Songs are missing from my Music app

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Level 2

174 points

Songs are missing from my Music app

I discovered that lots of songs I thought were on my iPad were missing. When I got back to my Wi-Fi, I told my iPad, my iPhone, and my iMac to download them. I also saw that my HomePod was stopping playing songs after playing a few, which doesn't normally happen.

I found that the Music app on my iMac didn't think I was logged onto Apple Music, so I logged in again. This happens a lot, which I discover when I look for a song and "Apple Music" is not an option.

Telling my Mac to download all my songs, I keep getting errors like this (with a song that I play often and had long before I had Apple Music):

How do I get my music back from Apple Music when it disappears?

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Mar 22, 2022 7:46 PM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

277,937 points

Mar 30, 2022 6:50 AM in response to Howard Brazee

My guess would be you've had a case of Empty/corrupt iTunes/Music library after upgrade/crash - Apple Community and for some reason the library isn't connected to some of your local files but is looking to the cloud. Waiting tracks would be those scheduled for upload that never made it, and cannot now complete because the library isn't aware of the local track. You should be able to use File > Add to Library, or just double-click relevant tracks to open, add to the library and play. The local copy should merge with the copy in the cloud. Once all local files are added you can use File > Library > Update Cloud Library to complete the uploading process.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

277,937 points

Apr 1, 2022 6:44 AM in response to Howard Brazee

File > Library > Update Cloud Library should do it, provided the track plays in your library and there aren't any reasons to exclude it, e.g. to big/small/low bitrate/purchased with a different ID, etc. Double-clicking the track you see in Finder should add it to the library, merge it with the waiting copy, then match or upload it.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

277,937 points

Mar 23, 2022 7:02 AM in response to Howard Brazee

See Identify cloud status icons in your music library on your Mac or PC - Apple Support. What is the status of the problem tracks? Perhaps they never completed uploading from the original library. Do you still have access to it or a backup?

tt2

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

277,937 points

Mar 24, 2022 12:08 PM in response to Howard Brazee

For local songs that are waiting you can try File > Library > Update Cloud Library, otherwise you need to do the same on the computer where these were first added, or reimport.

A not authorized or not available in your region error can sometimes indicate a corrupted download.

tt2

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Answer 5

turingtest2

Level 10

277,937 points

Mar 23, 2022 6:23 PM in response to Howard Brazee

The exclamation mark suggests that Music thinks there is a local copy, but it cannot access it. Try right-clicking and using Remove Download. Can you now stream that track?

tt2

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

277,937 points

Mar 24, 2022 5:18 AM in response to Howard Brazee

Now there is no exclamation mark and the track appears to be in the cloud (because Download is an option) it should play or download. Track 3 in the bottom image appears hopelessly broken. That would be too short to match so I don't know how that has happened. The waiting tracks suggest this content was initially uploaded from a different computer and those two tracks never made it. You would need to restore the tracks from backup, rerip, or whatever, replacing your local copies which can then match or upload.

tt2

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Answer 7

turingtest2

Level 10

277,937 points

Apr 1, 2022 8:05 AM in response to Howard Brazee

For the song that was missing, that you played in Finder, what is its cloud status? If it is duplicate then you can remove the original, then right click the new entry and use Add to (cloud) library. The downside however is that you lose ratings and playlist memberships attached to the original copy of the track.

tt2

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Answer 8

Howard Brazee Author

Level 2

174 points

Mar 24, 2022 9:50 AM in response to turingtest2

Once before I lost a bunch of songs when iCloud got corrupted. There should be a way to tell Apple to *never* delete songs from my devices.

I first discovered a problem this time on Monday when I was away from the Internet and found songs missing on my iPad. When I got back to Wi-Fi, I downloaded them, I think. Then my HomePod started singing a few songs without playing them. Siri thought they were singing, and my iPhone showed them playing at 00:00, not advancing. Skipping to the next song "fixed" the problem, if I didn't wait too long.

Right now the Music app on my M1 Monterey iMac has 93 "waiting" songs that it can't play, Apple Music songs, uploaded songs, and matched songs. (Sorting by cloud status).

I went to my iPad and was able to play that Tom Traubert's Blues, and "Toreador's Song(!)", but "Toreador's Song" was not authorized.

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Answer 9

Howard Brazee Author

Level 2

174 points

Mar 30, 2022 6:29 AM in response to turingtest2

Here's what the tracks look like on my Mac:

I thought I'd check out Largo and found this:

If I play these songs, I skip from 3,544 to 3,546 (for a moment), then to 3,549, which plays (sorry for the truncation).

It's the "waiting" songs that puzzle me the most. What are they waiting for? Why can't I play them? Even though I can't "Show in finder", they appear to be in the finder anyway, just unplayable.

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Answer 10

Howard Brazee Author

Level 2

174 points

Apr 1, 2022 6:26 AM in response to turingtest2

I've been hospitalized for a week, and am back.

I looked at the 93 songs that my iMac's Music app shows as "Waiting". I can't play them and I can't "Show in Finder". But I can find them in Finder by looking where they should be. I just looked at one of those songs on my iPad and discovered "This song is not synced across your devices.".

Will one of the "Library" functions fix this?

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Answer 11

Howard Brazee Author

Level 2

174 points

Apr 1, 2022 7:51 AM in response to turingtest2

I ran File > Library > Update Cloud Library but didn't see anything happen. Then I picked a "missing" song in the finder and played it with my iMac's Music App. It didn't add.

Right now, I don't seem to be able to sort my playlist by "Cloud Status". I could earlier. And I can't create a smart playlist with "Cloud Status" of "waiting".

I wish I had an option to tell Apple to *always* store my primary song copy on my Mac.

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Answer 12

Howard Brazee Author

Level 2

174 points

Apr 1, 2022 8:53 AM in response to turingtest2

I was mistaken. At least some of the "Waiting" songs are missing from my Mac. I don't seem to be able to sort accurately by "Cloud Status". But I found a song repeated 3 times in my Finder. Music has two different artists and two different album covers, but one copy of the song is shown as "waiting" with location "cloud". I decided to play all three from finder, and now I have 4 copies of the song in Music where I had 2 a few minutes ago.

Confusion reighns.

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