Who Downloads iTunes Purchases

[Solomani]

I never download them. Why should i, since they are always available in the sky, and that being the newest version even?

Oh that's not true at all! I've purchased old iTunes albums that have been pulled off the (iTunes) cloud simply because the label/distributor/producer decided to make them no longer available to iTunes. This doesn't happen often, but it has happened.

And besides…. how expensive or difficult is it to simply archive all your downloaded iTunes files in a single storage medium? A Firewire drive? A Time Machine backup drive? A USB thumb drive? All of my iTunes purchases fits easily inside a 64GB USB thumb drive. It's not hard.

 

[charlituna]

Hi Guys,

Do you guys all download iTunes purchases for a back up once you've bought them or do you just leave them in the cloud?

not all of them. cause a lot of what I "purchase" are first eps of shows put up for free, many of which I didn't actually like.

but yeah I do download my top favs. and fav podcasts. I've been burned on losing those several times.

just for the record my iTunes Media is not on my main computer for the reason of space. I picked up a 8TB drive just for my iTunes and my Photo library.

 

[Surf Boy from Barcelona]

It's really interesting this thread but he's another thought. When iTunes 4K HDR launches who will download a 12GB 4K H265 film??? Imagine a few of these on your MacBook's SSD! No thank you
All of my films & music videos play from the cloud although I haven't bought a music video since 2010 - WHY WHY WHY did Apple never sell HD music video when I can download them from YouTube in HD / 2K Or even 4K if I want to? I really don't understand Apple for that especially when they prise themselves on quality and attention to detail! Can someone please explain?
I've lost one music track that was a Single rather than a Album version but that's all. But I gotta say that I did feel short changed as I'd paid my honestly earned money to this rather greedy powerhouse funded by evil bankers - so maybe some of the guys on this thread do have a point!

 

[charlituna]

It's really interesting this thread but he's another thought. When iTunes 4K HDR launches who will download a 12GB 4K H265 film???

possibly nobody, because the files may not be that big. we've yet to see what the size will be for a h.265 file. and that's the format that Apple is likely to use, which would be why they haven't offered 4k yet.

 

[Boyd01]

I'm in a rural area and my only choice for internet is sub 1mbit/sec. Verizon is supposedly bringing us FIOS soon, but I will continue to download everything.

Much to my amazement, Verizon followed through and buried 800 feet of fiber down my driveway. So I now have an internet connection that is literally 200 times faster than before. (150mbit up/150 down).

When iTunes 4K HDR launches who will download a 12GB 4K H265 film??? Imagine a few of these on your MacBook's SSD!

I have zero interest in 4k HDR, but my point is that things are changing rapidly. It would take me about 10 minutes to download your hypothetical 12gb movie (and the fiber they installed will support a gigabit connection). It used to take me about 3 hours on DSL to download a typical 1.5gb standard definition film.

And I bought several 5TB disk drives about a year ago. I can buy 8TB drives for the same price today. So, if I wanted 4k HDR movies, I might very well download them.

But I agree that SSD prices have been slow to drop. So I wouldn't store HDR movies on my 512gb MacBook Air. But that SSD is already way too small for my current 1.5TB library of mostly standard definition movies. That's why I have a Mini as an iTunes server. And it's not too hard to imagine connecting a 30TB hard drive to it.

 

[doolittle27]

I too have this very same problem. With nearly 800 titles on the cloud, I can't imagine how many hard drive would fit them all. I wish Apple would notify its customers when they're losing the license of the movies on the store. So that we can be prepare and download it to our device(s).

 

[Boyd01]

Are they HD movies? It's not too hard to "imagine how many hard drives" you would need to store them all. Just one 5 TB drive should do it. You can currently get a drive this size for $120 at Best Buy, maybe less if you shop around.

I can see why you might not to go that route, but if you want to protect your substantial iTunes media investment you should consider it.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

When iTunes 4K HDR launches who will download a 12GB 4K H265 film??? Imagine a few of these on your MacBook's SSD! No thank you

One 8TB hard drive will hold about 666 of those 12GB movies. You don't have to store downloads ONLY on the internal drive.

