Introducing Apple Music Library Size
Apple Music is a music streaming service developed by Apple that gives users access to over 90 million songs in its catalog (Apple.com). One of the key features of Apple Music is the ability to save songs to your personal library for quick access later. Your Apple Music library contains all of the songs, albums and playlists you’ve added over time from Apple’s catalog as well as any music you’ve personally uploaded.
Knowing the size of your Apple Music library can be useful for several reasons. It helps you understand how much storage space your library is taking up, especially if you download music for offline playback. Tracking the growth of your library over time provides insight into your listening habits and music taste. If your library is nearing size limits, being aware of the size lets you proactively manage it. Overall, library size gives you a better sense of your relationship with Apple Music.
Checking Your Library Size
There are a couple ways to view the total number of songs in your Apple Music library:
- Open the Music app and go to the Library tab. Scroll to the bottom and look in the status bar for the total song count.
- Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Command+Y on Mac or Ctrl+Y on Windows to bring up a summary window showing total songs, time, and size.
To see a breakdown by playlists, albums, and artists, go to the Library tab and click on Playlists, Albums, or Artists. This will show the total number of items in each section. You can further drill down into albums or playlists to see the song counts.
The library size count is not always 100% accurate. Sometimes duplicate songs or corrupted files can throw it off. Apple Music files that are still downloading may also not register in the total size. If the numbers seem off, try refreshing your library to re-index it.
Overall the library size estimate gives you a good ballpark for how many songs are in your collection. But it’s not foolproof, so if you need an exact count you may need to export your library and analyze it externally.
Average Apple Music Library Size
According to a discussion on Reddit, users report their Apple Music library sizes ranging anywhere from 20,000 to over 100,000 songs.1 However, most users seem to have libraries in the 20,000 to 50,000 song range. The average size reported is around 30,000 to 40,000 songs.
The average size can vary substantially depending on a few key factors:
- How long the user has had an Apple Music account – longer membership equals larger libraries
- Whether the user uploads their own music to iCloud or just uses Apple’s streaming catalog
- The bitrate and length of songs – higher quality and longer songs take up more space
- How many playlists the user has created – playlists contain downloaded copies of songs
So while the typical Apple Music library size is around 30,000 to 40,000 songs, users who have been members for years or decades and upload their own collections may have libraries reaching 100,000 songs or more.
Max Library Size Limits
According to official Apple documentation, there is a limit of 100,000 songs for your iCloud Music Library [1]. This is because Apple Music relies on iCloud to sync your library across devices. So while the Apple Music catalog itself may contain over 75 million songs, your personal library synced via iCloud is capped at 100,000 songs [2].
Some users have reported getting errors when their personal library approaches or exceeds 100,000 songs. According to discussions on Apple forums, the 100K song limit is definitive and technical in nature [3]. It seems to be tied to database or indexing limitations with iCloud Music Library.
So in summary, while Apple Music’s catalog is immense, your personal music collection synced across devices tops out at 100,000 songs for now due to iCloud limitations.
Uploading Your Own Music
One of the great features of Apple Music is the ability to upload your own MP3 files to your library. This allows you to add music you’ve purchased elsewhere or created yourself into your Apple Music collection.
To upload your own music, simply drag and drop your MP3 files into the Apple Music app on a Mac or PC. On iOS devices, you can use the Files app to add music. The songs will be uploaded to iCloud and made available across all your devices.
It’s important to note that any music you upload to your library counts against your total iCloud storage allowance. Each song generally takes 2-5MB, so if you upload a large music collection it can quickly eat up your available space. It’s a good idea to monitor your iCloud usage and upgrade if needed when uploading lots of music.
Downloading for Offline Playback
Downloading songs for offline playback is a key feature of Apple Music that allows you to listen to music without an internet connection. However, the number of songs you can download does impact your overall Apple Music library size.
According to ViWizard, Apple Music allows subscribers to download up to 100,000 songs for offline playback. So if you max out your offline downloads, it can significantly increase the size of your Apple Music library. Each downloaded song is a separate file stored on your device.
The offline download limit is designed to prevent excessive storage usage. For most users, downloading 100,000 songs for offline playback is likely more than enough. But for heavy Apple Music users, the download limit could theoretically become a restriction on library size.
