Start and stop times of apple music song ignored

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Level 1

21 points

Start and stop times of apple music song ignored

About 18 months ago there was a question from @Raul_Hernandez answered by @chris_g1

about "Start and stop times of apple music song ignored”. Thread link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251317106

While that issue was about imported songs, I am experiencing the same with any and all songs I’m adding to Apple Music playlists.

Problem description:

I use playlists in Apple Music populated with songs from Apple Music
For months, the start and stop times I entered on the Mac (⌘i > Options, or via menu … > Get info > Options) were not working within Apple Music on the Mac but interestingly they did sync and work on Apple Music on the iPhone.
Since 3-4 weeks, however, the start and stop times don’t work on either Mac or iPhone for newly added songs. Songs with specific start-stop times entered more than 3-4 weeks ago are still working fine (start and stop at the specified times).

To solve this I have uninstalled and re-installed the app on my iPhone and did most of what's described in the thread linked above. Two things I could not do, however: (1) when I launch Apple Music on Mac with the shift key held down as suggested, the icon never bounces and the app just launches as usual; (2) the link in the thread to "If the behavior continues, try testing in a new user account and let me know what you find: "How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac” is unfortunately dead and I couldn’t find it on the community pages here.

So the problem is on Apple Music on MacOS, iPhone and web browser (not actively using that interface but just used it to check on the problem). Usign a MacBook Air M1 running MacOS Monterey 12.1. Also, I reported the issue twice to Apple directly (Beta Program Feedback app) but no response/solution.

Did anyone experience the same and found a solution or can you share suggestions I can try?

Thank you!

Posted on Dec 20, 2021 4:04 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

274,352 points

Dec 20, 2021 7:39 AM in response to jjfromn

Try holding down Option+Cmd when you launch Music on a Mac. This should generate a prompt to say that it is opening in safe mode. This can sometimes help resolve weird issues. Shift is the modifier for switching libraries in Windows, on a Mac use Option instead. Here is an archived copy of that support article you mentioned: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac. See also Repair security permissions for iTunes/Music for Mac - Apple Community.

tt2

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Answer 2

6ss77

Level 1

8 points

Jan 4, 2022 8:41 AM in response to jjfromn

I'm having the problem as well but on my iPhone 12 Pro.

Software Version 15.1.1

The problem only started after I signed up for Apple Music

On my Windows PC in iTunes custom start & stop times are still respected on playback.

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Answer 3

jjfromn Author

Level 1

21 points

Dec 21, 2021 6:07 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you @turingtest2.

After reading your message yesterday, I launched Music while holding down Option+Cmd and the prompt came up. Next, I checked the start-stop times of some of the songs and they were all visible, but unfortunately they are still ignored on both Mac and iPhone.

Not willing to give up too easily, I tried the following things: (1) added new songs to the playlist to test - no luck, (2) moved the impacted songs to another playlist and resynced the Library to iCloud - no luck, (3) restarted the Mac app in normal mode, updated iCloud library numerous times - no luck, (4) switched off the start-stop times for each song and back on again - no luck, (5) ticked “remember playhead” on/off/on - no luck. Finally, as none of these ideas worked, I wanted to give the systems some time (overnight) to see if that would help at all - it did not.

As next step, my idea is to delete the library on the Mac, download a fresh copy from iCloud, see what the Get info > Options time settings are and then test it on the iPhone. Before doing so, do you have better options I could try?

Thanks again.

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

274,352 points

Dec 21, 2021 11:39 AM in response to jjfromn

OK, just trying to replicate here and oddly start times seem to be obeyed on my Mac running the latest build of Monterey, but the stop times don't. Both synced to my iPhone after I used File > Library > Update Cloud Library, but I've only tested with a single Apple Music track, which in my case was in the cloud. Certainly odd behaviour.

tt2

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