Native Apple .m4a files no longer play in any MAC apps after upgrading to Ventura

.m4a does not specify a particular format. It's only a wrapper for many codecs.

I still play all of my .m4a music files on my Ventura Macs.

Try to play the with VLC. It can pretty much play any codec.

FWIW, I checked a slew of .m4a files I had downloaded with iTunes/Music and they all play in the Finder, Quick Look, QuickTime Player, VLC etc. in Ventura.

Make sure you are running Ventura 13.3.1. If not, update. If so, try booting into Safe Mode then restart normally.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

timkenneymarketing wrote:

I am using the latest Ventura OS. What app opens when you click on an .m4a in your Finder? Mine opens iTunes but nothing happens. Which is the most common report on this Apple discontinued filetype.

You are repeating the original statement.

What's in the m4a file?

Can VLC open it?

Any add-on cleaners, add-on anti-malware, add-on VPNs, or other such apps are installed?

I have thousands of m4a files around, and they work just fine on Ventura.

And I'd expect to be opening m4a files using Music app on macOS Ventura and not iTunes app, as iTunes is long gone.

timkenneymarketing wrote:

I am using the latest Ventura OS. What app opens when you click on an .m4a in your Finder? Mine opens iTunes but nothing happens. Which is the most common report on this Apple discontinued filetype.

FWIW, iTunes was discontinued after macOS Mojave, not .m4a files.

timkenneymarketing wrote:

Thank you for reminding me about VLC! It's like the old QuickTime 7 that just played everything!

What's ironic is that .m4a was a native file format created by Apple for it's non purchased iTunes library, and now discontinued.

You apparently didn't grasp what I stated. m4a is a wrapper. All it says is there is a candy bar inside. What makes the candy bar an Abbazaba is the codec used to encode the music.

Apple has dumped old codecs, but I don't think that includes what it used for AAC audio.

As many have posted, you have some weird problem that isn't likely what you think it is because we can all play our old m4a files in Music.

timkenneymarketing wrote:

I am using the latest Ventura OS. What app opens when you click on an .m4a in your Finder? Mine opens iTunes but nothing happens. Which is the most common report on this Apple discontinued filetype.

If your 2017 iMac Pro is opening iTunes, you really have something wrong.

dialabrain wrote:

FWIW, .m4a is the file extension for Apple's ALAC codec.

Apple Lossless Audio Codec

And, as I was trying to point out, it is also the wrapper (file extension) for the AAC (lossy) codec.

You don't know what's inside the wrapper until you open it up and look. You may also discover Schrödinger's cat is dead (or alive).

FWIW, .m4a is the file extension for Apple's ALAC codec.

Apple Lossless Audio Codec

I'll leave it go at that.