If you use an Apple device to study/revise audio, do NOT use Apple Music

[AdamD]

Yeah, and we know that Google's business model relies on its users being the product to be shopped to advertisers, whereas Apple doesn't need to do that (even if it decides to).

[AdamD]

My increasingly haggard iTunes database has been causing more and more problems recently: random songs stopping halfway through; songs suddenly having different volume levels for some reason; thousands of songs I compressed at low bitrates so I could get more stuff on my iPod/iPhone. It's a 10 year old disaster that lost its integrity well before Apple Music came along. Streaming is an excellent opportunity to fix up most of this.

 

I'm considering backing up my last complete pre-Apple Music database six times; storing copies in various suburbs; blowing away the vast majority of my music; pulling down everything I want through streaming services; and storing all my study audio inside some other app as per mikelove's suggestion. (If I find a good solution for iOS devices, I'll post it in this thread.)

 

I won't have been bullied into using Apple Music (especially if I decide to stay with Spotify, which works a treat), but I suppose I could use it if I wanted to. And, all my old music would be backed up safely and ready to deploy if I want to do that again.

 

I repeat my suggestion to stay away from Apple Music and its iNuclear Sledgehammer iCloud Music Library if you rely on audio for study, but if you're able to get your study material completely away from iTunes and take the ultimate chance with all your other music, you're probably fine. Just remember to do the following:

 

1. Back up everything.

2. Everything.

3. All of it.

4. Many times.

5. Do not enable iCloud Music Library, at least until Apple decides to wrench it from its current early-alpha status.

[AdamD]

Apple has posted a support article for resetting your iCloud Music Library via a new setting in iTunes 12.2.1: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204964

 

Step 6 directs you to turn iCloud Music Library back on, which you should absolutely not do because it's still broken and dangerous. iTunes 12.2.1 does not fix iCloud Music Library's numerous bugs, neither does it address any of the bugs in the iPhone/iPad Music app.

 

Edit: This doesn't work for me at all. The reset button doesn't even exist. It might only work if you once had an iTunes Match subscription, which makes no sense at all given that the iCloud Music Library is a different thing. One step forwards, six steps back.