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Music library uneditable (Monterey 12.1)

Since the software update to Monterey 12.1, Music is unable to remember/save changes I make to songs (e.g., ratings, genres, etc.), as edits revert automatically after a couple of minutes. Even when I delete songs from my library, they just reappear a couple of minutes later. This bug has now made my entire library, which I've been curating for 15 years, uneditable. A very sad day for Apple users. #bringbackthejoyofmusic

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Dec 26, 2021 11:45 PM

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Posted on Dec 31, 2021 6:24 AM

I have this issue as well, and it seems to be tied into a mechanic in which the cloud library supersedes anything done locally. From discussions (unofficial) I have had, it seems that the general belief from the AM developers is that a) most users are on an iDevice and b) most users are using Apple Music files and not their own. So it seems to me that Apple deprecated the ability of the desktop jukebox to manage and curate one’s own catalog.


I can’t stay this is exactly the case (and I am kind of hoping that Cunningham’s Law will kick in at this point) but I have spent the better part of this last year fighting with Apple Music’s curation (or lack thereof) of my extensive collection. I’ve even resigned to re-rip my entire CD collection - except I can’t even delete what I have! I have spent the last three days now re-deleting albums over and over again.


This is why I think that Apple changed the logic - so whatever you have in the cloud is the default, which then feeds to all your iDevices - instead of having the desktop be the “hub” like iTunes was under Steve Jobs. And I think because there is no way to manage the Cloud files from your iPhone or iPad (you can only delete local downloads), Apple removed that ability from the desktop app without providing any means to manage your cloud library elsewhere. At least in iTunes you could go to your account settings and “reset” your library (empty it, essentially) if you needed to rebuild from scratch.


And for the record, none of the documented procedures Apple has will address your issues or mine, and all the online guides only work with iTunes.



75 replies

Jan 21, 2022 7:51 AM in response to Andrew Bayly

I'll try this, thanks!


On one hand is comforting to know I'm not the only one with these issues and reading the forums I can see there's dozens of people with the problem. On the other hand... **** Apple why are you making us suffer like this? =(


The problem is specific to Monterey 12.1, I only updated last week and it's when the issues started. In my case is not a blanket problem though, and not only with changes I've made recently. I'll explain:


I have a dynamic playlist of only unrated songs that I added to my library last year, which I was going through when I updated to 12.1. I had like 60 songs left to rate, and after updating it took me a couple of days and I finished it. Of this 60 songs, 39 lost the rating one day later. I rated them again, and then 22 lost the rating again.. and so on. This is annoying but somehow manageable. I noticed another problem that is more worrying though. I created a playlist of albums released this year (only 3 so far in my library) and I listened to that playlist (36 songs). Of those 36 songs, 4 songs were in my library since last year, as they were released as singles prior to those albums. These 4 songs were already rated, added to dynamic playlists based on their rate and also to some manual playlists I maintain since months ago. Well I listened to this playlist a couple of times, and what do you know, the 4 songs I had since last year lost their star rating AND were removed from the playlists I had added them months ago.


Now I'm scared to listen to anything in my library that is not new, as I have more than a hundred of personally curated playlists I've made through the years, with songs in specific order, and I fear the Music App is going to remove them from these playlists if I listen to the songs =(


This sucks.

Jan 21, 2022 8:38 AM in response to danis039

Okay, so...I've tested it this morning on my Mac and it seems resolved for me, at least, even despite there not being a macOS update yet. I deleted an album I no longer wanted and it stayed gone, and I made metadata changes to another album and removed some of the tracks, and the changes seem to have stuck, even after updating my iCloud Music Library a few times and shutting down and relaunching the Music app. Hallelujah!

Jan 21, 2022 12:04 PM in response to SupernovaStar94

Well the problem is getting worse for me. Every time I update the library with the cloud, all changes are lost and information reset to how it is on my phone (the only other device where I'm using Apple Music). I'm about to give up :( it's completely unusable now, I'm looking to downgrade now to Big Sur because this is just a deal breaker for me..

Jan 21, 2022 12:08 PM in response to SupernovaStar94

That's extremely frustrating...believe me, I know. I was simply just not even going through and listening to new music I had added to my library at all because I was unable to make the changes I wanted to. Let's hope that this new version of the Music app that's coming up will help fix all these issues (and that a Monterey update coming soon will, as well). 🤞

Jan 24, 2022 11:38 AM in response to SupernovaStar94

Just to add a new twist to this issue (and maybe some useful information). Although the problem seems to be linked with the cloud, with the Music app ignoring changes done in the Mac and overriding them with what was on the cloud, it is also present offline.


As mentioned before, I've made the decision to try to downgrade to BigSur. In the meantime, as I just can't stay without listening music while working, I decided tu turn off the wi-fi in my Mac while listening to music. Also I figured, now that I'm offline I might as well continue rating the songs I have not rated and tweaking the playlists as I want, then do a full time machine backup, downgrade and then in Big Sur every change will be there. So I rated around 50 songs while offline and added a few to a playlist. Then I had to turn on the wi-fi for something else, so before doing that I shut down the Music App. I worked online for a while, then turned off the wi-fi, and opened the Music App again. What do you think happened?


