Apple Music Offline Files Have no URL?

Question

It seems that the property MPMediaItemPropertyAssetURL on a MPMediaItem returns null when the file is one that was from Apple Music and has been made "available offline".

On the other hand, items from my original library which I uploaded to iTunes match/apple music and then make available offline don't seem to have this problem.

Is this a bug? Have I done something wrong? Anyone having similar issues?

Answer 1

It seems that Apple Music files are DRM-protected and subscription based, so probably Apple prohibits the use of references to these assets due to rights management.

Reference: https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/7389