Q: Unknown error (8364) when trying to download from iCloud
I have a number of songs that issue an "An unknown error occurred (8364)" when attempting to download them from iCloud (iTunes 10.5.1 on OS X 10.7.2). The common issue is that these tracks all have a Purchased status, originally had a 128 kbps bit rate, and I believe were protected AAC files. For example:
Iomogen Heap: Speak for Yourself
Moby: Hotel
Coldplay: Parachutes
Dave Matthews Band: Stand Up
Moby: iTunes Originals
Moby: 18
Moby: Play
Thievery Corporation: The Cosmic Game
Garden State soundtrack
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium
Modest Mouse: Good News for People Who Love Bad News
One of the odder issues is that this affects the entire album for some, but others only some tracks. FWIW, only the Apple TV (2nd edition) can play these tracks. Neither one of my Macs (iMac and MacBook Pro w/ 10.7.2 + iTunes 10.5.1) can play them and my iPhone 4 (x2) just silently fails (no error message).
Using the Smart Playlist above, Delete (and remove from iCloud) each of the songs that previously exhibited the Unknown error (8364) and Move to Trash
Store → Turn Off iTunes Match
Copy the previously deleted songs from my Trash back into my iTunes library
Store → Turn On iTunes Match
Again using the Smart Playlist above, Delete (but do not remove from iCloud) each of the songs and Move to Trash
then control-click and Download (from iTunes Match)
Note: I'm not sure if deleting the songs from iCloud was required or not, but it appears that Apple has (or is in the process of) resolved this annoyance.
Hello Tinjaw, I'm sorry to hear you're a PC. Wouldn't it be easier to be a human?
Seriously though, you can still download your past purchases. Go to the iTunes store, click Purchased (on the right under Quick Links), and you can find your missing items there ... usually. Apple's purchase history is not 100% complete either, and I've been forced to repurchase a few tracks.
by Rassilon,
Rassilon
Jan 7, 2012 2:02 PM
in response to Rassilon
Oh dear, Apple is rubbing off on me. Sorry Tinjaw, I missed the part where you tried to download past purchases. It seems you're back to filing a ticket. But don't mention this error message. Instead, include the order # (assuming you can find it) and hopefully they'll fix the issue. I've had to do that with corrupted or lost movies, since movies aren't available in purchase history.
by utvolfan,
utvolfan
Jan 14, 2012 7:22 AM
in response to cclauset
I opened a service request with Apple on the 8364 error in iTunes Match when downloading Purchased tracks using the iCloud icon and that the problem tracks are still DRM-protected 128 kbs instead of DRM-free 256 kbs and their response was that I should use iTunes Plus and pay to upgrade these tracks! See conversation below:
Nikki,
I appreciate your response but I find it unacceptable. One of the main reasons that your customers (including myself) are upgrading to iTunes Match is for the ability to re-download their purchased songs as DRM-free 256 kbs tracks without having to use iTunes Plus. Take a look at the iTunes Match website at http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/ and the screenshot below:
It clearly says that "all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256 kbs AAC DRM-free quality". So is it Apple's position that this doesn't also include previously "Purchased" items. It seems obvious that the issue is that the tracks in question are still DRM-encumbered 128 kbs versions. It would be a more acceptable answer to just say that there has been a problem with Apple providing all tracks in the upgraded format or that the artists/labels are not allowing it if that is the case.
If you do a quick online search of "iTunes Match 8364" you'll see there are a lot of iTunes Match customers that are expecting to be able to download "ALL" of their purchased items in the upgraded format. The Apple support forum at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3502068?start=45&tstart=0 is very active on this topic and I plan on posting your solution of using iTunes plus for a solution that was supposed to be part of iTunes Match.
Thanks,
Trey
On Jan 14, 2012, at 8:34 AM, iTunes Store wrote:
Hello Trey,
Nikki, here from the iTunes Store Support. Thank you for replying back with further information, and screenshots of the issue, Trey. I know you must be eager to have the issue resolved, and I'll be happy to look into this further for you.
Trey, after reviewing the screenshots, I have done some further investigating into the specific purchases you have displayed in the Smart Playlist screenshot. Unfortunately, it appears that all of these items have since been removed or modified on the iTunes Store, and thus will not be available through the iTunes in the Cloud feature for redownload at this moment.
To clarify further, when a purchase is made on the iTunes Store you are downloading a direct item (or link) which has been provided by the content provider. If this item is removed from the store, or modified (moved etc.) then it will no longer be possible to access this purchase to redownload the item. Due to this issue, we stress the importance of creating regular back ups of the iTunes Store library to the customer.
