Maybe you're switching services, cutting costs or just taking a break. Before you cancel Apple Music, it's worth knowing exactly what happens to the library you've built, because the songs you downloaded don't come with you. Here's what stays, what goes, and the few things worth doing before your last billing day.
What happens when your subscription ends
- Nothing changes right away. When you cancel a paid subscription, you keep full access until the end of the current billing period.
- Free trials are different. If you cancel during a free trial, Apple says you may lose access straight away.
- After that, catalogue songs stop playing. Songs, albums and playlists you added from the Apple Music catalogue, including everything you downloaded for offline listening, are no longer available.
- Downloads don't survive. Apple Music downloads are encrypted and tied to an active subscription, so the files left on your phone or computer won't play anywhere.
What you keep
- Music you bought from the iTunes Store. It's yours, DRM-free, and you can download it again from your purchase history at any time.
- Music you added yourself: CDs you ripped and files you imported into the Music app stay exactly where they are.
- Your Apple Account and purchase history, so buying music or resubscribing later works as before.
What you lose
- Every song from the Apple Music catalogue in your library, downloaded or not.
- Playlists built from catalogue songs, which effectively empty out because their songs are no longer available to you.
- Subscriber extras such as Lossless and Dolby Atmos (the live radio stations stay free for everyone).
Four ways to keep your music before you cancel
1. Buy the albums you can't live without
Anything you buy from the iTunes Store (in the Music app on a Mac, or the iTunes Store app on iPhone) is a DRM-free 256 kbps AAC file that keeps playing forever, in any player. It costs money, but it's the cleanest way to own a handful of favourites.
2. Export your playlists as a list
Even if the songs disappear, the list of what was in a playlist is worth keeping. On a Mac, select a playlist in the Music app and choose File › Library › Export Playlist. You can save it as plain text (readable in any spreadsheet), XML or M3U. iTunes on Windows has the same command. Do this for the playlists that took you years to build.
3. Move your playlists to another service
If you're switching to another streaming service, playlist transfer tools can rebuild your Apple Music playlists there. Many services also have their own import feature. Run the transfer while your subscription is still active, so the tool can still read every playlist.
4. Save the songs as MP3 or M4A files
TunesLoader turns Apple Music links into M4A or MP3 files you can keep, for personal use. It doesn't copy Apple's encrypted downloads: it reads each song's public details from Apple's catalogue and finds the same recording among publicly available uploads. That means you get a playable file even after your subscription ends, at the matched recording's quality (M4A usually 128 kbps AAC, MP3 192 kbps) rather than Apple's own.
- For a playlist you made, open it in Apple Music and choose ••• › Share › Copy Link. TunesLoader can read playlists that open on music.apple.com without signing in; a private library playlist can't be read until you share it.
- Paste the link into the playlist downloader. Every song gets its own Download button.
- Choose M4A or MP3 and save the songs you want. Up to 3 run at once and 3 can start per minute, so leave a big playlist running for a while.
- For single songs, use the song downloader, or search by title if you don't have a link.
A checklist before your last billing day
- Note the date your subscription ends (Settings › your name › Subscriptions on iPhone).
- Export the track lists of the playlists you care about.
- Transfer playlists to your new service, if you're moving.
- Buy the albums you want to own outright.
- Save files of anything else you want offline, for personal use.
- Then cancel, and keep listening until the period runs out.
How to cancel Apple Music
On an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings › your name › Subscriptions › Apple Music › Cancel Subscription. On a Mac, open the App Store, click your name, then Account Settings › Subscriptions. On Windows or Android, open the Apple Music app's account settings. If you subscribe through Apple One or a phone carrier, cancel there instead.
Whatever you save, keep it to personal, non-commercial use: don't share, sell or publish it. The rules depend on where you live and on the rights to each song.
