of iCloud; so everyone can sign in to the your account for music, while keeping their own ID for rest of their iCloud stuff. Downside is that you’ll have to share playlists and music, but it sounds like that’s the way you do it now.

 

[saxman]

So the Apple Music Subscription doesn't need to be the iTunes account? I think that was the information I was missing. That would solve a huge headache. Thanks!

 

[pup]

So the Apple Music Subscription doesn't need to be the iTunes account?

Well, the Apple ID that you currently use for iTunes will need to be either the primary iCloud account or one of the accounts attached to your family plan. That account is the one that your family will want use for media since it’s the one that your previous (and future) iTunes purchases are attached to.

So, after upgrading, you and your family will need to go to the Media and Purchases section of iCloud settings and if necessary, sign out and then sign in again using your ID (or whichever ID that you’re currently using for iTunes). I suspect from what you described that you’re all already set up like that so you may not have to make any changes at all.