Does Apple Music Let You Download Songs? (We Checked)

Apple Music has become a dominant player in the world of music streaming platforms – its huge user base is a testament to its success. However, many people want to know exactly what Apple Music allows its users to do with their music and, most importantly, whether they can download songs.

In this article, we check if Apple Music really does let you download songs and whether you can download them onto multiple devices.

How to Download from Apple Music:

Apple Music allows users to download songs, albums, playlists, and podcasts to multiple devices. Users must be signed in with their Apple ID on their device and have the Apple Music app installed. Downloading from content in the user’s library will begin once the download button has been tapped.

Can You Store Apple Music Songs on Other Devices?

These days, it’s unlikely that you only own one device capable of playing music. We have multiple devices in our lives, from tablets, phones, and laptops.

This is why Apple Music has made sure that you can take all the music you discover with Apple Music and access it across a wide variety of devices, ensuring that you’re never apart from your favorite album or playlist.

An individual plan with Apple Music will allow up to six devices to be signed-in simultaneously. However, it is worth noting that only one device can stream music at any one time.

The easiest way to access your entire Apple Music library, and even your iTunes library if applicable, is to activate the ‘sync library’ feature.

Syncing the library for Apple Music becomes a slightly different process depending on which device you want to sync.

However, with the simple guides below, you’ll have your Apple Music songs on all of your devices in no time!

Before we dive into the step-by-step instructions for each device, it’s important that you check you have done the following first:

• Ensure that your Apple device is updated and running the latest version of the operating system, that’s iOS for iPhones, iPadOS for iPads, and MacOS for Mac computers.
• Windows computers need to ensure their iTunes has been updated to the latest version.
• Ensure that you are subscribed to Apple Music and that you’ve signed into each of your devices with a matching Apple ID. This needs to be the Apple ID that was used when you signed up with Apple Music.
• Check that the devices you wish to sync are all connected to the internet.

If everything above is in order, you can start syncing your devices.

How to Sync Apple Music Songs on your iPhone or iPad:

1. Open ‘Settings’ on your iOS device.
2. Now select ‘Music’.
3. Ensure that ‘Sync Libary’ is toggled on.
4. Ensure ‘Show Apple Music’ is toggled on.

How to Sync Apple Music Songs on your Mac:

1. Launch the Apple Music app from your Mac computer.
2. Access the menu and select ‘Music’.
3. Now choose ‘Preferences’.
4. Navigate to the ‘General’ tab and ensure that ‘Sync Libary’ is activated.
5. Finally, click OK.

How to Sync Apple Music Songs on your Windows device:

1. Launch iTunes from your Windows PC.
2. Click ‘Edit’ from the menu bar and then choose ‘Preferences’
3. From the ‘General’ tab, you need to turn iCloud Music Libary’ on.

Now you can take your Apple Music experience from device to device without a problem, but if you want to access your content without an internet connection, you’ll need to store them for offline playback.

Check out our beginner’s guide to Apple Music!

Can You Download Music or Podcasts to Listen Offline?

The ability to download music or podcasts for offline playback is a cornerstone of all music streaming platforms.

To be constrained by a connection to the internet can be expensive (unless you’re on Wifi), and if the connection is not stable, decent playback quality can become an issue.

This is why Apple Music has ensured that its users can have the freedom to take the audio content that they love anywhere they like.

To achieve this, Apple Music users need to download songs, albums, playlists, or podcasts onto their chosen devices.

Downloading music or podcasts is simple, but you need to understand how to add the audio content to your library first:

• The process for downloading content from Apple Music begins with adding it to a user’s library.
• The process is almost identical across all devices.
• For iPhones, iPads, or Android devices, the user should hold their finger on the content they want and then tap ‘Add to Library’
• Mac and PC users can click the ‘+Add’ button.
• Once the content is in a user’s library, it can then be downloaded onto their device.

Here’s How to Download Songs & Podcasts from Apple Music onto your Mobile Device:

1. Launch the Apple Music app on your iOS or Android device.
2. Find the song or podcast that you wish to download from your library.
3. Press and hold the audio content that you wish to download and then tap ‘Download’
   • Alternatively, a song can be downloaded by swiping the track and then tapping the downward arrow button.

Keep in mind that if you are not connected to Wi-Fi, your mobile device will download from Apple Music using cellular data. 

Here’s How to Download Songs & Podcasts from Apple Music on your PC or Mac:

1. Launch iTunes (PC) or Apple Music (Mac) from your desktop computer.
2. Search for the audio content that you added to your library.
3. For PC users, you need to click the cloud with a downward arrow.
4. For Mac users, you will need to click a downward arrow.

