spacebar is resetting the album instead of pausing Music app on Mac OS Ventura

I've been experiencing the same issue. Full Keyboard Access under Accessibility was off, and I have no custom shortcuts for Music. But checking that got me to look in the top-level Keyboard preference pane (not the Keyboard sub-pane of Accessibility), and the "Keyboard navigation" option *there* was on. Turning it off there as well fixed my issue in Music.

In my case, this seemed to be happening b/c somehow the "play" button (not the arrow in the top bar, but the red rectangular "play" button next to the album artwork) was selected. As in, it had a halo or highlight around, which might achieved by hitting the tab button to go between various buttons in the interface. So, when I hit "space" it was clicking that play button, which since I was in album view, was starting the album from the beginning.

In my case, this seemed to be happening b/c somehow the "play" button (not the arrow in the top bar, but the red rectangular "play" button next to the album artwork) was selected. As in, it had a halo or highlight around, which might be achieved by hitting the tab button to go between various buttons in the interface. So, when I hit "space" it was clicking that play button, which since I was in album view, was starting the album from the beginning.

Also check to make sure that in your Accessibility Settings you have Full Keyboard Access turned OFF

Hi McMunchly,

Thanks for posting in Apple Support Communities.

We understand that your Space bar is not pausing music as expected. If you have changed the keyboard layout, this could be expected behavior as shortcuts are dependent on language and layout. To address this behavior, quit and relaunch the app, restart your computer to refresh running processes, if it continues, restart your computer in safe mode where software is limited to run while running a health check.

Keyboard shortcuts in Music on Mac - Apple Support

Before you begin

To start up your Mac in safe mode, you need to know what type of Mac you have.

1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > About This Mac.

2. Look at the information in the window to determine what type of Mac you have:

* If you see an item labeled Chip, followed by the name of the chip, you have a Mac with Apple silicon.

* If you see an item labeled Processor, followed by the name of an Intel processor, you have an Intel-based Mac.

5. Use the corresponding set of instructions below to start up your Mac in safe mode.

Start up your Mac with Apple silicon in safe mode

1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > Shut Down.

2. Wait for your Mac to shut down completely. A Mac is completely shut down when the screen is black and any lights (including in the Touch Bar) are off.

3. Press and hold the power button on your Mac until “Loading startup options” appears.

4. Select a volume.

5. Press and hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.

6. The computer restarts automatically. When the login window appears, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.

Start up your Intel-based Mac in safe mode

1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key until you see the login window.

2. Log in to your Mac.

3. You might be asked to log in again.

4. On either the first or second login window, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Regards.

This is clearly programmed behavior, not a bug, not a permissions issue, not a system-level keyboard setting, or any of the other kick-the-can-down-the-road problems.

In song view the spacebar pauses and plays the current track.

Within an album spacebar starts the album from the beginning of track 1.

It's been this way for a long time, and it couldn't be more stupid.

Fix it already!