Best Alternative to iTunes for Apple Music - How to Get It?

Updated by Adam Gorden on Feb 10, 2023 10:52 AM.
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apple music without itunes

Apple Music, one of the largest online music streaming services in the world, has surpassed 72 million subscribers. From the rapid growth rate of Apple Music, we can foresee that customers' requirements on such kind of music service will become rigorous. Therefore, some essential limits inserted in Apple Music might be noted more obviously. For instance, it’s impossible for subscribers to listen to Apple Music tracks on other media players such as VLC, Windows Media Player, etc. on computers. That's totally inconvenient for people who don't like iTunes. Can we listen to Apple Music without iTunes?

Don't worry. Here we are about to introduce 2 ultimate workarounds for you so that you can play Apple Music songs without iTunes.

Part 1. How to Play Apple Music without iTunes on Windows & Mac
Part 2. Best Solution to Play Apple Music on Any Media Players & Devices
Part 3. Best Alternatives to iTunes for Apple Music - Plex Media Player

Part 1. How to Play Apple Music without iTunes on Windows & Mac

If you are not satisfied with the native iTunes app on your PC or Mac, Apple Music still offers an option for all Apple Music users to use your own Apple IDs to access your library and play your favorite music. That is Apple Music Web app, which is available on music.apple.com.

If you don't subscribe to Apple Music, you can still play some exclusive contents on it by using your own Apple ID. All you need is a compatible web browser and stable network to do the trick.

Playing Apple Music on music.apple.com:

apple music web app browse

Step 1. On your PC or Mac, open a compatible web browser such as safari, Chrome or Firefox.

Step 2. In the address bar at the top, enter https://music.apple.com/us/browse and press Enter. This will direct you to the Apple Music Web app.

Step 3. Click Sign in at the top right to log in with your Apple ID and password to authorize. If you don't currently have your Apple ID, click Create New Apple ID to continue to use an email address and a password to continue.

Step 4. Now you can go to your library and enjoy Apple Music's features.

After you sign in, you can:

With your subscription, you get the unlimited service from all Apple Music's platforms. If you don't have subscription but wish to listen to Apple Music, you can either choose to preview the ones you discover on the web, or of course to sign up for Apple Music to have time-limited free trial.

With your own Apple ID, you don't need to subscribe to Apple Music to play Apple Music radio and Apple Music TV. Apple Music radio features three world-class radio stations as well as a collection of stations based on different genres. In addition to radio, you can play Apple Music TV, a free, 24-hour curated livestream of popular new music videos.

Playing Apple Music radio on the web for free:

apple music web app radio

Step 1. At music.apple.com, click Radio in the sidebar.

Step 2. Select any station, show, or playlist.

Step 3. Click the Play button to play it for free.

For some stations, you can click the Next button in the playback controls to skip to the next song. If available, you can view the song's lyrics, which appear in time with the music.

However, it's not that stable as the iTunes app for you to access Apple's music service. If you've set to find out the best alternative to the iTunes app for you to play Apple Music, all you need to do is to bring your music. We'd like to introduce how easy for you to get DRM-free Apple Music that is compatible on any media players and devices. Go ahead.

Part 2. Best Solution to Play Apple Music on Any Media Players & Devices

Even you get the music subscription, the downloads are DRM-protected and are only playable on Apple Music's apps from the iTunes to Apple Music app. And if your Apple Music subscription is ended the access to your downloads disappear.

Buying digital music such as MP3s or FLACs makes sense for a number of reasons. You can head to your familiar digital store such as iTunes Store, Amazon Digital and more. However, iTunes Store only sells its own AAC format of Apple Music contents for users. Those iTunes purchases are not available on whatever device you want to play with a media player. From here we'd like to introduce the best solution for you to play Apple Music on all your devices.

All you need is an Apple Music converter to help crack the DRM from Apple Music. Then the tracks are yours to keep and transfer to your device for offline play. ViWizard Audio Converter is the best Apple Music downloader for you to bring all your favorite Apple Music contents in your library to your device.

ViWizard Audio Converter works fine on both Windows PC and Mac. With this ViWizard software, you can start to select the desired Apple Music contents such as Apple Music, iTunes files, iTunes audiobooks and even Audible audiobooks. Then adjust some output settings to start the conversion. Do these steps right aways with ViWizard for DRM-free Apple Music files for your device!

audio converter

ViWizard Audio Converter Key Features

  • Losslessly remove DRM from Audible & iTunes audiobooks
  • Convert DRM M4P to MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, M4A, M4B
  • Retain 100% original quality and ID3 tags
  • Convert Apple Music songs to MP3, M4B, AAC
  • Convert between DRM-free audio file formats
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Step 1Save Apple Music songs offline

To play Apple Music without iTunes, you need to download them first. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC. Navigate to "For You" or "New" tab where you can access to Apple Music catalog. Browse the store and select a song, album, or playlist and click the "..." icon next to the track's name. Then add the song to "My Music" or "Playlist". After that, go to "My Music" tab and find the music file, click the cloud icon with a downward arrow to save the song for offline playing.

Step 2Add Apple Music offline M4P to ViWizard

add apple music m4p

Launch ViWizard Apple Music Converter and click the Load iTunes Library button to locate and import the downloaded Apple Music tracks or playlists to the program.

Step 3Adjust output settings

set output format

Click the Format option on the bottom left where you will be asked to choose the output format, including MP3, FLAC, WAV, M4A, M4B, AAC. You can also set parameters like codec, channel, sample rate, bit rate, etc.

Step 4Start to convert Apple Music M4P

convert m4p to mp3

After completing the above steps, the final one is clicking the "Convert" button and it will start to convert Apple Music. Wait a minute, and you'll be able to play these converted Apple Music songs on Windows Media Player, QuickTime, or VLC without using iTunes. What's more, even if you cancel the Apple Music subscription, you can access those songs at any time you want.

Part 3. Best Alternatives to iTunes for Apple Music - Plex Media Player

plex add apple music files

Plex is a client-server media player system and software suite comprising two main components including Plex Media Server and Plex Media Player. If you're looking for a true alternative to iTunes for your own Apple Music collection, you must need the Plex Media Player.

You can run the Plex desktop application on Windows, macOS and Linux-compatibles. You just need to download and set up the Plex Media Server and then it can serve as a central hub to organize more than just music such as video, photos and more from your own collections.

Playing Apple Music on the Plex Media Player:

To learn how to set up your own Plex Media Player and create a music library for Apple Music, please check out our guidance:

Conclusion

If you prefer to use other media players rather than iTunes to play Apple Music songs, just convert Apple Music to MP3 or other common formats. After the conversion, you can play them on any player or device even without the subscription. Or you can use the Apple Music web player to listen to Apple Music without iTunes after subscribing to Apple Music.

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is an experienced writer of ViWizard who is obsessed about tech, movie and software.

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