Again, trusting the cloud is trusting total strangers to take care of stuff you buy. When they fail you, you have pretty much no recourse. When a Studio yanks some content for any reason at any time, it's pretty much tough luck. Download one copy to a cheap hard drive and you control that copy no matter what happens in the cloud. Or trust the cloud and deal with the consequences.

If one does a search, you can find many stories where trusting the cloud led to lost media. That doesn't happen when you are your own cloud.

With nearly 800 titles on the cloud, I can't imagine how many hard drive would fit them all.

800 times about 5GB each (assuming iTunes HD) = 4,000GB or 4TB. A 4TB drive as I write this is available for $109. For only $109, you could back ALL of them up and not worry about cloud scenarios. If you plan to grow the collection, an 8TB drive as I write this is only $135. $135 and you can back up all 800 plus 800 more when you accumulate them.

One of the oldest bits of great advice in computing is "back up your files." IMO for media "trusting the cloud" is a poor substitute.

 

[d21mike]

I decided to use PLEX. Really works well. Of course I had to remove the DRM like I did when I ripped DVD's many years ago.

 

[Surf Boy from Barcelona]

I spoke too soon guys!!! Just checked and i've lost 4 films that I bought THIS YEAR. Strangely, they are still for sale on the iTunes store!
Luckily i'd downloaded them as they are favourites - when you click on the blue circle in the menu the 'remove download' is not there on these 4 and only 'delete from library'. I tested that and they ended up in the trash bin.
The four films are:
Coast Modern
Indo Style (surfing)
South to Sian (surfing)
Summer of 8
My question is, what happens to the guy who buys iTunes films but only owns Apple TVs and say an iPad which Tim Cook promotes as a PC replacement? How could that film fan download all 200 iTunes HD and soon 4K HDR films to an iPad?
This completely puts me off my ATV and iTunes film purchases for the future. I find that HomeSharing from my MacBook is not a very nice experience as the film will freeze and buffer two or three times which ruins the experience.

 

[Rigby]

I spoke too soon guys!!! Just checked and i've lost 4 films that I bought THIS YEAR. Strangely, they are still for sale on the iTunes store!
Luckily i'd downloaded them as they are favourites - when you click on the blue circle in the menu the 'remove download' is not there on these 4 and only 'delete from library'. I tested that and they ended up in the trash bin.

I don't have any of the movies you mentioned so I can't check for these. But in my experience iTunes sometimes loses the mapping between downloaded files and the title in the store (which can usually be fixed by signing out in iTunes and signing back in). To check whether the movie has really been removed from your library, go to the store page in iTunes, click on "Purchased" in the menu on the right, and check if the title is still in the list. If it isn't, you can also check if the title has been "hidden" for some reason (Account Information/iTunes in the Cloud/Hidden Purchases/Manage).

I find that HomeSharing from my MacBook is not a very nice experience as the film will freeze and buffer two or three times which ruins the experience.

This is probably caused by some kind of network issue. I use Homesharing all the time and have no playback issues.

 

[Surf Boy from Barcelona]

I don't have any of the movies you mentioned so I can't check for these. But in my experience iTunes sometimes loses the mapping between downloaded files and the title in the store (which can usually be fixed by signing out in iTunes and signing back in). To check whether the movie has really been removed from your library, go to the store page in iTunes, click on "Purchased" in the menu on the right, and check if the title is still in the list. If it isn't, you can also check if the title has been "hidden" for some reason (Account Information/iTunes in the Cloud/Hidden Purchases/Manage).
This is probably caused by some kind of network issue. I use Homesharing all the time and have no playback issues.

Hi Rigby thank you for the advice! Problem solved! My MacBook has not been playing nice with iTunes recently - when you quit iTunes, the iTunes icon dances up and down and stay open for two or three minutes meaning 'something' is going on - one or twice it's deleted tracks in my playlists but recently, it's duplicated one or two iTunes films. This time it's 'hidden' the four films - hence why they didn't appear on my Apple TV and iPhone.
DAMN! I do remember the days when Macs and iTunes were 100% stable!!!

