Apple Music, Apple Music Radio, Beats 1 and Connect FAQ

Article ID = 137
Article Title = Apple Music, Apple Music Radio, Beats 1 and Connect FAQ
Article Author(s) = Graham Needham (BH)
Article Created On = 1st July 2015
Article Last Updated = 19th July 2016
Article URL = https://www.macstrategy.com/article.php?137

Article Brief Description:
Frequently Asked Questions about Apple Music, Apple Music Radio, Beats 1 and Connect

Apple Music, Apple Music Radio, Beats 1, Connect FAQ

For related information about the following click the relevant link:

Q. What is Apple Music?

A. Apple Music is a streaming music service similar to Spotify. Apple has a web page all about the new service. It also includes Apple Music Radio e.g. Beats 1 and social media services for artists and music fans (Connect).

Q. What's the streaming quality?

A. 256kbps.

Q. When was Apple Music launched?

A. Apple Music officially launched on 30th June 2015.

Q. Is Apple Music free?

A. The Apple Music streaming service is free for three months and then it costs £9.99 per month in the UK. There is also a family membership scheme for up to six people which is £14.99 per month in the UK. There is no perpetual, free (ad-supported) version/tier.

Q. I am a Beats Music subscriber - what happens to me?

A. You can simply move your subscription over from Beats Music to Apple Music - remaining balance/credit, user name, saved albums and playlists will transfer over.

Q. What do I need to access Apple Music?

A. You must have an Apple ID and one of the following:

An Apple Macintosh computer running iTunes 12.2.0 or later
A PC running iTunes 12.2.0 or later
An iPhone running iOS 8.4 or later
An iPod touch running iOS 8.4 or later
An iPad running iOS 8.4 or later
An Android phone - official Android app coming from Apple soon - this article will be updated when more information is available
An Apple TV (4th Generation or later) running tvOS 1.0 or later

After three months you need to pay a monthly subscription to be able to continue accessing Apple Music.

Q. How do I subscribe to/switch on Apple Music?

A. Once you have iTunes 12.2.0 or later installed on your computer or iOS 8.4 or later on your iOS device:

If you have iTunes open it > click on the music icon in the top left > click "For You" on the right, top-middle > click "Start three month free trial" > choose your plan (Individual or Family which is up to 6 people) > follow the on screen instructions
If you have an iOS device go to (the new) Music app > tap "Start three month free trial" > choose your plan (Individual or Family which is up to 6 people) > follow the on screen instructions

WARNING: Once you have subscribed to/switched on Apple Music any computer or device using the Apple ID associated with the Apple Music account will have Apple Music switched on automatically - this could affect/change your iTunes library (see further Q&A below)

Q. How do I disable the automatic subscription for Apple Music?

A. If you have iTunes click on your account icon in the top-right (usually showing your name otherwise click "Sign In" and sign in using your Apple ID) > select Account Info from the drop-down menu > under 'Account Information' scroll to the Settings section and to the right of Subscriptions, click Manage > choose the subscription you want to manage > use the options to manage your subscription such as turning off Auto-Renewal.
A. If you have an iOS device go to Settings > iTunes & App Store > tap your Apple ID and sign in if necessary > under the 'Subscriptions' menu tap on "Manage" > tap on Apple Music Membership (which will currently be "Active" if you have a membership) > under 'Renewal Options' set "Automatic Renewal" to OFF and confirm.
A. Apple has more details on managing auto-renewing subscriptions.

Q. Is Apple Music available everywhere?

A. No. You can check what is supported in your country here.

Q. Is Apple Music available in the UK?

A. Yes. However, Apple Music Radio has limitations if you do not have an Apple Music membership.

Q. What are the Apple Music Radio limitations in the UK?

A. If you don't have an Apple Music membership, you can skip up to six tracks per hour per music station. After you reach your skip limit, the Skip Forward control is dimmed for 60 minutes. When you skip a song, you can see the number of remaining skips next to the Skip Forward button.

Q. Is there any part of Apple Music I can use if I don't have a paid for membership?

A. If you are signed in with an Apple ID you can:

View artist feed on Connect
Follow artists on Connect
Listen to Beats 1 radio station

Q. How do I access Apple Music Radio?

A. In iTunes click on the Music icon in the top left and then on the right in the middle at the top click "Radio".
A. On an iOS device there is a new Apple Music app > open it > tap the "Radio" button to access the radio service.

