Tracks pause randomly every now and then-I have to go click play to resume

I have the exact same problem. It has existed in the past several iTunes updates. I have an external drive as my iTunes library. I also use an airport express to send music to my stereo.

The interesting thing is that it will pause in the middle of a song but the "play" button icon does not change to indicate the pause - it's as if iTunes still think sthe song is playing.

I've got the same problem since i've installed the latest update...!

Have you solved it?

No, not yet. I just keep updating and hoping...

Also, I have an issue with iTunes muting randomly (I posted as another topic - also unsolved). The song keeps on playin', but the sound disappears. It always happens betwen songs - as in one song finishes and another begins, muted.

Maybe I'm not alone. I am having similar issues. I seem to have determined that mine pauses at the start of the next song in a shuffled playlist or party shuffle. It works for the first few songs then stops. The itunes window shows playing, but nothing happens. Works fine with regular playlists. My library is on an external disk.

Interesting. My library is also on an external disk (MyBook 320 gig FW400/USB2) and I usually use the shuffle setting. I'll see if it works with the shuffle setting off.

i can confirm that this is also happening to me. i first experienced it a few days after the latest itunes update. i think it may have something to do with playing the library on shuffle, because thats when i have seen it happen, though i am not positive, will keep a closer look at it now. the majority of my music library is stored on the local hard drive with only a few stored on an external..i know that the last song to pause was on the internal drive and recently added to the library

Same problem here with iTunes 7.4.2 (but if I recall correctly also 7.4 and 7.4.1). Using party shuffle which chooses its songs from a specific playlist most of the time.

All songs in my library are on my local hard drive, so that seems to have little to do with it. Shuffle issue still seems plausible. Will try what happens when playing a playlist in order (i.e. shuffle off).

I started my library playing "unshuffled" and it played for at least 6 hours before muting itself. After looking at the track order, the song it muted itself on fell directly after a missing song - one with the "!" next to it. After a power outage, I had to manually find a bunch of songs with the "!" next to them, but with 25,000 songs it got a little tedious so it happenes in shifts when I get a chance.

Anyone else's library have "missing" songs? Could this be the issue?

the last one i saw randomly pause was @ :59 seconds into the song..it was not on shuffle and was a recently added song playing from the main library window..i dont have itunes copy my music to the library..they all reside either in the music directory..or in a separate directory..this song was in the shared directory..it would be nice to know if apple has actually acknowledged this as a bug...

I have the same problem playing a regular playlist, random pauses and randomly skipping tracks. Nothing else is running and it is just through ordinary speakers.

I've had some luck by setting my computer to not go to sleep. This stinks because it used to work fine. My problem has been since 7.4 while playing a shuffled playlist or using Party Shuffle, iTunes will not advance to the next song, it kinda freezes. Meaning, the music stops but the button stays on play. Clicking the button twice resumes the track. I've also noticed that the track progress top window doesn't always keep moving. The track will be playing but the track progress window freezes.

I'm having the same problem, but this seems to only happen when I am +listening to music from my iPod in iTunes+. Since the latest update, the music will pause or skip at random intervals, and eventually, it ends in me getting frustrated, trying to eject my iPod, and having to attempt "Force Quit" in iTunes to make it do so.

Of course, none of this happened until I got the latest update. My iPod is pretty old (third gen), but it was working with iTunes just fine until this past update.

Hope this is not off topic!

My problem occurs while listening to a playlist and simultaneously browsing the main iTunes library. If I actually edit any library track while the playlist is mid-song, it will either make a "pop" and stop playing ... or jump to the next track. Either *****!

Doesn't seem to be a bug I can replicate every single time. But I am fairly certain that it only happens while I am listening to a playlist and editing the library. Thoughts?

iMac 24" 2.4GHz w/ 4 gigs RAM and 1TB hd and iTunes 7.4.2 (4).

I have had this problem using iTunes on a G5 using a Firewire 800 external drive using the latest version of iTunes as well as using a G4, iTunes version 7, with songs on an internal drive. When my songs pause, I can hear the hard drive being accessed. The G4 is not connected to a network, nor the internet. The G5 is connected to a network and internet full time.

It will pause for about a second then resume. Gee.. maybe its a nostalga feature to simulate a turntable skipping..... NOT.

Subscribing to this topic as I'm experiencing the same issue. iTunes randomly pauses while it is in the background and I need to manually resume play. Win XP Pro/iTunes 7.4.3.1.