How do I download my iTunes Match library to consolidate Music libraries?

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mkmcfr Author

Level 1

24 points

How do I download my iTunes Match library to consolidate Music libraries?

i need to consolidate my Music libraries. how do i download my itunes match library?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Itunes Match Library

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 26.2

Posted on Dec 3, 2025 9:11 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Phil0124

Level 10

216,686 points

Dec 4, 2025 6:21 AM in response to mkmcfr

There is only one library. You can't have multiple librares. If you are subscribed to iTunes Match and have Sync Library turned on in the Music app settings then anything in the iCloud music library is made available on the device or computer being used and anything on the device is then uploaded or matched and added to the iCloud music library.

click here ➜ Use Sync Library with your Apple Music subscription - Apple Support

Basically there should be no reason your iTunes Match library is separate to your local one unless its under a different Apple Account, and then the only way to consolidate this, would be to sign in to the account that holds the iTunes Match library, download the music and then copy it onto whatever other computer or device has your other library.

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Answer 2

mkmcfr Author

Level 1

24 points

Dec 4, 2025 8:49 PM in response to Phil0124

Thank you for your reply.

I only have one Apple account, although I have changed the sign-in name, I don't think that should change the contents of my iTunes Match library. I have been a subscriber to iTunes Match since its inception. I find it a bit disconcerting that I now see a message stating that iTunes Match is "not a storage service", meaning, i suppose, that after confiding the contents of my personal collection of songs to the service, I might no longer be able to access them.

However, I was pleased to discover that although certain songs listed in Apple Music on my MacBook Pro are no longer playable because "the original file cannot be found", I was able to listen to them on my iPhone. Unfortunately, I have just looked on the MacBook Pro and I still get the message that they are not playable, or downloadable, because the original file cannot be found.

So, in conclusion, after paying for the iTunes Match service for... I would say at least 10 years, I discover that I no longer own the music I once had. And now I am seeing messages on this service that indicate that iTunes Match is no longer necessary, that Apple Music serves that same function! Is that true? I guess the only solution now is to take that crashed hard drive that contains all my music down to the lab and spend a few hundred bucks to have it transferred to a new hard drive.

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