Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I have an existing iTunes playlist that now resides in the Music app. I recently noticed that half the songs have disappeared. When I try to add them to the playlist from the library, they disappear again. I subscribe to iTunes Match, so that isn't the issue. It's extremely frustrating to lose music playlists that I've had for years, and worse, be unable to rebuild them.
What's going on?
iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.3
Update Monterey if you're still running version 12.3. This appears to a cloud library updating issue that has been fixed in a recent release.
Press and hold option as you launch Music and explicitly select your Music Library.musiclibrary database. This makes sure Music is using your library, not a cached copy that it generates for sharing the library.
It may also help to press hold down option+cmd as you launch Music to open it in its safe mode. Doing this can sometimes fix odd internal issues in the library.
tt2
Update Monterey if you're still running version 12.3. This appears to a cloud library updating issue that has been fixed in a recent release.
Press and hold option as you launch Music and explicitly select your Music Library.musiclibrary database. This makes sure Music is using your library, not a cached copy that it generates for sharing the library.
It may also help to press hold down option+cmd as you launch Music to open it in its safe mode. Doing this can sometimes fix odd internal issues in the library.
tt2
Hi DavidSLynch,
Let's see if we can help determine what's going on with your music. Does this happen with only one playlist, or multiple? Do the songs stay in the music library? When this happens, do you notice anything that happens prior, like a network connection drop? Look below at the suggestions of things you can check first.
If songs are missing from your music library after you turn on Sync Library
Check these things first
Check your settings and network connection on all of your devices:
• Make sure that your devices have the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or iTunes for Windows.
• Make sure that Sync Library is turned on for all of your devices.
• Connect all of your devices to the Internet.
• Visit the Apple System Status page to see if there are interruptions in service in your country or region.
Apple Music isn't a backup service. Make sure to back up your music library before you make any changes.
This will be a good place to start with the missing music.
Take care!
Yes, Mac Music on my iMac and my iPhone are synced. I have a fiber optic internet connection and a functioning AirPort Extreme wifi router. I have iTunes Match. There are no interruptions in my area.
I had a Playlist named Soundtracks which had well over 50 songs on it. All but 13 of them have disappeared. I have tried searching for the lost tracks in my Library or uploading new tracks into my iCloud Library. I make sure they are properly uploaded into the cloud. I then add them to the Playlist. I check the Playlist and see that the tracks are included in the listing. Then a few minutes later, they disappear. Most of these tracks are MP3s that originally reside on a hard drive.
If you have more than one library reselect the one that you want to use. It seems Music creates a cached copy of the database that is used to support Home Sharing for example, and occasionally this cached version can become your active library. Selecting the intended library using the option-start-Music method may help with the issue you're having updating the library.
tt2
Thanks - updating Monterey and confirming I was using the right database helped. I'm still having some transfer issues, but I solved them by using an app called iMazing to transfer music to my iPhone.
If I select my local music library database, won't that conflict with using the sharing library / iTunes Match?
You're welcome. 🙂
tt2
Songs Disappear from Playlist - New additions disappear, too
