Hi! I have done some research on the internet and following those instructions, I was not successful in downloading my music which is in iTunes Match, to a USB. Then I thought…oh MacMost! I did a search and couldn’t find anything specific enough for my level of ability.
Most of my music is in Match and not downloaded onto my computer. From what I can see, I have to actually highlight music to download it, but I have THOUSANDS of songs and would like (wishful thinking?) to be able to simply copy my library onto a USB. Am I dreaming?
I read one of your answers for someone who had deleted music from their Match account or Library…and I have not done this, per se. I have downloaded songs and then deleted them off one device and presumed it still exists in Match (I haven’t tested this but thought I’d bring that up while I was at it.
I have one more question but it may be better for you if I submit it separately…it is music related.
Aloha
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Michelle
I don't have a way to test, as I use Apple Music now, so I'll have to make some assumptions.
Yes, I don't see any way around downloading the music first. But it should be fairly easy. Just go to the Songs view. Select all (Command+a). Then Song, Download. You'll need to wait for that to finish so you may need to come back later to actually copy the songs from your media folder.
I think this is probably rarely done as most people who upload their music collection to iTunes Match (or Apple Music's iCloud equivalent) will then archive their original music files. They don't delete those originals. I'm guessing that this is a mistake you are trying to correct now.
Thank you for such a quick response! When I originally loaded my CD's to upload to Match, I had been told by a former IT guy that I could then just download the music from Match, so my music was all on CD's and I never loaded them into my computer hard drive; only uploaded to Match. Then I donated the CD's. So, yep, that was a mistake. A friend (Microsoft user) has music on flash drive and plays it from there which seems much less cumbersome than my "convenient" iTunes Match set up.