Apple Music on Mac not playing some songs offline

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Level 1

8 points

Apple Music on Mac not playing some songs offline

I am trying to switch from Spotify to Apple Music but the transition has been horrible so far.

One of the problems right now is on Mac. AM works fine on my iPhone and iPad, however on the Mac it simply refuses to play songs from certain artists. Right now I can play most of my collection, but for whatever random reason I can't play, for example, songs by Arianna Grande.

Whenever I click play on them, the songs never start. The status bar stays at 0:00 and doesn't move.

I have tried redownloading the songs, deselecting and then selecting to synchronize my library, moving the downloaded songs folder elsewhere, completely turned off restrictions on explicit songs (also I can listen to explicit songs from other artists, so it shouldn't be the case), but nothing seems to work. Also apparently you can't uninstall then reinstall the Music app, which I would be willing to do if it fixes the problem.

The weird thing is that the songs will play if I completely delete them and listen online, but if I choose to have them downloaded for offline playback, the problem returns.

Important: unlike other artists, the app doesn't create an "Arianna Grande" folder when I click download the songs. So as I see it, the app marks the songs as downloaded, but for some reason doesn't download them. And then when I click play, Music can't find the files.

I'm on the M1 Mac mini.

If someone could help me, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on May 25, 2021 6:16 AM

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Answer 1

May 26, 2021 8:29 AM in response to itsmereynad

Hello itsmereynad,

Thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities. It looks like you having trouble downloading selected music for offline listening. Let’s see if we can help get you listening to your music.

Have you seen and tried the steps found in If songs are missing from your music library after you turn on Sync Library?

What about If there’s an issue when you re-download apps, films, or other content from Apple?

Reach back out if either of these doesn’t help resolve the issue.

Cheers!

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Answer 2

rtm808

Level 1

30 points

May 28, 2021 10:56 PM in response to itsmereynad

I'm having a similar problem. In my case, it shows that the downloaded file is an "HLS media" file. Doesn't play in Music. If I delete the downloaded file, it plays (streams) fine.

Spent about an hour with Apple Music support in a chat and got nowhere. Rep was completely stumped and requested I consult with a macOS support person instead.

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Answer 3

itsmereynad Author

Level 1

8 points

May 29, 2021 5:33 AM in response to rtm808

Honestly at this point I gave up. It is a bug and it can’t be fixed unless Apple releases a software update. Once my Apple Music trial expires I’ll go back to Spotify. This is no the kind of bug acceptable in 2021 for one of the most basic functions of a Music app: downloading music.

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Answer 4

rtm808

Level 1

30 points

May 29, 2021 1:36 PM in response to itsmereynad

I tried chatting again with another Apple Support rep. Nothing we tried worked. They are stumped. I was able to replicate the same bug on my other Mac too.

My case has been escalated and they are supposed to get back to me.

Worked fine prior to all this activity around lossless music and other stuff I really don’t care about. I would rather have the ability to play downloaded songs reliably.

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Answer 5

itsmereynad Author

Level 1

8 points

May 29, 2021 1:41 PM in response to rtm808

Are you having these problems on M1 Macs too? Or Intel Macs?

Unfortunately, I still think there's nothing we, users, can do, as this is absolutely a software bug.

I also think it has something to do with the new lossless music Apple implemented some days ago, but only Apple can look into that.

In any case, if you find a solution please post it here!

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Answer 6

rtm808

Level 1

30 points

May 29, 2021 2:34 PM in response to itsmereynad

Both of my Macs are Intel-based. 2020 iMac 27” and a 2018 mini.

By the way: RE: where the downloaded files are stored. There is an Apple Music folder with your downloaded Apple Music files. My Apple Music folder is in the same folder as all my purchased music.

I actually like it that way — keeps my Apple Music “borrowed” files separate from my own music files.

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Answer 7

rtm808

Level 1

30 points

Jun 1, 2021 11:16 PM in response to itsmereynad

Apple Support sent me a follow up that they "reindexed" the album and asked me to try it again. I completely deleted the song from my library and added it again via Apple Music. Same result. The downloaded file is not playable. It still shows as an "HLS Media" file, unlike all the other music I've downloaded from Apple Music for offline play.

I let them know that it didn't resolve the problem.

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Answer 8

itsmereynad Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2021 4:36 AM in response to rtm808

Same thing here, still have the problem.

And I also think this affects way more people, they just haven’t noticed it yet.

I just want to be able to listen to songs offline on your paid service Apple, it can’t be that hard for the biggest company in the world, right?

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Answer 9

Jun 3, 2021 10:36 AM in response to itsmereynad

Hello All,

I am having the exact same issue. Specific songs will not play if they are downloaded but stream just fine. I do not have a solution to this problem, but I have found one work around that works in certain cases.

I have verified this works (at least for me) on the M1 Mac Mini, M1 MacBook Air, and i9 MacBook Pro.

I primarily use AirPods Pro to consume media on my mac. The default audio routing in the Music app on Mac is through "Computer --> AirPods Pro". A work around that works for me is to click the AirPlay icon in the top right quadrant of the Music app (right next to the lyrics button) and change it to "AirPods Pro" directly. I highly doubt this will work for non-AirPlay headphones/speakers.

Hopefully this will help at least some people having this issue until Apple's software engineers fix this bug.

Thanks,

Damien

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Answer 10

itsmereynad Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 6, 2021 4:23 AM in response to rtm808

When I listen to music on my Mini, I use my LG monitor built in speakers as the sound output.

I haven’t been able to find the airplay icon when I play my music, so I still have the problem.

But hopefully someone at Apple is taking notes of this discussion, there’s lots of interesting information coming from users that could help them fix the issue.

So far, playing songs online is the only fix for me.

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Answer 11

itsmereynad Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 8, 2021 5:33 AM in response to itsmereynad

Hey guys, came here to say that the problem seems to be fixed after yesterday Apple's event.

Now all my music collection plays offline.

At least for me everything is working when downloading music with the new dolby atmos option turned on, so even though it takes more space it solved the problem.

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Answer 12

rtm808

Level 1

30 points

Jun 6, 2021 12:16 AM in response to Damien1994

The AirPods Pro workaround makes me think this has something to do with Apple Music's spatial audio upgrade that was recently announced.

My support case was referred back to the Apple Music team.

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Apple Music on Mac not playing some songs offline

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