Yes, of the 50 songs I had manipulated offline, around 30 lost the rating and a few (not all) changes I have done in playlists were gone. This was without any synch to the cloud, which tells me the problem does lie within Monterey 12.1


Naively, I tried to see an upside of this and thought "well at least not ALL the songs lost the rating and SOME of the playlist changes were maintained, that's more than what I have achieved lately, so at least sync this to the cloud and that would be something" Yeah right... so I turned on the wi-fi, synched to the cloud, and then ALL changes were lost and my library reverted to the way it was like a week ago haha. (well, ratings and playlists changes, because I've noticed if I buy new songs, those remain).


I so wish Apple fixes this soon....

Jan 24, 2022 12:31 PM in response to Bostokkelos

So I've come up with a temporary solution (until Apple fixes this issue) that seems to be working for me. I have the playlist that I'm going to be editing songs in open on both my Mac and my iPhone. When I get to a song that I want to delete, I delete it on my Mac's side and see if the song disappears from the playlist on my iPhone as well (give it a few seconds) and vice versa. If it does then I continue editing my songs and at the end of my session go File -> Library -> Update Cloud Music Library. The edits then stick and is up to date on all devices. When deleting a song from the Mac's side, but it doesn't disappear from the playlist on the iPhone, then reboot the Mac and try again until it works both ways (i.e. edits on iPhone happens on Mac and vice versa). Remember to Update Cloud Music Library once you are done editing for the day.


This issue has been quite the headache but it seems that the above steps (at least for me) is a good workaround while I'm waiting for Apple to fix this.


Hope this works for some of you as well!



Feb 2, 2022 2:05 AM in response to Bostokkelos

I have had this issue for weeks and have followed all advice up to the point that I do not sync Mac Music with anything (turned it off on iPhone and logged out of Apple TV and turned off home sharing) updated to OS12.2 and the issues persist - delete an album from library and it comes back a few minutes later - can't add songs to a playlist about 50% of the time. Bloody ridiculous I buy new equipment and keep updated precisely to avoid these basic operating issues, I've run out of options to try... 🤬

Feb 2, 2022 2:22 AM in response to djy65

Have you tried my suggestion above?


Make sure you are signed in on your iPhone using your Apple ID. Then check the Account tab in Music on your Mac to make sure you are signed in using the same Apple ID. Then try the above steps to ensure your Mac is synching changes to the cloud music library before continuing editing music on your Mac. You should follow these steps EACH TIME you are looking to edit music in your library. Make sure Sync Library is switched on both devices. For iPhone go Settings -> Music -> Sync Library. For Mac, in Music go Music -> Preferences -> tick the box Library: sync library (and make sure the correct Apple ID is displayed in brackets). Then follow above steps.


Regards

Feb 2, 2022 11:48 AM in response to edy-fr

Reboot your computer.

Option-start-Music and explicitly select your active Music Library(.musiclibrary) database.

Make one small change in your library, e.g. add a single track to playlist.

Check to see this change is reflected on your device or at http://music.apple.com when you are signed in.

If so you should be good to make other edits to your library.


tt2



Feb 2, 2022 6:04 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for the info - I followed your instructions, whatever changes I make to library in Mac Music is NOT reflected in http://music.apple.com when I am signed in to my iTunes account. So I guess that conclusively proves the sync function to the iCloud library is ineffective. HOWEVER - when I make a change in the iCloud Music library the change is almost instantly reflected in Mac Music on my iMac M1, so the sync failure is only in one direction. Go figure!!!

Feb 3, 2022 7:56 AM in response to djy65

This is my experience, as well – if I make changes from my Mac, they revert back, but if I remove songs or album from my iPhone, they almost immediately reflect in Music on my Mac. I just can't currently change any metadata, which is annoying, but at least I can remove tracks and albums I don't like/want after listening. Let's hope they get this fixed soon!

Feb 3, 2022 11:12 AM in response to Bostokkelos

In other thread I said I was giving up and downgrading to BigSur but the hassle is too much.... so I've found this has been working for me (not always, but sometimes). I reboot the computer, open Music App and then make a small change - like adding a song to a playlist or rating a song - and then synch to the cloud. I found around 5 / 10 times this works and the changes are reflected in my iPhone. Once this happens, then I can keep making changes for a while and they will be reflected everywhere. Eventually, the changes will stop showing in the iPhone and reverting in the Mac but at least for a while you can go on.


It's veeery frustrating but doesn't seem to be any other option now...

Feb 3, 2022 1:41 PM in response to SupernovaStar94

I posted this in another thread; I'm finding a (tedious) workaround to be effective.


Quit Music on all devices (actually, specifically quit it on all devices) (In my case: iMac, MBP, iPad, iPhone: all QUIT)

Shut down all devices

Start up the Mac you want to edit on; Open Music; Select File > Library > Update iCloud Library, and let it run (you'll see the updating message for a while in the bottom left corner of the window, under playlists)

Make all the edits you want to make on the Mac: ratings, create / delete / move / adjust playlists etc. etc.

When done, Select File > Library > Update iCloud Library, and let it run to completion again. You have now made your edits and (probably successfully) transferred those changes to your library on iCloud.

All of your changes should have stuck.


Now you can open Music on your iOS devices, and they should reflect the changes you've made on your Mac, BUT you will no longer be able to make any new changes stick from the macOS devices, UNTIL you re-run this tedious Quit-Shutdown-Restart workaround again.


This is working consistently for me. Hopefully the fix is not too far away. Good luck all.

Music library uneditable (Monterey 12.1)

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