Transfering My Own MP3s (not purchased from Apple) From Very Old iPad to New iPad

When performing a 'transfer" between old and new devices, there are some categories of data that cannot be directly transferred between devices. One such category is music that has been synchronised with an iPad/iPhone from an iTunes Music Library on a Windows PC or Mac computer.

This deliberate restriction is an element of the DRM (Digital Rights Management) mechanism that Apple use to inhibit unauthorised copying of potentially copyright protected media - the PC/Mac being used to provide an authorised copy to synchronised devices. As such, your DRM-protected Music Library cannot be freely copied between devices without using the computer upon which the associated Music Library resides.

There are some third-party applications for PC/Mac that can assist with copying data between devices, such as iMazing. However, as a PC/Mac is still required, it may just be simpler to use iTunes and re-synchronise the new iPad with the original DRM-protected Music Library.

Synchronization of purchased music to iPods was originally one-way: from a master library on a computer to an iPod. Never from an iPod to a computer, or from an iPod to an iPod. If you synchronized an iPod against one computer, then moved it to another computer and synchronized it against that one, all of the music lthat you had loaded onto the iPod from the first computer was deleted in favor of the selection from the second computer.

Although there were modifications to this model after the iTunes Store came along, this is the underlying manual synchronization model for all iPods, iPhones, and iPads to this very day.

Although I cannot tell you what Apple's reasons were, the possibilities are fairly obvious.

Some have to do simply with making the entire system (iPod, iTunes, computer) work better as a system. If you accept the model that the master music library on the computer is the thing you need to safeguard, and that the library on the iPod (or iPhone or iPad) is essentially just a disposable "cache", then the whole idea of treating the portable device's library as a "black box" starts making more sense.

Others might have to do with pacifying the recording industry – the same ones who sued to block the sales of the Diamond Rio MP3 player, even though it was entirely legal under the law (AHRA) that they had gotten Congress to pass years earlier to force digital copying restrictions and royalty tax onto consumer DAT and MiniDisc recorders. (They lost their case, and proceeded to try to shove SDMI DRM into all portable digital audio players anyway.)

One-way transfers from computer to iPods might have seemed less threatening to the recording industry than the ability to copy easily songs from iPod to computer, or iPod to iPod.

While it will be of no comfort to you whatsoever, you are not alone. Many, including myself, have to "manage" their DRM-protected Apple Music Library from a Windows PC or a Mac.

Speaking of my own situation, the vast majority of my music collection is CD-based. For convenience when I'm away from home, or in the car, a significant proportion of my extended catalogue of titles has been legally "ripped" from CD by iTunes - and this library has been synchronised with my iPhone and iPad. As new titles are added - or if I change or restore a device - the PC is called into service to sync or restore the iTunes Library to the device. Just like you, I find this to be an inconvenience. That said, I understand and respect the reasoning behind the restriction that is imposed by Apple.

There are two potential methods to ease your current pain...

1) Subscribe to iTunes Match - Apple Support

This method initially relies upon your iTunes Music library - however, the iTunes Match subscription allows Music stored on your devices to be accessible from all of your devices via Apple Music. While this service is subscription-based - and might not recognise all Music within your collection - it may at least provide an alternative to the DRM-restriction that inhibits simple transfer of your music/mp3 titles.

2) If you are prepared to step beyond using the Music App on your Apple devices to organise and listen to your music collection, there is an alternative that will allow you to keep your music/mp3 titles saved on your device - and included within your iCloud (or other backup)...

Some third-party File Manager Apps can access and play music/media files, of various types, directly from local device storage, USB connected storage, or cloud storage services. Clearly, you are interested in storing your mp3 library on your iPad (or other devices) where it can be played.

Instead of synchronising your iTunes library with the iPad for playback using the Music App, consider copying your mp3 titles as they are to your iPad's local storage - such that they can be accessed using the iPad's Files App. To copy the files from your PC where they currently reside, you might:

a) install iCloud for Windows on your PC and use this to copy mp3 files initially to iCloud - from where you can use the Files App to copy them to your iPad's local storage, or

b) use the iTunes App on your PC to copy the mp3 files (as files) to the iPad. You should note that you are not synchronising your Music Library with the iPad - but will be copying the files "as files". The difference is subtle, but the objective is to keep the mp3 files outside of the DRM-restricted library that can be accessed by the iPad's Music App.

While the files can be "managed" using the Files App, you sill need a suitable File Manager App to play the mp3 files...

One such App that comes readily to mind (that I use daily for many other tasks) is FileBrowser Professional by Stratospherix:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/filebrowser-professional/id854618029

You would be well advised to review the extensive online Manual and help files to determine suitability for your needs.

https://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowserprofessional/filebrowser-professional-user-guide.php

You should note that there is no penalty to your iPad's available "storage space". The mp3 (or other) files occupy the same amount of storage. What's different is where the files are being stored within the iPad filesystem - and how these files are accessed. All files that are outside of the DRM-restricted storage space are included within your device backups.

I hope this additional information and understanding might offer some practical help in providing some alternative strategies.

You will have to use your pc.

Note that Apple has introduced products, services, and features bit by bit over a number of years.

E.g.,

• iTunes – January 2001
• iPod – October 2001
• iTunes Store – April 2003
• iPhone and the mobile iTunes Store app – June 2007
• iPod touch (the only type of iPod that runs iOS) – September 2007
• Non-DRMed music in the iTunes Store –January 2009
• iPad – January 2010
• iCloud – October 2011
• iTunes Match subscription service – November 2011
• Apple Music subscription service – June 2015
• macOS Catalina (death of macOS version of iTunes) – October 2019

As Apple has come out with new stuff, they have tended to glue it on top of older stuff. So, when iCloud came out ten years after the original iPod did, the old way of doing things didn't get suddenly chucked out of a window.