In the current world order, iTunes Match enables what Apple calls iCloud Music Library. Everything synced across it among devices is DRM-free, and can be played on any device if copied separately.
But you can also use Apple Music to enable iCloud Music Library. If you have Apple Music and not iTunes Match, songs retrieved from Apple Music are locked to playback with Apple Music, and will be deleted or be unplayable without an active subscription. (You can use both Apple Music and iTunes Match at the same time, although that can lead to songs you own and ripped on one machine being downloaded as locked versions on another device!)
If your goal is to cancel iTunes Match, you should ensure you have a full copy of all your music on one of your Macs before proceeding.
MacDailyNews Take: Easy instructions are in the full article.
Do you subscribe to iTunes Match and/or Apple Music? If so, are you going to cancel iTunes Match this time around?
I subscribe to iTunes Match. It has been very convenient to have my music available on all my Macs (4 primary Macs, 4 secondary Macs and FYI 59 life time since 1985, iPads (4) and iPhone (1). I am not going to cancel as the price seems fair for the convenience.
I do not subscribe to Apple Music. I am not interested in having a bazillion songs. I already have more music than I can listen to and I don’t listen to music even daily.
Plus I do not want another subscription service. It seems every business is trying to hook you into the subscription model. It’s like 100 ticks sucking your blood.
Yep.
There is a difference in supported OLDER computers/devices and iTunes versions. iTunes Match is a much older service. I recall it worked with my Power Mac G5 running MacOS X Leopard (10.5) and its much older version of iTunes, back when it was connected to my HDTV and stereo system. iTunes Match also works with my 3rd gen Apple TV (A5), the tiny one before third-party apps/games, and my old iPhone 3GS too. I still use it with that old Apple TV. And I just pulled out my old iPhone, and it still there works too. Wow, so cool…! I’m streaming songs from my iCloud Music Library on my iPhone 3GS (iOS 6.1.6) right now 😆🎵
With only Apple Music (no iTunes Match), my iCloud Music Library is only accessible from newer hardware and iTunes versions supported by Apple Music. While the specifics I mention here may not be applicable to you, the iTunes Music Library is different, depending on whether subscription is to one, the other, or both services.
Having your music and podcasts in one place (an audio library/archive) was very logical from a user perspective, the new set up is logical only from a business perspective for Apple. I’ll be keeping all my music and podcasts on my Air running High Sierra and will not upgrade it. Each iOS and Mac OS “update” over the past several years have been unpleasant surprise festivals. I’m beginning to understand the people who’ve been lamenting these changes over the decades they’ve been with Apple, for me the process seems to have been compressed into just 2-3 years where pleasant “magical” surprises are few and frustrations are manifold.