Apple Music Removes Songs From Library when in Playlists

Question

Apple Music Removes Songs From Library when in Playlists

Does anyone else have this issue?

When I made a playlist with songs in my library and songs from the Apple Music streaming platform, the application took the songs out of my library (and from their folders in the Finder level) and replaced them with ones from Apple Music streaming. I have since removed said songs from the playlist and manually added them back in my library but the application with continue to remove them upon each launch. Its kinda wild

Any ideas on how to fix?

Thanks

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Feb 23, 2021 2:15 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Eric--F

Community Specialist

Mar 5, 2021 5:50 PM in response to Tyler Routson

Hi Tyler,

Are you creating a normal, genius, or smart playlist?

This sounds like it could be related to the preferences within the Music app on your device. For a Mac, go to the Music app > Music menu > Preferences, then select on the Files tab and you should see two options, 'Keep Music Media folder organized' and 'Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library': Create, edit, and delete playlists in Music on Mac Also, make sure the Music Media folder location is set correctly for where you'd like to store that music library.

Wishing you the best, cheers!

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Answer 2

Mar 5, 2021 6:55 PM in response to Eric--F

Hey Eric,

I stream songs via Apple Music subscription and then make a normal playlist with all songs still being via Apple Music subscription. Later I'll buy and rip the albums I really like to my local drive. Both said boxes in Preferences you referenced are checked. And then it appears said songs there were in the playlist only show up in the playlist and leave the personal library view, yet they still exist at the Finder level. This happened with two different playlists that I ultimately had to delete cuz it wasn't worth the hassle. I deleted them and reimported the albums that were giving me issues. So far so good but in doing so lost all the play counts and original date added metadata. Not a big deal but annoying.

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Answer 3

Jeff_W.

Community Specialist

Feb 25, 2021 7:48 AM in response to Tyler Routson

Hello Tyler,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Based on your post, songs added to playlists and Apple Music disappear from your Mac. We'll do our best to assist with this.

It sounds like the files are being stored in iCloud with the iCloud Music Library when syncing is enabled. Try to turn off Apple Music sync to test it out: Turn on Sync Library with Apple Music The great thing about syncing Apple Music is that it shares your library with your other associated devices.

Let us know if that helps to sort it out, take care!

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Answer 4

Mar 5, 2021 11:36 AM in response to Jeff_W.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the reply. I guess I don't get why Music is "moving" songs from the whole album to a playlist and not "copying" them. For example, I made a "Best of 2020" playlist which featured about 25 random songs off Apple Music streaming. When I then bought and ripped the CDs that featured said songs after, Music would just remove them from my Library. It continues to do this despite me dragging and dropping them back in from the Finder level. It does it on my computer as well as iPhone. Ive since deleted said playlist but still does it ever time.

Same goes for a playlist a made that featured songs that were in my Library for years. Those are now gone from my library. I drag and drop them back in but they keep disappearing.

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Apple Music Removes Songs From Library when in Playlists

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