Q. Where can I get more information about Apple Music Radio?

A. See Apple's Listen To Apple Music Radio article.

Q. What happened to iTunes Radio?

A. iTunes Radio has been renamed Apple Music Radio.

Q. Is Apple Music Radio the same as iTunes Radio?

A. No. There are a few things you could do in iTunes Radio which you can't do in Apple Music Radio. These features may or may not reappear in a future update:

Mark songs you don't like by using "Never Play This Song"
Mark favourite songs by clicking the '★' button
Customise radio stations by choosing between three types of varieties: Hits, Variety and Discovery
Share radio stations
Turn off explicit lyrics

Q. What happened to Beats Radio?

A. Beats Radio has been renamed Beats 1 and is now part of the Apple Music Radio service.

Q. What is Beats 1?

A. Beats 1 is a 24/7 radio channel streaming via the internet.

Q. Why can't I "Airplay" Beats 1 Radio?

A. This appears to be intentional - maybe there are rights issues involved. It might become an option in a future update but there is no guarantee of that.

Q. Why can't I use "iTunes Home Sharing" on my iOS device?

A. The "iTunes Home Sharing" feature was removed in iOS 8.4. It returned in iOS 9 and later.

Q. What is Connect?

A. Connect is a social media service from artists to music fans. You can view an artist's Connect profile page including their posts, links, pictures and videos and then comment, like or share anything you see. You can also "follow" your favourite artists so you can see all the postings from those artists' profiles in one place.

Q. I'm an artist - how do I use my Connect profile page?

A. Apple has a FAQ for you.

Q. Can I switch off Connect?

A. Yes. Follow these instructions:

on iOS - go to Settings > General > Restrictions > and turn OFF "Apple Music Connect"
in iTunes - go to iTunes menu > Preferences > Parental Controls > and UNTICK "Apple Music Connect

Q. Does Apple Music replace iTunes Match?

A. Although iTunes Match is a separate service, starting with iTunes 12.4.2 (18th July 2016) Apple Music uses iTunes Match audio fingerprinting for track matching so if you subscribe to Apple Music you no longer need the iTunes Match service. If you don't want to subscribe to Apple Music and want iTunes Match you will need to keep your iTunes Match subscription.

Q. I don't want to subscribe to/switch on Apple Music. Can I get rid of those options?

A. You can't get rid of them but you can turn them off:

If you have iTunes open it > go to iTunes menu > Preferences > General tab > UNTICK "Show Apple Music" > Parental tab > TICK 'Disable:' "Apple Music Connect" > click "OK" > go to View menu and make sure "Only Music Available Offline" is ticked
If you have an iOS device go to Settings > Music > turn OFF "Show Apple Music" > go to (the new) Music app > tap "My Music" (bottom right) > Tap "Artists" and make sure "Music Available Offline" is turned ON

Q. I don't want to use/have an iCloud Music Library. Can I get rid of this?

A. By subscribing to Apple Music (or iTunes Match) you will automatically get an "iCloud Music Library" but you can switch the iCloud Music Library off:

If you have iTunes open it > go to iTunes menu > Preferences > General tab > UNTICK "iCloud Music Library" > click "OK" > go to View menu and make sure "Only Music Available Offline" is ticked
If you have an iOS device go to Settings > Music > turn OFF "iCloud Music Library" > go to (the new) Music app > tap "My Music" (bottom right) > Tap "Artists" and make sure "Music Available Offline" is turned ON

Q. Is there a limit to the size of an iCloud Music Library I can use with Apple Music?

A. Yes. iCloud Music Library is limited to 100,000 tracks (originally 25,000 but raised to 100,000 in early December 2015). However, tracks that you have specifically purchased from iTunes made with the same Apple ID being used for Apple Music and that are matched do not count towards this total.

Q. If I subscribe to/switch on Apple Music will my iTunes library change?

A. Yes, most likely - see the rest of this FAQ for more details.

Q. How does Apple Music match tracks in my iTunes library with those on their servers?

A. Up until 18th July 2016 and the release of iTunes 12.4.2, Apple Music used metadata (Artist, Title, Track name/length, etc) to match the music - this led to lots of mistakes/mismatches. Starting with iTunes 12.4.2 (released on 16th July 2016) Apple Music now uses iTunes Match audio fingerprinting for track matching - this is much more accurate.

Q. If I subscribe to/switch on Apple Music does my music get changed to DRM protected versions?

A. There's a lot of FUD out there about Apple Music, iCloud Music Library, iTunes Match and DRM. Here's the low down:

If you are using iTunes 12.4.1 or earlier

Anything you download via Apple Music streaming services/Beats Radio will have DRM protection on it - this is mostly any music you flag/download for "offline" listening
If you enable "iCloud Music Library" Apple Music attempts to match the music in your library with its own library (so that it can create your own "iCloud Music Library" in the cloud):

If Apple Music matches a track in your library to the Apple Music library and you then download it to another computer/mobile device the track will be downloaded with DRM
If Apple Music cannot match a track in your library it uploads it to your iCloud Music Library whereupon it can be downloaded to another computer/mobile device without DRM