Using the guides above, you’ll have no problem downloading your Apple Music content onto whichever device you want.

How Much Music can You Download with Apple Music?

Apple Music allows its users to discover countless new tracks, albums, and even podcasts.

You can stream an unlimited amount of audio content from any device that you choose; however, when it comes to downloading music to store for offline playback, there is a maximum amount that you should be aware of.

Thankfully, the limit on your total downloads is set at a very high threshold.

• Apple Music users can download a whopping total of 100,000 tracks to their devices.
• Syncing your library across your devices using your Apple ID allows you to access these songs and download them on multiple devices.
• However, it is worth noting that despite having the ability to download 100,000 tracks, you will always be limited by the amount of storage space available on the device in question.

With 50 million tracks available in the entire Apple Music library, a number that will almost certainly keep growing, it’s easy to experience a wealth of audio content by using the platform.

With the added bonus of being able to download 100,000 tracks onto your device, you can be sure that the music never needs to stop.

How Much Space do Songs Take Up on Your Device?

Storage space is a crucial factor when it comes to downloading songs on your device.

If you’ve taken a look at the above numbers and can’t wait to get started filling your device with your favorite tracks from the Apple Music app, it’s important to first get an idea of how many songs will fit on your internal storage.

Every device is different; whether you’re using a brand-new iPhone, a dusty tablet, or an ancient laptop, the storage space will vary.

To ensure you’ve got the space for all the music you want, it makes sense to get an idea of how much space Apple Music songs take up.

• An average song downloaded on Apple Music will be around 4-6MB.
• The file size will depend on the length of the song.
• If you downloaded 1000 songs onto your device, it will take up around 4-6GB of internal storage.

What to Do When Your Music Won’t Download?

If you’re about to head out on a run or an activity in which you won’t have access to the internet, then the chances are that you’ll want to take advantage of being able to download tracks from Apple Music.

If you’re having problems with that process and your downloads won’t begin, stop halfway through, or simply won’t work, then take a look at the list of our top troubleshooting tips:

1. Ensure you are connected to the internet.
   • Without a connection, your downloads cannot begin, and moreover, if your connection is interrupted, the downloading process will stop.
2. Restart your Apple Music app.
   • Simple glitches can be fixed by a quick reset.
3. Restart your device.
   • Your device can be prone to glitches too. Restarting your device is a quick fix.
4. Sign out of Apple ID.
   • Navigate to ‘Settings’ > ‘Your Name’ > ‘Sign Out’
   • Sign back in again and try redownloading your Apple Music tracks.

If the above four easy solutions didn’t get your downloads going, then take a look at these detailed guides below.

Updating the Apple Music App

If you’re having problems downloading songs from the Apple Music app, it may mean that you’re not running the latest version of the app itself.

1. To check if you need to update Apple Music, launch the ‘App Store’ from your device.
2. Next, tap ‘Updates’
3. Scroll down until your find Apple Music.
4. If there is the option to ‘Update’ then proceed by tapping it.
   • If there is no update available, then you are currently running the most up-to-date version.

Deleting & Reinstalling the Apple Music App

If you cannot download the tracks you want from Apple Music, it may indicate that there is something wrong with your copy of the app. If this is the case, you’ll need to delete the app and reinstall it.

1. Find the Apple Music app on your home screen.
2. Place your finger on the app until it begins to shake on the screen.
3. Now tap the app and then choose ‘delete’.
4. Complete the process by pressing the ‘Home’ button.
5. Reinstall Apple Music by navigating to the app store.

You may, at times, find that songs you have downloaded are being deleted or removed from your files. If you experience this, check out our article about why Apple Music is deleting your downloads.

Is Downloading Songs on Apple Music Different from How iTunes Worked?

There’s a big difference between Apple Music and iTunes that needs to be clarified.

• Apple Music is a music streaming service that requires a subscription.
• Whereas iTunes is an app that you can purchase media to keep.

Apple Music allows its users to stream music as well as download the tracks they love onto their devices. These features are available to the users because they pay a monthly subscription for one of Apple Music’s membership plans.

iTunes works completely differently. It is a catalog that you browse, and a user can simply purchase a song, and it will download to that device.

Moreover, that song will be owned by the user forever, and it can be stored on the user’s device for as long as they like and be re-downloaded if deleted.

Please also read our article about why Apple Music stops when opening other apps.

Sources

Turn on Sync Library with Apple Music

Add & Download Music from Apple Music

10 Ways to Fix iOS 15 Apple Music Not Downloading Songs