HomeSharing, I believe my WiFi / Internet drops out for 60 seconds once or twice a day hence the freezing / buffering on my HomeSharing.

On a different note, I have 3 friends who do not own computers - solely relying on iPads so I'm not sure how the back up argument for film would work for them?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Your friends can opt to gamble on strangers taking care of their media in the cloud or they could scratch up a little bit of money and buy a computer with at least enough horsepower to run iTunes. This could be a refurb or used Mac or Windows computer even several years old. If they checked around, somebody would probably give them one they've retired for free or dirt cheap.

Then, they buy a big fat hard drive, download the media their purchased and store in on that drive. Above I reference 4TB at $109 and 8TB at $135. Used Windows computer that can run iTunes could probably cost free to maybe $100. Probably for $209 to $235, their problem is solved AND they have a computer they could utilize for anything they can't quite do on their iPads to boot.

Cheaper option: buy the big fat hard drive borrow someone's computer or use one at work/family/friends, log into iTunes, download all cloud media to the attached hard drive, log out of iTunes (de-authenticate as a computer associated with your iTunes ID), return the computer. Occasionally repeat. This option just needs a big fat hard drive and willing friends/family/bosses.

 

[SteveJobzniak]

I hate Apple's 2015 App Store policy change: If an app is removed from sale in all regions, it will no longer exist in your Purchased tab.

Some vendors put it for sale in some tiny island nation just to prevent that. But most don't.

This way, I lost Monkey Island 1 & 2 HD Remasters, which are no longer for sale. And loads of other apps.

Now I am paranoid. But with an SSD main drive I don't want to download 2-3GB per game app just in case it vanishes someday. So I only back up small apps (mostly the non-games).

Apple should keep the files forever for those who bought them, ffs. Is it even legal to withdraw purchases?

 

[Boyd01]

Is it even legal to withdraw purchases?

If it says they can do this in the terms and conditions you agreed to then it's legal.... until a court says that it isn't.

But like we've been saying, just get an external drive and back everything up. I got the 512gb SSD on my MacBook Air in 2013 mainly because I wanted enough space for my iTunes Library. After about a year I realized that just wasn't going to be practical. So I moved all my media to an iTunes server. I currently have a 1.5TB on a 4TB external drive, so there's plenty of room to grow. But most of my media is ripped from DVD and CD, with only a small number of iTunes purchases.

 

[Surf Boy from Barcelona]

I hate Apple's 2015 App Store policy change: If an app is removed from sale in all regions, it will no longer exist in your Purchased tab.

Some vendors put it for sale in some tiny island nation just to prevent that. But most don't.

This way, I lost Monkey Island 1 & 2 HD Remasters, which are no longer for sale. And loads of other apps.

Now I am paranoid. But with an SSD main drive I don't want to download 2-3GB per game app just in case it vanishes someday. So I only back up small apps (mostly the non-games).

Apple should keep the files forever for those who bought them, ffs. Is it even legal to withdraw purchases?

It's a very very interesting one as Tim Cook seems to promote the iCloud on every event that they do. AS i said, I've got friends who only have iPhones, iPads and Apple TV. No way of backing up 100 iTunes HD or soon, 4K HDR films. They are 100% reliant on the iCloud.
BTW has anyone seen James Franco's WHY HIM film? I rented it from iTunes last week. Brilliant film. The Siri equivalent 'Justine' was brilliant in it Great film

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It's a very very interesting one as Tim Cook seems to promote the iCloud on every event that they do. AS i said, I've got friends who only have iPhones, iPads and Apple TV. No way of backing up 100 iTunes HD or soon, 4K HDR films. They are 100% reliant on the iCloud.

