downloading from iCloud

[narda]

A colossal error caused my iTunes Library to be deleted. Now, I am downloading from iCloud via Purchased. My Preferences are set to Automatic Downloads of Music. It seems to be working, although not steadily. it would seem that files are being downloaded in the background, out of sight. However, the order of files downloaded is odd. I would like to know how the files to be downloaded from iCloud are selected. Is there any sense of order? Please advise.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[IWT]

Hi,

I'm really sorry this happened to you.

Provided you backed up your iTunes Library to iCloud, retrieving it should not be a major problem, but there are some things you need to know. Some of your music originally on your Mac may not be eligible for backup, perhaps because the song has long been unavailable or Apple can't find a suitable match.

It is a slow process if you had a large library.

You might find that some playlists are missing or incomplete even though the songs within them are downloaded.

There are several ways of retrieving your iTunes Library from iCloud.

I am enclosing some articles which explain the background; give you info on the different ways to achieve what you are after etc.

This may be known to you already, but others could benefit.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204406
https://www.imobie.com/support/how-to-restore-music-from-icloud.htm
https://www.imore.com/how-download-all-your-music-icloud-music-library

Please feel free to post back any problems or queries.

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

Do you have any backups of the drive on which the Library was stored? It may be easier to restore from a backup than to get things from iCloud.

 

[IWT]

Very good point, Jake. My comments reflected the fact that he/she had already started the download from iCloud and seemed to be asking how this worked & how the files were selected etc.

Ian

 

[narda]

Very good point, Jake. My comments reflected the fact that he/she had already started the download from iCloud and seemed to be asking how this worked & how the files were selected etc.

Ian

If I have my iTunes Preferences set to Automatic Downloads, will the songs from iCloud/Purchased download automatically, or must i still click on the download icon for each item?

Thank you for your attention.

 

[IWT]

@narda

Thank you for posting back.

The matter you just raised is covered in the links I posted.

You want to download your entire library as I understand it; so follow the instructions for doing this.

I rather thought you had already started this from your first post in that you had gone into Purchased and was in the process of downloading all your music.

But, as I pointed out, this is just one way to do this and, by definition, only purchased music will be downloaded.

If you used iCloud Music Library in the beginning, this would attempt to download everything not just what you purchased - for example, you may well have added CDs to your library which were, of course, not purchased from iTunes.

My understanding is that you want ALL your music back, not just what you bought from iTunes - although that would be a start.

Do you follow my reasoning and the points raised in the articles; or you would you like me to go into more detail?

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

If I have my iTunes Preferences set to Automatic Downloads, will the songs from iCloud/Purchased download automatically, or must i still click on the download icon for each item?

Thank you for your attention.

No, the "Automatic Downloads" setting is only for new purchases.

 

[narda]

iTunes Music Library, etc.

@narda

Thank you for posting back.

The matter you just raised is covered in the links I posted.

You want to download your entire library as I understand it; so follow the instructions for doing this.

I rather thought you had already started this from your first post in that you had gone into Purchased and was in the process of downloading all your music.

But, as I pointed out, this is just one way to do this and, by definition, only purchased music will be downloaded.

If you used iCloud Music Library in the beginning, this would attempt to download everything not just what you purchased - for example, you may well have added CDs to your library which were, of course, not purchased from iTunes.

My understanding is that you want ALL your music back, not just what you bought from iTunes - although that would be a start.

Do you follow my reasoning and the points raised in the articles; or you would you like me to go into more detail?

Ian

Is it too late for me to access the iTunes Music Library for downloading? Would it download everything automatically, or would I have to click on the download icon for each song? (My Library is huge, include purchase from iTunes uploaded music from CDs and YouTube.) Downloading from Purchased seems random; I cannot see a pattern for the Restoration. Please excuse my ignorance. I am one of those who is only in it for the music. Thank you.

 

[MacInWin]

If you have a backup, you can restore it. Otherwise, if you have started downloading you have probably overwritten anything that may have been recoverable in the Library and therefore cannot recover it now. Do you have a backup?

 

[narda]

No, no other backup than iCloud Purchased. There was a backup on WD MyDrive, but it too got erased. So, I guess I am forced to just keep using Purchased, but I do wish I could get it to download all the files automatically. I can put them in order later.

 

[ferrarr]

Do you subscribe to iCloud Music service? It is billed monthly? If not, then you don't have any music in iCloud, and you just want to download all previously purchased music. You will also need to rip your cds again as well.

 

[IWT]

Yes; it's been a very tough time for OP narda.

With iTunes Library being deleted, no iCloud Music backup, no Time Machine or Cloned BU - as I understand things - the download of previously purchased songs is the only option.

As I (and Bob and others) have mentioned, purchased means just that. No music added to the iTunes Library by any means or from any source will be included. To add to the grief, some of the songs originally purchased may no longer be available so the final download may be short of what was there before.

We can only offer our deepest sympathy and belatedly remind the OP, and all others, that having Time Machine and Cloned backups is critical.

Also, the charge for having iCloud Music Library is very modest.

Finally, nada, if your original iTunes Library (excluding added music from CDs etc) was large, then the downloading process could take a long time. You might consider keeping your Mac running 24/7 - which many of us do routinely.

As I said in my first post, I'm really sorry this happened to you.

Ian