[etchalon]

You can buy DRM free files from Apple. So the file is yours, transferrable, but you also can always go back and get another copy from Apple.

The combination of the iTunes Store, Apple Music, and iTunes Match is the most expansive music service offering I can think of.

[grumpyprole]

iTunes won't even play FLAC files, so it's rather inconvenient for people with existing libraries. Yes I know I could convert it all to some proprietary Apple format, but it's easier to just not buy an iPhone.

[shmerl]

Not from Apple Music though? I thought it's rent only. iTunes sells files, yes.

I still prefer stores that sell FLAC. Apple's aversion to common open audio formats always irritated me.

[etchalon]

Apple Music is the streaming service.

The iTunes Store is the "purchase the file" store.

The iTunes Store sells M4A, which is a common open audio format.

The iTunes Store does not, however, sell lossless files, as far as I know. Apple Lossless (ALAC) is only available when streaming from Apple Music.

[shmerl]

I prefer to buy lossless formats. For playback I can encode them in Opus. M4A is not a proper open format, it's patent encumbered.

[iggldiggl]

The patents on AAC-LC (which is all that really matters when encoding at medium to high bitrates, and that very much applies to the files sold by the iTunes store, too) should have expired by now, given that it dates from 1997, and indeed Fedora has been including an AAC-LC encoder since late 2017.

[jjcon]

Apple Music is DRM yes (it can be de-DRMed though fairly easily), purchased music from iTunes is DRM free.

[OldHand2018]

I guess it's not just me: It is confusing. I thought there were two ways to get music from Apple but apparently there are at least 3.

One of which gives you re-downloadable DRM-free files.

[etchalon]

There's only two ways. Apple Music (streaming) and iTunes Store.

iTunes Match lets you "upload" your library to Apple. It matches your library against Apple's catalog. If they have the song, you get a copy of their version of the song. If it doesn't have a match, they retain your uploaded file.

I have a lot of random local music that isn't on iTunes, and which you can't easily find anymore. For years, I was paranoid about losing my ripped copies of the files, but iTunes Match has preserved them for me, in the cloud, for years now.

[OldHand2018]

Thanks :)