"Loading Music Library..." happens every time I open Music app and locks up (must Force Quit), since Big Sur update in May

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Level 1

8 points

"Loading Music Library..." happens every time I open Music app and locks up (must Force Quit), since Big Sur update in May

Every time I open Music I consistently get a "Loading Music Library..." window which stays up infinitely until I Force Quit the Music app, rendering Music on my Mac virtually unusable. This began after an update to macOS Big Sur in May 2021 and has been happening consistently since. I just upgraded to Monterey 12.1 and same problem. I have iCloud Match so all my music is in the cloud and accessible from all my iOS devices so at least I have not lost my music elsewhere. I was able to get it working under some Safe Mode operations in July so I know my library was sound at one point, but since then I can't get past this "Loading" window. So the Music Library on my Mac now seems screwed up, likely some sort of semaphore confusion. I have had a case open with Apple since May and it went to a Senior Advisor and almost to Engineering but stalled in July and Apple is now unresponsive. I've sent them packet traces, disk images, crash diagnostics but I cannot simply contact Apple and have them resume the case where we left off. Instead I must on every occasion go through an excruciating exercise of elementary steps which take hours and lead nowhere so I've run out of patience with Apple Support.

A few questions, regarding a virgin Mac and starting the Music app for the first time ever, with no previous media files (iTunes or otherwise) and obviously a brand new Music Library:

a) What is the default location of the Music Library?

b) What is the default location of the physical music files (formerly Users > [user] > Music > iTunes > iTunes Media > Music> [artist folders])?

Help!

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Dec 20, 2021 4:09 PM

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Answer 1

smrc8081 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 18, 2022 3:20 PM in response to smrc8081

Just restarted my Mac in Safe mode...

Relocated my Media files to another location outside my Music folder.

Deleted the Music > Music folder altogether. Intention is to recreate the Music folder, library and media files from the cloud.

Started Music in Library mode (Open/Create) and created a new Music Library.

Results:

The "Loading Music Library..." box has not appeared. Music app appears to be running normally, i.e. I can quit if I want; does not need to be force-quit.

So the Music library window is up, and normal items (File,Edit,Song,etc.) across the menu bar.

I have only 2 songs listed in the window, one recently added on my iPhone, the other seems random. (I have 5500 or songs in my library.)

These 2 songs are now in my Media folder, no others. And the Music Library is only 53K.

The Library Window says across the top: "Loading your Cloud Music Library. This may take several minutes." and there is a status message in the lower LH corner of the window says "Updating Cloud Music Library" with an active pinwheel.

This has been going on for over an hour, so I'm just going to let it go. I am busy tonight so will leave it and check it in about six hours...

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Answer 2

smrc8081 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 18, 2022 1:30 PM in response to turingtest2

My apologies for tardy reply. I have procrastinated for a variety of reasons, just got back to this today...

I deleted the Music Library and emptied it from the trash so only my Media files exist, which nevertheless seems optional as I have iTunes Match with everything in the cloud anyway.

Launched Music in normal mode... Same infinite "Loading Music Library..." box; must Force Quit.
Launched Music in safe mode... Same "Loading Music Library..." box; must Force Quit.
Launched Music with Create Library option... Same "Loading Music Library..." box; must Force Quit. Music Library created but zero bytes.

I must conclude this has nothing to do with my Media files on disk. Must be a problem with syncing to the cloud.

Apple is silent and of zero help. This sucks.

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Answer 3

smrc8081 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 18, 2022 9:38 PM in response to smrc8081

Now 7-1/2 hours later and no change. Gonna abort.

Nope. Music (not responding) so Force Quite required.

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Dec 21, 2021 12:11 PM in response to smrc8081

a) ~/Music/Music/Music Library.musiclibrary, where ~ is your user's Home folder.

b) ~/Music/Music/Media is the default media folder. Typically organized within as /Music/<Album Artist>/<Album>/[D ]## <Name>.<Ext>. You're not obliged however to keep your music in the designated media folder, nor have it organized automatically if you do.

You can try holding down option+cmd as you launch Music to open it in safe mode, which sometimes fixes startup issues with the library. You can also try option-starting-Music and then using the Choose Library option to actively select the correct library file.

Assuming you want a fresh start rename the existing ~/Music/Music folder as something like ~/Music/Music (Broken), then option start Music, click the Create Library option and save the library as ~/Music/Music. You get to choose the folder where it is created rather than the name of the database file inside it.

tt2

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"Loading Music Library..." happens every time I open Music app and locks up (must Force Quit), since Big Sur update in May

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