iTunes to Apple Music

[Sergeant Pluck]

I’m going to get a 2020 MacBook Air to replace my 2011 machine. The current OS is High Sierra.

I don’t use iTunes often but it’s there and it works well with the library on a NAS.

What is the best way to move everything across to Catalina, which has Apple Music instead of iTunes?

My intention was to use a Time Machine backup to get everything on to the new computer - but if I did that, what happens to my music? Is the setup process capable of sorting everything out with the NAS?

Advice appreciated.

[Jaded]

I used TM backup and everything just worked, except for all the 32bit applications. Devices you now access in Finder, rather than iTunes, and video in TV. Although the Music interface is a bit different, it's not a deal breaker.

If you have critical 32bit apps, then you'll need a strategy. I've got Parallels, so I created a Virtual machine with Mohave on it. It's great.

[grams]

The “Music” app in Catalina is just iTunes with a few non-music limbs lopped off.

[ian]

Should be fine, as said, the Music App is iTunes minus the other media bits. Uses the same library in the same place as far as I can tell.

[grams]

It wouldn’t be a new version of iTunes if they hadn’t buggered about with the UI and broken things you cared about. That’s how you know it’s iTunes.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Thanks all.

Once done, should I sign out of iTunes on the old Mac?

[Jaded]

Sign out of everything, if you aren’t going to use it anymore.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I do want to keep using it though, if possible. I might use it as a second monitor, which I think should be possible in Catalina using cables from USB-C to Thunderbolt.

I was thinking that signing out of iCloud and iTunes on the old machine would suffice. And I won’t need to do TM backups with the old machine. But the more I read about it, the more complicated it seems.

[ian]

Signing in and out only affects content you've bought from Apple (it lets you share purchases or an Apple music subscription if you have one). I think there's a device limit, but if the computer is still up and running, you can probably leave it

[Sergeant Pluck]

Well, the migration assistant is doing its thing. Slowly, because for some reason it couldn’t find the TM backup when I connected to the external drive with a cable, so I’m doing it over wifi and crossing my fingers.

I signed out of iTunes on the old machine but I remain signed into everything else - as far as I can see it is ok to do that. I’ll sign out of everything and reformat etc once I’m sure all is well with the new device.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Well, that was slow but unproblematic. Even iTunes and Sonos work as they should.

Humungous first backup in progress.

I have no “critical” 32bit apps, but I will miss Picasa very much as, having looked before, there is no similar alternative.

[Sergeant Pluck]

The iTunes / Apple Music transfer to a new Mac was fine, as above, but now that I want to add new material to the library I can see some differences.

I used to use Add to Library, but that is greyed out in Music. How do I enable it?

[Sergeant Pluck]

Import works, thanks.

It seems that Add to Library is only enabled if you subscribe to Apple Music.

Import seems to do exactly the same job as far as I can tell.