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Apple confirms Apple Music will allow you to download albums for offline listening

Streamed music is great for having access to almost everything, but it isn’t always ideal when you’re on the move thanks to patchy data coverage and carrier data caps. While Apple didn’t mention it yesterday, it has now confirmed to Re/code that Apple Music supports offline listening. The feature is also listed in a feature checklist on Apple’s website.

As an Apple Music member you can add anything from the Apple Music library — a song, an album or a video — to your collection. And that’s just the warm-up act. From there you can create the perfect playlist from anything you’ve added. You can save it for offline listening and take it on the road.

Apple didn’t give any details, but offline listening is likely to work in the same way as Spotify Premium … 

With Spotify Premium, you can select and download your music while you’re on WiFi. Spotify only allows the download if you have a valid subscription. Once the music is on your iPhone, you can continue to play it offline for up to 30 days, at which point Spotify requires you to go online again to confirm your subscription is still valid.

In practice, it’s very seamless: you’re exceedingly unlikely to be offline for anything even approaching 30 days – that protection is simply there to prevent someone subscribing for a month, downloading lots of albums and then continuing to have free access to them forever.

The feature checklist also confirms that you’ll be able to save Connect content – which will include demo tracks – for offline listening.

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Comments

  1. P. Wagner - 9 years ago

    Will Apple allow access from multiroom-systems like sonos?

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      So far, Sonos doesn’t look to be supported. It should work fine with generic WiFi audio receivers (that don’t require a specific app).

    • lin2logger - 9 years ago

      That’s not AN APPLE issue, it’s A SONOS issue!

  2. taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

    Why is iTunes Match still around? What’s the difference between how Apple Music uploads music from your music collection to your Apple a music library and what ITunes Match does. On Apple.s website it just says Match and Music are complimentary of each other.

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      iTunes Match is cheaper if you only want on-demand access to your own music.

    • Rainer BeardMan - 9 years ago

      Uploading your personal music collection to Apple Music will count against your iCloud storage. With iTunes Match it doesn’t!

      • Steve Grenier - 9 years ago

        Where did you read this? I haven’t heard anything about Apple Music being linked to iCloud.

      • Evan - 9 years ago

        You’ve said this in a few articles now without mentioning a source.

      • Rainer BeardMan - 9 years ago

        Apple is saying this itself. Just have a look at the Apple Music page “Your entire library lives in iCloud…” and there you will find a link to iCloud informations. And there, at the iCloud page, you will find no information about uploading music to iCloud is for free, in case you are a Apple Music member.

        I’m pretty sure…of course, not the whole music you’re uploading, but the “none matched” songs, who aren’t in the iTunes catalogue, will count against your iCloud storage.

        There are 3 cases…
        -with Apple Music AND iTunes Match subscription you’ll be able to upload “none matched” songs to iCloud and nothing is counting against your iCloud storage, because you paid for your iTunes Match subscription.

        -you have only a Apple Music subscription, “none matched” songs will count against your iCloud storage and you’ll need to upgrade your storage plan, depending on how many “none matched” songs you have.
        (believe me, I have a lot of “none matched” songs, though they’re are listed in the iTunes catalogue, but not purchased at iTunes…e.g.older CD’s etc.)

        -you have only a iTunes Match subscription, you can upload your whole music library (till 25.000 songs are reached) to iCloud and everything is ok.

        Doesn’t these 3 cases make sense, while Apple is explaining “Apple Music and iTunes Match are independent but complementary.”???

  3. Rik Veldhuizen - 9 years ago

    Have there been talks about an Apple Music api (like provided by Deezer and Spotify ao) so that we can integrate Apple Music ourselves in specific apps?

  4. joefedorowicz - 9 years ago

    So I could, in theory, download and put songs on my Apple Watch to run with?

  5. jkap67 - 9 years ago

    Will users be able to create and share playlists and follow each other’s playlists like spotify?

    • bpmajesty - 9 years ago

      Create and Share- Yes. Kinda like the currently iTunes Radio.
      Follow users- no sure. I sure hope so!

  6. rtd5943 - 9 years ago

    What happens if you decide to un-subscribe? I would assume you don’t own the music you downloaded for offline listening. Does Apple take it back?

    • Ben Lovejoy - 9 years ago

      Assuming it works like Spotify, it’s removed from your device when your subscription expires.

    • AeronPeryton - 9 years ago

      Everything you ripped or purchased stays, everything you streamed and downloaded as part of Apple Music goes.

  7. zBrain (@joeregular) - 9 years ago

    how does the family plan work? all family “members” musst be in the same wifi network?

  8. Krztff UrbanoWicz - 9 years ago

    i have itunes match also i use itunes radio too much , so, i still be able to use itunes radio without ads using my itunes match account ?, or i will need to subscribe to apple music to use radio without ads?

  9. AeronPeryton - 9 years ago

    I looks like the free tier is essentially the old iTunes Radio. This pleases me. That means even if I do nothing, I finally get iTunes Radio in Japan.

  10. friarnurgle - 9 years ago

    Will Apple Music Radio stations have ads (free and/or paid)?

    • Lee Palisoc - 9 years ago

      For paid, definitely not. For free, I’m not sure. But I don’t think it has ads.

  11. Does this include the audiobook selections????

  12. Lee Palisoc - 9 years ago

    The U.S. site says free users have limited skips and can listen to Apple Music radio stations. Other sites (like Canada) doesn’t have the check on free users for the Apple Music radio stations, just for the paid users.

  13. Sherif Raafat Sallam - 9 years ago

    How about iOS 9 beta users people!!!??

  14. Thomas Thmbly - 9 years ago

    any software to move my deezer playlists onto Apple music?

  15. David Jervis - 9 years ago

    Why can’t I stream music offline WITHOUT downloading it?

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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