Apple TV won't play music from my library

Hey there, Steve.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities! Thanks for posting about your Apple TV not playing music from the Music app. We'd be glad to see what we can do to help you out.

There are a few options when it comes to streaming music on your Apple TV. Check out Library: Browse and play your music on Apple TV for more info on those. If those steps don't help, let us know, and we'll go from there.

Take care.

I’m having the same problem. I can play my library on my iPhone and my iMac. My library albums are displayed on my Apple TV but when I try to play one all I get is the busy spinner. I reset the Apple TV and it made no difference. Apple Music items play without a problem on all devices, but library displays but will not play on tv. 14.3 tv and iPhone, Catalina on the iMac. Home sharing enabled, all on same WiFi. I can airplay my library from my phone to the tv as a workaround, but I didn’t used to need to do that.

Is this about AirPlay, Home Sharing, iTunes Store Music purchases, or Apple Music/iTunes Match subscription?

Where does this library reside? If on a Mac or PC, then what version software and OS version? If in the Cloud, or a different device, then please specify.

For Home Sharing, I can’t replicate this. Maybe the issue is something local to your setup or library.

I just wired Apple TV directly to my router and now the “computers” app will display my library from my iMac, so now I have a workaround that lets me play my music on Apple TV. Wish the music app would do it, but hey, it’s progress.

Steve,

I just noticed that my AppleTV is behaving the exact same way. I tried to play some Christmas music that was in my library using the Music App on my AppleTV’s and it just sit and spins but never plays the music. It will play music that I have from Apple Music but not the music I had on iTunes that I added by uploading them from my CD’s many years ago. I can access these songs on my Mac and my iPhone, just not the music app on my AppleTV’s. My hunch is that one of the more recent AppleTV updates broke this functionality and Apple will fix it in the near future. I know it worked last Christmas....

Keith

I have exactly the same problem: when selecting a song from one of the library folders (Artists, Albums or Recently Added) I always get a spinning wheel (it's spinning forever; not even an error message after 10 minutes). No issues when playing them from a playlist, though. As a workaround, I'm currently adding the songs to a playlist first and select them from there. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the problem started after recently subscribing to Apple Music. I already tried factory reset my Apple TV, but it didn't help.

Same problem here with iTunes Match uploads. I’ve spent hours on the phone to Apple support and they’ve finally called to say it’s a bug and they’re working on a fix. Dismayed that it takes so long for Apple to realise it’s a bug instead of forcing me through lengthy and pointless tests etc.

This really is rubbish Apple...their quality control nowadays has really gone downhill Steve Jobs would be ashamed what they have done to his baby...having spent a fortune on iTunes Match it just doesn’t deliver what they promise

I’m having the exact same problem on my year old ATV 4K. I actually purchased a new one today, set it up, and it was all good- until I updated the software to tvOS 14.3. And now the new unit is functioning exactly as poorly as the old one. This is obviously a software problem. I will be returning the new unit and will await a (hopefully) fixed update. NOT a happy camper here.

We as consumers are paying Apple for a service (either Apple Music or iTunes Match). As Apple are not currently providing the matching service I believe we are due refunds. I have already asked Apple about this and got a fob-off (wait until they've fixed it and then they'll think about it). To my mind there is not enough incentive for Apple to prioritise this fix, and it is up to us consumers to put pressure on them for financial compensation. Maybe then they will push it up the list. So please, if you have this problem then contact Apple support and ask for compensation as they are not providing the matching service which you are paying for.

Same problem here. I can play my music match music from my iPad just fine, but the appletv just shows me the spinner when I try to access an album. It will play individual songs from the album. This is not a new issue, but usually restarting the appletv fixes it. It no longer does.

This guy is not alone in this problem. I also suffer the spinning wheel on my appletv

i have iTunes Match and other devices can see and play the content