If you purchase music from the iTunes Music Store it will have no DRM
If you use iTunes Match your iTunes Match tracks will have no DRM

WARNING: However, it is possible that your library and it's data e.g. Playlists and Play Counts can get messed up (make sure you are running the latest up-to-date version of iTunes and see below)

If you are using iTunes 12.4.2 or later (from 18th July 2016)

Anything you downloaded via Apple Music streaming services/Beats Radio (this is mostly any music you flag/download for "offline" listening) prior to installing iTunes 12.4.2 or later will have DRM protection on it - you can now delete that file and redownload it without DRM
Anything you downloaded via Apple Music streaming services/Beats Radio (this is mostly any music you flag/download for "offline" listening) after installing iTunes 12.4.2 or later will have no DRM protection on it
If you enable "iCloud Music Library" Apple Music attempts to match the music in your library with its own library (so that it can create your own "iCloud Music Library" in the cloud):

If Apple Music matches a track in your library to the Apple Music library and you then download it to another computer/mobile device the track will be downloaded with DRM (unless you are using iTunes 12.4.2 or later on that other computer in which case it will download without DRM)
If Apple Music cannot match a track in your library it uploads it to your iCloud Music Library whereupon it can be downloaded to another computer/mobile device without DRM

If you purchase music from the iTunes Music Store it will have no DRM
Apple music now uses iTunes Match so any newly "matched" tracks will have no DRM if you download them

Q. If I enable "iCloud Music Library" (iTunes Preferences > General) can I delete all my local music and just stream it from the cloud?

A. Technically yes, but if you do this with iTunes 12.4.1 or earlier any tracks which are matched (see above) will be turned into DRM protected versions and if you stop/cancel your Apple Music subscription you will not be able to play any DRM protected music again! However, if you use iTunes 12.4.2 or later DRM will not be a problem. In addition having iCloud Music Library on, could mess with your library and its data e.g. Playlists and Play Counts (make sure you are running the latest up-to-date version of iTunes and see below).

Q. In iTunes is there a way to see the iCloud Music Library status of tracks?

A. Yes. Go to the View menu > and select All Music - "iCloud Status" and "Kind" options will now be available in list views of your music. Here are the possible statuses/kind:

Waiting – The track is in the process of being scanned and matched but has not yet been processed.
Uploaded – The track was not found in the master Apple Music library and so it has been uploaded to your iCloud Music Library (if you download it, it will be DRM free).
Purchased – You purchased this track from the iTunes Store and is ready to play (if you download it, it will be DRM free).
Matched – The track was found in the master Apple Music library and is ready to play (if you download it, it will be DRM free).
Apple Music – The track was found in the master Apple Music library and is ready to play (if you download it, it will be DRM protected).
Ineligible – The track is not eligible for matching e.g. track quality is below 96Kbps or file size is above 200MB.
Duplicate – This is displayed next to duplicate tracks that have already been matched.
Error – This may be displayed if the file is corrupt or if there was an error uploading the track.

Q. After subscribing to/switching on Apple Music my library is all messed up. What can I do?

A. There was a bug in the first version of iTunes 12.2 so make sure you are running the latest up-to-date version of iTunes. In addition there are reports of metadata changes and even corruption of actual music/video files especially in the following circumstances:

if you have been or are currently subscribed to iTunes Match (metadata appears to be different for the different services causing errors/problems)
if your iTunes library is not located on your boot drive (iTunes Preferences > Advanced > "iTunes Media Folder location" option)
if the iTunes library is stored on a network drive e.g. NAS
if you don't access that network drive using the Apple File Protocol (AFP)

If you do encounter this problem the best thing to do is switch off "Apple Music" and "iCloud Music Library" (see Q&A above), restore your iTunes library from a backup and wait until Apple fixes the bugs in iTunes and Apple Music/iCloud Music Library - as of 18th July 2016 with the release of iTunes 12.4.2 most of these initial bugs have all been ironed out.

Q. With all these problems should I subscribe to Apple Music?

A. The service launched over a year ago so most of the teething problems appear to have been ironed out - you can always sign up and start your trial in the future when you feel the problems that might affect you have been overcome rather than jumping straight in. When you do decide to subscribe though, make sure you have a backup of your iTunes library so you can rollback if necessary.

Q. I see some people have nicknames on Apple Music. How do I get/set a nickname?

A. Follow these instructions:

on iOS - go to Music app > tap one of the main icons at the bottom > tap your profile icon in the top left corner > tap your name > tap the Edit button to add/edit a nickname
in iTunes - sign into iTunes > click your name at the top and select "Account Info" from the pop-up menu > under 'Settings' click "Edit Nickname"

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