Jim Dalrymple:

Looking at my old iTunes Match library, before Apple Music, I’m missing about 4,700 songs. At this point, I just don’t care anymore, I just want Apple Music off my devices.

I trusted my data to Apple and they failed. I also failed by not backing up my library before installing Apple Music. I will not make either of those mistakes again.

That is more than unfortunate for Apple Music. The service managed to anger one of the biggest music enthusiasts in the community. In an additional note: Never recommend Electronica and Pop music to the Beard.

Apple Music has been great for me personally. Almost every recommendation in the ‘For You’ section is on point. I enjoy browsing the ‘New’ tab for new releases that may not be in my default genre. I haven’t spent too much time listening to Beats1 yet, but every time I tuned in the music they played was solid and enjoyable.

I love listening to whole albums in order. With iCloud Music Library I can add albums from Apple Music to my own library and they are treated as if I bought them on the iTunes Store1. This way I can curate and expand my precious library for a monthly flat rate price. I made a backup before migrating to iCloud Music Library but for now everything looks perfect. I also have to mention that my migration path was very easy. I didn’t migrate with iTunes Match or an existing Beats subscription.

I sometimes wonder if a stand alone App like Spotify would have been a better and cleaner fit for Apple Music instead of merging it into the mess that is iTunes. It sure would have prevented Jim from loosing his songs.