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I have a MacBook Air running macOS Mojave and an iPhone 6 running iOS 12.
I have MP3 files from a friend that I put on to my PC using a USB drive. They play fine in iTunes. However, they do not show up in my Apple Music on my iPhone.
I'm guessing this is because I did not purchase them from the iTunes Store, but I'm not sure why.
How do I get the MP3 file from iTunes on my Mac to Apple Music app on my iPhone?
duskwuff's answer is correct if you have a subscription to the Apple Music or iTunes Match services. An Apple Music subscription gives you access to the entire Apple Music catalogue from any device signed in to your account; iTunes Match only lets you download a copy of the music you've imported into iTunes on your computer.
If you don't subscribe to either service, you should be able to sync MP3 files from the Mac to the iPhone by connecting via USB. Be aware this may remove music that's already on the iPhone, but you'll see a warning first, and if you had bought that music from the iTunes Store you'll be able to redownload it.
Make sure that both devices are logged into your Apple ID. This is mostly automatic on the iPhone, but you may need to log into iTunes on the Mac, using the "Account" menu.
Once you have logged into iTunes, Apple Music will start scanning the music in your iTunes library. Any songs which are available in Apple Music will be added to your iCloud library, and most other songs will be uploaded so that you can play them on any device.
This process may take some time, especially if you are on a slow network connection. You can check the progress by clicking the button with the spinning circle icon in the upper right corner of the iTunes window. (The button will disappear once the process is complete -- if all you see is a search box, it's done.)
