I forgot to mention that she got her own account when she was 11 because I was tired of seeing boy bands show up in my music. In case anyone else is considering a similar issue, apple let me open a new account for her and use the same card I'm using on my own account.

My solution to this issue was Apple Music with family sharing. My daughter's taste in music is ever-evolving. She doesn't listen to what she bought 3 years ago. I'm a bit of a music nut, so it's saving me money because we aren't paying per song or album.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We emancipated the kid at 14, and sometimes this means we buy things twice.

OP here. That's what I'm afraid of. I don't think it's as simple as just pp suggests, but I was curious if someone had actually done this. Between iTunes Gifts cards and allowance, i think he has over $300 worth of stuff. Maybe as a college "going away present" we can give him a card to rebuy a portion of it.

I hadn't really thought about it before, as my generation was moving from CDs to electronic files around college age , and that was simply a matter of downloading the files. I guess this is similar to leaving your childhood record collection at home, but at least you could physically take those with you if you wished. But you could really transfer them to the next level of technology (cassettes?).

We just sucked it up. I believe what you are buying are the rights to limited use on limited devices. If my son has some of my songs on his ipod, great, but they will be connected to my password and name forever. I can change my password and always tell it to him, but we are always entangled. He just didn't want my account with his birthday money and I agreed. Cheaper than forever entanglement.

If you setup a new account with family sharing he would keep all of the same apps.

Anonymous wrote:Is it still true that neither of you use apple devices? Can you just give him the account, and you start over with a new one?

That's an intriguing idea. I do use Apple devices... I'm the stepmom. His parents don't use apple devices.

However, I don't buy a ton of media... So maybe I could do a complete transfer and start myself fresh. I'm the one with an iPhone (dss doesn't have one) so I'd have to investigate if I can keep the service plan on my phone with a new ID. Changing emails is also a PIA, but doable.

Thank you for the suggestion!

Is it still true that neither of you use apple devices? Can you just give him the account, and you start over with a new one?

Sorry, OP once again.
I feel like I sound like I'm obsessing on the password issue. But, essentially, dss wants his own account, and that seems appropriate. We want to totally disentangle the finances and approvals now that he's a young adult.

Op here. Here's a sample thread essentially asking the question I need the answer to:

http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/61084/can-itunes-songs-be-transferred-from-one-account-to-another-account

Again, I'd be thrilled if that's not the case, but we need a solution that involves completely separating dss's account, as he would not have access to my password. He's got his own bank account and debit card now, so the financial part is easy.

Anonymous wrote:It absolutely is as easy as uploading them to an external hard drive or I product. Once he gets his own computer and account, upload them. It has to be his external drive or phone though, not yours.

Thanks. We will try that. My initial research indicated that the song would still be coded to the account it was purchased under and that you couldn't play it without authorizing sharing. Which then gets back to the problem of not sharing passwords.

However, if this isn't the case, I'd be thrilled to hear it.

It absolutely is as easy as uploading them to an external hard drive or I product. Once he gets his own computer and account, upload them. It has to be his external drive or phone though, not yours.

/couldn't/ transfer

Anonymous wrote:We emancipated the kid at 14, and sometimes this means we buy things twice.

OP here. That's what I'm afraid of. I don't think it's as simple as just pp suggests, but I was curious if someone had actually done this. Between iTunes Gifts cards and allowance, i think he has over $300 worth of stuff. Maybe as a college "going away present" we can give him a card to rebuy a portion of it.

I hadn't really thought about it before, as my generation was moving from CDs to electronic files around college age , and that was simply a matter of downloading the files. I guess this is similar to leaving your childhood record collection at home, but at least you could physically take those with you if you wished. But you could really transfer them to the next level of technology (cassettes?).

We emancipated the kid at 14, and sometimes this means we buy things twice.

Just upload the songs into a phone or iPod and then he transfers them into his account.

My stepson starting buying music and apps for his apple devices (Ipods and now a touch) at the age of 12. At that time, he started using my account, since neither of his parents use Apple devices. In the five years since, he's amassed several hundred dollars worth of music and apps. Now that he's close to heading out on his own, what to do? Has anyone else dealt with this. There doesn't seem to be a way to totally transfer content to a new ITunes account. (at least that I can find) There also doesn't seem to be a way to really manage access without him physically present without having access to my account password (which is not an option, and, besides, doesn't make a lot of sense when he starts to have financial independence in college)