iTunes 8.2.1(6) randomly starts playing music

Whenever I am minding my own business some random music that I don't even know starts to play. I realize my iTunes is open so I quit that so it still plays until I turn it off... There is a serious issue here...

I am having the same issue....iTunes is just ranodmly open and playing music on it's own...I think this was with the latest OS update. Please fix this Apple.

I am using iTunes 9.0.2 I have exact same issue, is there a service that is running, is the bluetooth get confused by other devices... need to fix this irritating issue quickly.

My iMac opens iTunes (by itself)and starts playing music. In my case, it is the first song in the general 'music' list. This happens regardless of what software is open or what I am doing on the computer. The only way to escape is to quit iTunes. That gets annoying since iTunes opens itself again, and resumes playing in minutes or hours. It is very random.
Does anyone know if something be done about this?

This happens to me all the time lately. I'm using itunes 9.0.2

I am having the same issue, really disturbing. I think the problem is physical and it is caused by the audio output which is able to handle the headphones buttons. I think that this is the feature which is not working correctly.

Have had the same problem and was able to stop the random startup only by completely reinstalling the program. Sure would like an explanation of what is happening as I do expect that the problem will happen again.

I have recently had this issue too. I dont even have itunes open or any music playing software. I can not recognise the music, but it could be something on my hard drive as I have so much. The only way to shut it off it to restart. I have just removed a widget that could be causing it, so I will update again later if any problems persist.
I do have soundflower installed and wonder if this could be the problem?

I'm having the same issue, but only on my computer at work and not on the MBP or 24" iMac at home, (same config: SL 10.6.2, iTunes 9.0.2). Seems to only happen if iTunes is already launched. Last song played, or first song in music library will automatically start, sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes during the day. Playback will pause if i go to itunes and press pause. I don't need to shut down iTunes entirely. It's been happening for a while - at least 6 months. And there does not seem to be a common thread with all the others who have posted here. I am using YouControlTunes for playback on the menubar, but that does not seem to be the issue since i am using it at home as well. It does seem to be happening less frequently than other people have said. Three times in the last 48 hours, but nothing for a few weeks before that. Oh, and the bluetooth fixes and itunes helper delete does not solve the problem. Interesting though yesterday i left itunes on while browsing the store, and it started playing 30 second clips from an "essentials" playlist. First time that has happened.

Add me to the list as well (iTunes 9.0.3, SL 10.6.2 24" iMac - does not happen on my Mac Mini or aluminum Macbook). If iTunes is not launched, it will launch and begin playing. I have iConcertCal and Last.FM installed. Hardware-wise, I have a Microsoft Natural Ergo Keyboard 4000 and Logitech MX Revolution mouse and an older set of Logitech powered speakers. I'm pretty sure it's not being triggered by them (but not entirely). I usually sleep the iMac when I'm away and I have yet to have it awaken itself to play.

Chris_Weiss wrote:
Add me to the list as well (iTunes 9.0.3, SL 10.6.2 24" iMac - does not happen on my Mac Mini or aluminum Macbook). If iTunes is not launched, it will launch and begin playing. I have iConcertCal and Last.FM installed. Hardware-wise, I have a Microsoft Natural Ergo Keyboard 4000 and Logitech MX Revolution mouse and an older set of Logitech powered speakers. I'm pretty sure it's not being triggered by them (but not entirely). I usually sleep the iMac when I'm away and I have yet to have it awaken itself to play.

I have just been through this on my own system. My post will be a little further down. Basically in my case, it turns out that having my speakers plugged into the output port of my uMacbook, caused this problem. If you have anything plugged into the port, try running it without the speakers. Other things that have worked for other folks is turning off Bluetooth, and some other things.
Here is a link to the thread about my issues. Maybe something in there will strike a cord. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2329462&start=0&tstart=45

Good luck.

I have had this the last week. Even with iTunes not open it starts itself up and hey presto, random music.
What'S happening?

I have been having the same issues. No matter what I do it keeps starting on its own and every time I quit it or force quit it comes back and starts palying again on and off.

Like all of you I have had this repeated problem of iTunes seemingly being controlled by someone else. Even after quitting, iTunes would re-open itself and continue playing. HOWEVER, my solution:

Clicking the applications to check sharing & permissions. (right click app, then select "get info.") I noticed that somehow "wheeler" had read&write access, with this person neither being on my accounts list nor ever sharing list, I was puzzled. I simply removed wheeler and no longer suffer this issue... hope it helps.

Yep, same problem except on a Windows box - I've set up a small dedicated PC just to run iTunes so its got virtually nothing else on it other than a firewall/security suite. I have the latest version of iTunes on it (10.x) and i will suddenly start playing some random track.

Very annoying - thinking of switching to an alternative media player but really like the itunes interface.