For the past couple weeks, Apple Music users have been reporting a major problem with iTunes. When you sync your own music to iTunes and Apple Music, the service is going to look for a match on their servers. That’s the file Apple Music will then use. But the problem is that multiple users have discovered that iTunes is deleting the original files of their music (thus they would lose their own music when unsubscribing from the service.) As someone who has been collecting a personal library of music for years, I can understand why people are thoroughly pissed off. But Apple assures us a fix is coming.
Previously it was reported by Vellum that Amber (who I can only assume works for AppleCare) told a user the iTunes software was “working as intended.” Meaning the deletion of this user’s personal music was not a mistake. This lead the user, James, to write a detailed blogpost of the problems with this practice. Later, Apple denied what Amber asserted.
Then, Apple contacted The Loop to assure us it's aware of the problem:
“In an extremely small number of cases users have reported that music files saved on their computer were removed without their permission,” Apple said. “We’re taking these reports seriously as we know how important music is to our customers and our teams are focused on identifying the cause. We have not been able to reproduce this issue, however, we’re releasing an update to iTunes early next week which includes additional safeguards. If a user experiences this issue they should contact AppleCare.”
I cringe at the idea of yet another iTunes update as I wait for the software’s inevitable demise. I have never talked to someone who loves iTunes. But hopefully the safeguards will do the trick and fix this irritating problem.