As I understand that you have intentionally removed many items to attempt to troubleshoot the issue, I wanted to ensure there was a resolution which would allow you access to the content again while also being able to receive the upgraded version of the song.
Thus, I have found that the majority of the list which you have provided is currently available on your account for an iTunes plus upgrade.
It's easy to upgrade your iTunes library to iTunes Plus. You don't have to buy the song or music video again; you only pay the upgrade price, which is less than the cost of the original item. Entire albums can be upgraded for 30 percent of the album price. To see the upgrade price for songs and music videos, go to the iTunes Plus Upgrade page on your country's store using this link:
You can see all of your available upgrades on this page. You can also upgrade all of your DRM-protected purchases to iTunes Plus from this page. To get there in the future without using that link, just click iTunes Plus under Quick Links in the main iTunes window.
When you click the Buy All button, you will replace all of your eligible music and music video purchases in your iTunes library with iTunes Plus versions of the content. You can also perform individual upgrades by clicking the Buy button to the right of any item.
iTunes Plus music is continually added to the iTunes Store, so your upgrade offer may change at any time. Please check often to find new music available for upgrading.
To preview, purchase, and play iTunes Plus music, make sure you are using the latest version of iTunes, available free of charge on the iTunes website:
I hope this information helps to further clarify the issue, Trey. However, if you find you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to respond back and let me know. Thank you for being an iTunes Store customer. Have a wonderful day!
Sincerely,
Nikki Senior Advisor iTunes Store/Mac App Store Customer Support
Please note my hours for January 8th, to January 14th, 2011:
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Nikki,
Just to clarify, I'm not having any trouble uploading with iTunes Match. The problem is with downloading Purchased songs using the iCloud download icon. It appears the issue is that there are still a lot of songs in Apple's library that are still DRM-protected 128 kbs instead of the promised DRM-free 256 kbs.
I've created a smart playlist that includes songs that have a bit rate of less than 256kbs and have an iCloud Status of Purchased. This results in a list of 106 songs. I originally removed all the tracks that met this criteria from my library in order to download fresh copies that are 256 kbps DRM-free versions. This worked for some of the tracks but did not work for most. I've included a screenshot of the smart playlist criteria as well as a screenshot of the list of tracks.
If i click the iCloud download icon on any of the 106 tracks, the 8364 error it thrown. I've included a screenshot that shows this failure downloading "My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavigne which is track #59 in the list.
When trying to use the Purchased section of the iTunes Store, the Not In My Library section says that "All of your available music has been downloaded to this computer" even though I'm obviously missing the tracks I intentionally deleted using the smart playlist I described above. I did discover that the tracks in question show up in the All section of Purchased music but the status is Downloaded even though the track is not present in my local library. I've included screenshots of this as well.
I've also replicated this problem on two other Macs joined to my iTunes Match account. On those Macs, iTunes has the same behavior for the smart playlist items and the iCloud download icon. Using the Purchased section of the iTunes store on those Macs allows download of the songs in question but they are DRM-protected 128 kbs versions. I've attached a screenshot of the Avril Lavigne track I downloaded on one of those Macs to show its in the incorrect format.
Thanks for your assistance and let me know what other details I can provide.
Trey
On Jan 13, 2012, at 3:24 PM, iTunes Store wrote:
Hello Trey,
Nikki, here from the iTunes Store Support and I am a senior advisor taking over this request. I am sorry to hear you have been receiving an error 8364 while trying to load certain items from iTunes Match, and are unable to download from iTunes in the Cloud. I can certainly understand your concern, and would be more than happy to help however I can.
Trey, when you have a moment, I'll request that you reply back with the below information to help with investigating this error further:
- a list of the content which you have been unable to upload due to the error, as well cannot redownload through iTunes in the Cloud.
- A screenshot of the error you have been receiving
To take a screen shot of your Mac, please follow the instructions in the article for your version of Mac OS X:
Taking a picture of your entire screen (Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard)
When replying to this email, please include your screen shot as an attachment. If using Mac OS X Mail, you can do this by dragging and dropping the screen shot file onto the reply window. Alternatively, you can add it as an attachment by opening your reply window, then choosing File > Attach File.
Thank you for being an iTunes Store customer, Trey. Your experience is very important to us and we truly appreciate your continued devotion to the iTunes Store. I look forward to your reply. Have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Nikki
Senior Advisor
iTunes Store/Mac App Store Customer Support
Please note my hours for January 8th, to January 14th, 2011:
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly appreciated.
