“Take Control of iTunes 12: The FAQ” Answers Apple Music Questions
iTunes — can’t live with it, can’t live without it. That has become all the more true with the free 3-month trial of Apple’s new Apple Music streaming service, since the way it’s integrated into iTunes 12.2 has caused untold consternation.
Apple doesn’t seem inclined to listen to feedback about the iTunes interface. But we can help you use the app, thanks to our expert friend Kirk McElhearn, who may know more about iTunes than anyone outside Apple — posts on his Kirkville blog and his iTunes Guy articles for Macworld help hundreds of thousands of people each month. Now he has distilled his knowledge into “Take Control of iTunes 12: The FAQ,” a 251-page book perfectly timed to answer your questions about the intertwingled options in Apple Music, the iCloud Music Library feature, and iTunes Match.
True to its FAQ title, and befitting the many questions people have about iTunes, the $15 book answers about 150 frequently asked questions about all aspects of the app. Chapters such as Play, Rip, Buy, Tag, View, Organize, Search, Sync, Cloud, and Share cover the basics and beyond. Read more about each of these chapters on our redesigned Take Control Web site, under More Info, and click the Free Sample post-it on the book cover to check out a PDF sample of the first few pages of each chapter.
For my money, the best way to take control of iTunes is to avoid upgrading to iTunes 12. Apple Music has its own problems, no doubt, but the iTunes 12 user interface is absolutely the worst hack job I have ever seen. iTunes 11 is far from perfect, but it is Nirvana itself compared to iTunes 12. Just unbelievably bad interface design.
Actually, iTunes peaked in version 9, and I was dragged kicking and screaming into version 10, then version 11 due to iOS and iDevice updates. The same thing will happen in September/October as iOS 9 will require iTunes 12.
I don't get Connect at all. Apple refuses to update their delivery with Artist credits and Liner Notes - but then offers a one way social network? They are living in a tech bubble that is far removed from the real world of listeners. We like playlists- we like to know who wrote and played on the songs and to see comments the artist had (if any) about the purpose of the recording or publisher info. A PDF does not cut it when all this could be embedded.
I signed up for Match in March, and it worked well. After the last two upgrades, I cannot find it, and all music is on all devices. I refuse Apple Music because my taste is classical, but I did select "Music in the Cloud" or some such, and it seems to have replaced Match entirely now. I've read this book's entry on iTunes Match, which tells me to go to Account -> iTunes Match. I can't find "Account." I find "Account Info," but that doesn't have any reference to Match in the latest iTunes. Conclusion: iTunes is a complete shipwreck, and I probably ought to find an alternative. Once the greatest feature of OS X, it has become a liability. I've been trying for weeks to get this stuff straightened out ... to no avail.
iTunes Match is no longer referenced in iTunes, once you've turned it on. You see the name in Store > Account > iTunes Match if it's not on, but once you do turn it on, iTunes makes no mention of it. It is now part of iCloud Music Library, which, I agree, is quite confusing.
If you do have an iTunes Match subscription, then you need to turn on iCloud Music Library in iTunes' General preferences. After that, you'll be able to match and sync your music, and access it from other devices.
Thanks, Kirk. Is it no longer possible to have only links to music stored on the Cloud -- to save space on iOS devices, e.g.?