No they are not. See post #38. Your friends can spend a fraction of what they probably paid for their iPads or iPhones and buy a cheap computer (just good enough to run iTunes) plus a big fat hard drive. Or buy a big fat hard drive and borrow access to a computer that can run iTunes. Then, it's very easy to "back up 100 iTunes HD or soon, 4K HDR films." They are NOT 100% reliant on the iCloud... just choosing to pretend to be.

 

[Surf Boy from Barcelona]

No they are not. See post #38. Your friends can spend a fraction of what they probably paid for their iPads or iPhones and buy a cheap computer (just good enough to run iTunes) plus a big fat hard drive. Or buy a big fat hard drive and borrow access to a computer that can run iTunes. Then, it's very easy to "back up 100 iTunes HD or soon, 4K HDR films." They are NOT 100% reliant on the iCloud... just choosing to pretend to be.

I disagree, they don't want to buy a 'cheap computer'. This is crazy. They are merely watching a film! Why would anybody outside of this forum do that? Seriously, when the majority of people that I know stream / download a pirate film, causing problems for buying a iTunes film just can't happen in 2017! They would simply stop buying from iTunes. They are busy guys, often travelling around the world.
As the richest company and probably one of the most powerful companies in the business world, i'm sure that Apple has plenty of control over these films in the iCloud. If not, then they must have in small print "You must download this purchase for future reference".

 

[AFEPPL]

I really don't like buying from iTunes, but the few i do buy i do download so the films can sit in the library and be playable from a central system rather than the cloud.

For apps, i don't download.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I disagree, they don't want to buy a 'cheap computer'. This is crazy. They are merely watching a film! Why would anybody outside of this forum do that? Seriously, when the majority of people that I know stream / download a pirate film, causing problems for buying a iTunes film just can't happen in 2017! They would simply stop buying from iTunes. They are busy guys, often travelling around the world.
As the richest company and probably one of the most powerful companies in the business world, i'm sure that Apple has plenty of control over these films in the iCloud. If not, then they must have in small print "You must download this purchase for future reference".

You believe whatever you wish, but Apple- richest or not- has very little control of this particular "software." It belongs to the Studios who can add or delete their property in this store at any time. It happens. Do a search and you'll find plenty of stories of disappearing cloud media in iTunes.

You have been warned. Ignore the warning until some of your iTunes media is removed and then don't come back whining. I know guys who opt to not buy home or car insurance too. Then their property is damaged and it's just tough luck. That's the game you play with this mentality about media. And it too will be tough luck when it happens to you.

If your friends are pirating video, naturally they aren't much for spending money if they can steal instead, so they'll be unlikely to buy the hard drive or a computer to backup. Then again, if they're pirates and some media that have purchased is lost, they'll probably just pirate it from somewhere else. Can't really help those who opt for thievery.

"Don't want to buy a cheap computer" is, of course, their choice. But then don't let on that they have "No way of backing up 100 iTunes HD or soon, 4K HDR films." They do have a way. They just don't want to spend some money to do it. Again, I know people including myself that would rather not pay for insurance on homes & cars. That's a choice too. It may work out that nothing negative ever happens and they don't waste some money. OR better safe than sorry. Choose wisely or choose foolishly, but don't pretend there are no options to do the former.

 

[LizKat]

I download all purchases and just offload any video not currently of interest to external storage. Apple even notes that some purchased material may not be available for re-downloading in future. Storage is dirt cheap compared to what it cost in the past, so I figure just back it up and then changes in distribution rights aren't an issue.

 

[Rigby]

I think most (or all?) of the "stories" about content being removed from someone's library are either temporary glitches or user errors (e.g. people "hiding" content by mistake, or simply being confused by the somewhat convoluted iTunes UI). I have a sizeable collection of movies and TV shows on iTunes, and still haven't experienced a single case of removed content (and that includes titles that were allegedly removed according to "stories" on the Internet).

But if you think that's a real risk, just go ahead and download your stuff and back it up on a cheap USB drive or something. The capability to download and locally use the content is one of iTunes' major advantages compared to the competition.