maryspkr wrote:
WHY am I blocked from playing music I already paid for?
Are we talking about music purchased on CD, from the iTunes Store, etc.? Or "offline listening" copies of Apple Music subscription music? The latter may be "downloaded", but they are downloads tied to a subscription. The idea is to let you take advantage of your subscription when you are not connected to the Internet or when you do not want to use cellular data.
"Offline listening copies" are still rentals, and if you stop subscribing, those copies will stop working or be deleted.
(There have been cases in which these copies have apparently stuck around on iPhones after a subscription ends, fooling manual synchronization into thinking that purchased music was already loaded onto the iPhone … with the result that the iPhone is stuck with music that won't play. In those cases, doing a manual synchronization with no songs selected (to wipe all music off the phone), followed by another manual synchronization with desired songs, seems to clear the glitch and get everything back on track.)
Has anyone found a good work around or another way to purchase music that one gets to keep and enjoy without a lot of extra fees and charges? Why would I pay just to "rent" it? Apple Music is not an option—too expensive for me.
One alternative would be to purchase music on CD, and import it from CD. Another would be to purchase it from the iTunes Store.
Note that a single album of purchased music might cost you about the same as a month of Apple Music service (individual plan) would. The advantage of buying music is that it's yours forever, as long as you have equipment with which to play it. On the other hand, the Apple Music subscription offers access to tens of millions of songs, (millions of albums) which you can play in any order you want, ad-free. But only for as long as you pay.
Back of the envelope comparison: Ignoring sales tax and inflation, $6,000 might buy 500 CDs, 500 downloaded albums, or 500 months (41.7 years) of Apple Music service.