None of the referenced knowledge base articles address this issue. Please
escalate my issue to someone at Apple support that can assist. Please
reference the support forum below for more examples of users experiencing
After exchanging a few more emails with support, I have solved my issue with the 8364 error when downloading Purchased content with the cloud icon. The 8364 error occurs when you attempt to re-download items with an iCloud status of Purchased that have been removed or changed in the store since you originally made the purchase. It turned out that for every DRM-protected 128 kbs song I had in my library that would not download due to the 8364 error, I also had a DRM free-256 kbs version with an iCloud status of "Matched" from the original iTunes Match analysis process. I simply deleted all of the 128 kbs versions that failed to download witht the 8364 error and all is well. The "Matched" versions of the songs stream and download just fine.
by Mike Connelly,
Mike Connelly
Jan 17, 2012 8:00 AM
in response to utvolfan
Yes, definitely check your library to make sure you don't already have both 128 and 256 versions of the same purchased song, one should be handled fine but it would give an error on the duplicate.
Pretty insane that they'd actually tell users to pay for the iTunes plus upgrades, this service generally makes that unnecessary and in the cases where it doesn't work, that's something Apple needs to fix.
by cclauset,Solvedanswer
cclauset
Jan 20, 2012 5:22 AM
in response to cclauset
Using the Smart Playlist above, Delete (and remove from iCloud) each of the songs that previously exhibited the Unknown error (8364) and Move to Trash
Store → Turn Off iTunes Match
Copy the previously deleted songs from my Trash back into my iTunes library
Store → Turn On iTunes Match
Again using the Smart Playlist above, Delete (but do not remove from iCloud) each of the songs and Move to Trash
then control-click and Download (from iTunes Match)
Note: I'm not sure if deleting the songs from iCloud was required or not, but it appears that Apple has (or is in the process of) resolved this annoyance.
by nao0993,
nao0993
Jan 21, 2012 7:43 AM
in response to cclauset
This does not work for me because I don't have the purchased 128 kbps songs locally stored on my Mac.
I tried the Smart Playlist filter and it does show my purchased songs but they are still shown as 128 kbps.
I am getting the same 8364 error when I try to download. iTures version is 10.5.3.
I even tried the deleting some songs from iCloud option only to find out those songs are not showing up in the list anymore and lost forever (the MacWorld article says "Be sure to not select the box that would delete them from iCloud!").
by blinn79,
blinn79
Jan 28, 2012 8:48 AM
in response to nao0993
If the songs weren't stored locally when you deleted them (and thus aren't in your Trash), then if they were purchased you can still get them back. If they weren't purchased you're probably SOL.
Assuming they were purchased, login to the iTunes Store with the correct Apple ID and click on the Purchased link. Then you should be able to redownload the purchased songs, and then go through the steps outlined by cclauset.
by nao0993,
nao0993
Jan 28, 2012 9:20 AM
in response to blinn79
I was just commenting on your statement that the songs were "lost forevere," as that's not true if they were purchased.
I'm having the same issue with one song. It's a puchesed Billy Joel song, "Nocturne," and originally iTunes Match uploaded it, even though it was purched and is still available for purchase, and was the only Billy Joel song to be uploaded. I deleted the song, both from my hard drive and iCload, then used the iTunes store to redownload it as 128 kbps protected. iTunes Match now recognizes that it is a purchased track, but when I delete it and try to redownload using iCloud I get either error 8364 or -50.
by nao0993,
nao0993
Jan 28, 2012 9:40 AM
in response to blinn79
They're not downloadable from iCloud, no, but if you go to the iTunes Store and click the "Purchased" link on the right you can redownload them in 128 kpbs protected, something anyone even without iTunes Match can do, and then continue to try to upgrade them through iCloud. For some reason (and hopefully Apple updates this) even if you subscribe to iTunes Match, redownloading old purchases results in the original 128 kpbs protected file being downloaded, leaving you to delete and redownload again through the iTunes Match service.
Are you unable to remove and redownload/upgrade through iTunes Match/iCloud any of your purchased songs, or only some of them? I followed the directions on Macworld excatly and was able to delete and redownload in 256 kbps/unprotected over 1500 songs I had that were <256 and/or protected. It's just 1 song for me which is giving me trouble.
by nao0993,
nao0993
Jan 28, 2012 10:08 AM
in response to blinn79
I used "Purchased" to get 128 kbps originally, now the deleted songs are not showing in the list, again that is not the main problem here.
There are about 20 songs (listed before in the thread) have the problem, none of them can be recovered so far. Athough the workaound may help some users, the main thing is that it should "just work" as I paid for the service.
Error 8364 means Apple is unable or unwilling to upgrade one of your previously-purchased songs to a 256 kbps DRM-free version. Consequently, iMatch gets confused, and won't download the encumbered version either.
cclauset
Level 1
(1 points)
cclauset
