Why can't I assign iTunes music to my slideshow? The library shows list of music but none is selectable.

Hey there thang318,

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. I understand you’re having issues adding music from iTunes to your Photos slideshow. I’ll be happy to help with this.

To verify, are you an Apple Music member? If you double-click one of the greyed out songs, do you get an alert that the audio track is not supported? If so, it’s possible the song is DRM-protected and will not work with your slideshow. If this is an iTunes Store purchased song, make sure it’s downloaded to your device and that you’re not streaming it. This link can help:

Redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books

If it’s already downloaded, it may be an older version of the song and deleting it and downloading again should help.

If the songs are from another source, it may be a Protected AAC Audio File. In this case, you will not be able to use these songs for your slideshow. These articles have more info:

Create slideshows in Photos on Mac

Usage rights for iTunes Store purchases on Mac 

Regards.

The problem is that a slideshow can be exported as a video, including the soundtrack, and the music in the soundtrack will no longer have the digital rights assigned. That is why you can only free, unprotected music in a slideshow.

Sterling listed most of the exceptions - dogs that cannot be used

• You cannot use Apple Music downloads as a soundtrack, because Apple Music downloads are protected.
• Most of the newer purchases from the iTunes Store are without a DMR protection, but older songs may still have it assigned.
• You can however use any song that you create yourself with GarageBand or Logic Pro X, songs you record using a microphone or an audio input, for example from old Vinyl records.