In summary, downloading songs for offline listening is an important part of Apple Music, but does impact your total library size. Apple allows up to 100,000 song downloads per account, which is a reasonably high limit for most subscribers.
Using iCloud Music Library
iCloud Music Library is Apple’s service that allows you to sync your Apple Music library, including songs uploaded from your computer, across all your devices. According to Apple support, “When you turn on iCloud Music Library, your Apple Music, iTunes Match, and iTunes purchases will appear on all your devices. You’ll also see other music you’ve imported from CDs or purchased somewhere besides iTunes. Your iTunes Match files are upgraded to Apple Music quality when available.”
iCloud Music Library counts against your total iCloud storage allowance. Each song takes up a certain amount of storage depending on its length and quality. For example, a 3-minute song downloaded from Apple Music in standard quality takes up approximately 5MB. Therefore, a library of 100,000 songs could take up around 500GB of storage.
The main benefit of iCloud Music Library is being able to access your full music collection on any device logged into your Apple ID. Any songs added or edits made on one device will automatically sync across the others. Just keep in mind it does utilize a portion of your overall iCloud storage.
Music Quality and File Sizes
Apple Music streams music at 256 kbps AAC bitrate, which is near CD-quality audio. Downloaded Apple Music files also use the AAC format, though users can choose between different quality levels in settings. According to Apple support, “The most common bit rate for stereo MP3 files is between 128 kbps and 192 kbps.” Higher bitrates mean larger file sizes but improved audio quality.
For downloaded music, Apple uses the more efficient AAC format instead of MP3s. According to discussions on Apple’s forums, “Most MP3 songs have a bit rate of 256 kbps but can be anywhere from 96 to 320 and CDs are always 1411.” So a 256 kbps AAC download from Apple Music will take up a similar amount of space as a 256 kbps MP3, with better quality.
Lossless audio files take up much more space than AAC files. As one Apple user pointed out, “Apple Lossless files will be about half the size of the uncompressed music from the CDs, or roughly 330-350MB for each CD on average.” So while lossless audio provides the highest quality, it comes at the cost of much larger file sizes compared to AAC downloads or streams.
Managing Your Library Size
If your Apple Music library is approaching the maximum size limits, there are a few things you can do to limit its continued growth:
First, be selective about new music you add to your library. Consider if you will listen to a new album or playlist enough to justify taking up more space in your library. You can always stream music without adding it to your library.
Next, consider removing albums or playlists you no longer listen to frequently. Deleting downloaded music you don’t listen to often is an easy way to free up space. Go to Settings > Music > Downloads and tap “Edit” to select songs, albums or playlists to remove from your device.
You can also turn off iCloud Music Library syncing on devices you don’t use regularly for playback. This prevents those devices from storing a full copy of your library for offline access. Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Music and toggle off “Sync Library.”
Finally, you can delete your original music uploads from Apple Music if you uploaded your personal libraries. Go to Settings > Music > Downloads > My Music and select “Remove Downloads.” This will keep the songs in your library but remove the uploaded copies taking up space.
With some periodic pruning and limiting new additions, you can effectively manage your Apple Music library size even with very large personal collections.
Summary and Key Takeaways
In this article, we’ve covered several aspects relating to the size of your Apple Music library, including how to check your library size, average sizes, maximum limits, uploading your own music, downloading for offline playback, using iCloud Music Library, music quality and file sizes, and how to manage your overall library size.
The key points to remember are:
- You can check your Apple Music library size in Settings > General > iPhone/iPad Storage.
- The average library size is around 3,000-5,000 songs.
- Apple Music libraries have a maximum limit of 100,000 songs.
- Uploading your own music doesn’t count against iCloud storage limits.
- Downloaded music for offline playback takes up storage space on your device.
- Using iCloud Music Library matches your songs across devices.
- Higher quality audio files take up more space.
- You can manage your library size by downloading less music, using iCloud Music Library, or adjusting music quality settings.
The size of your Apple Music library depends on your listening habits and how you utilize the service. By understanding the factors that influence size, you can better manage your library. Most importantly, enjoy the music!
