Level 1

45 points

Apple Music no longer shows album artwork on playlists

Hi All, anyone else noticed this issue since the last Apple update?

Now when creating a new playlist, of either an album or a compilation, cover artwork does not get updated and show (adding to Library does allow artwork but you still can't then transfer this to your playlist).

Instead on Playlists it defaults to a standard colour 'design' which has nothing to do with the original album or artist.

I contacted apple support who advised this was to make it more aesthetic and pleasing, and that there is no option to revert to have album artwork.

Is it just me, but surely most music lovers would much prefer to see album artwork rather than an impersonal and featureless design on their playlists - or at the very least have the option to choose this.

The design patterns and colours vary but not by much, so if you have lots of playlists as I do, they're all going to look pretty much the same and difficult to distinguish (very boring also!)

All other competitors Spotify, Qobuz etc I'm aware of allow album artwork on their playlists

Be interested what others think - if you agree submit feedback to Apple in the hope they change it back! Product Feedback - Apple

I'm a loyal apple user have used music for years, but seriously if this issue if not fixed I'll be transferring to another platform

Tom

iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 17

Posted on Nov 24, 2023 1:16 PM

Top-ranking reply

alcilan

Level 1

34 points

Posted on Apr 28, 2024 6:10 AM

Okay, I'm going to try to document how I get my album art in my playlists. It may get messy, as this Apple Community forum format isn't the best to work with but I'll try it and hope it helps someone. Apologies in advance if this method doesn't work for you.

Please note: This only works using the Music app on a Mac. I can't find a way of doing it on the iPhone but if you then sync your playlists from Mac to iPhone, the playlist artwork will also show up on the phone.

Playlist Step 1 :

Select an album in Music (on Mac) using the three dots that show up when you mouse over an album and click on them. Then, from the pop up menu, choose 'Add to Playlist', then 'New Playlist'. You'll now see the new options we all know... and hate!

Playlist Step 2 :

Use the left arrow or just click on the small image icon (shown here with a red arrow) to the left of those dots to select this blank option.

Do not click on the plus sign or add any artwork.

Playlist Step 3 :

Now just type in a playlist title and click create.

Playlist Step 4 :

If you now go to your list of playlists and select the one you've just created, you should see it has had your album artwork automatically added, just as it is in your list of albums.

Playlist Step 5 :

Now go and select some more albums and use 'Add to Playlist', making sure you add them to this new playlist, whatever you've called it. When you next select that playlist, you should see that Apple Music has created a collage just as it used to do.

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180 replies

alcilan

Level 1

34 points

Feb 8, 2024 1:35 PM in response to jjfromn

So it does! Thanks so much for this. It's weird, because it 'feels' like it either hasn't worked at all, or its created a playlist with a blank cover but sure enough, I tried it with an album and it created a playlist with that album artwork. I then added three more albums to the same playlist and lo and behold, it even did that neat thing where it creates a playlist cover of the first four albums in a playlist!

I then synced it from my MacBook to my iPhone and it appeared there as well.

Okay, we've still not got auto adding of playlist titles but I can live with that.

Thanks again for the good news!

Feb 24, 2024 8:14 AM in response to highcroft777

Old iTunes permitted my choice for play list artwork. Now, Apple assigns some cheezy artwork and I have to create an alternative. I cannot opt out of any artwork. Guess I'll have to create a blank tile.? Would be polite and adult of Apple to fix what is broken and stay out of the art business since they have their hands full with tech support. The entire micromanagement is intrusive.

asher_z

Level 1

8 points

Mar 5, 2024 1:01 PM in response to highcroft777

I really think that they should add this back. The new covers are just bland. Also this way it is way easier to identify what albums have what music in it. I did figure out a way that you could sort of fix it but it is nothing official. Basically it has to do with screen shots and photo editing. But this is a very long process and takes nearly 15 minutes for just one playlist and is not worth. If they don't make it the primary function they should at least have it as an option.

alcilan

Level 1

34 points

Apr 27, 2024 3:25 PM in response to ViewOptions

Yes, it's working fine for me too. I make my playlists in Music on my MacBook Air, it creates playlists using album artwork just as it used to and they stay exactly that way when synced to my iPhone! Just go to the leftmost option but don't add artwork, leave it blank and it'll do it for you.

To answer your question, go to the top of the page where it shows the original post and under that post, click on the bell icon to uncheck it. Your continual notifications of this thread should cease.

Dec 15, 2023 12:36 PM in response to highcroft777

The update to macOS 14.2 has now changed the behaviour in the Music app on Mac to be the same as iOS. Or, to put it another way, it's broken on Mac now as well.

Dec 16, 2023 12:34 AM in response to SealedCargo

Yes, but leaving the previous behaviour to generate playlist artwork from the songs automatically would have been a better option. Even if it wasn’t the default.

Dec 20, 2023 1:27 PM in response to gia failla

Are you running current versions of iOS and macOS? The behaviour has changed in recent versions. Plus, it's only an issue on new playlists. Ones created before the change are fine.

Dec 24, 2023 3:14 AM in response to noidontwantusername

See Product Feedback - Apple

Jan 20, 2024 1:02 PM in response to highcroft777

This is a terrible idea. And that’s why I utilize my Spotify subscription 99% of the time.

Feb 29, 2024 8:09 AM in response to jjfromn

The second option on Mac worked for me for the last two weeks. It's not working today. Ah well. Back to creating my own 4 cover grid in OmniGraffle then.

jjfromn

Level 1

30 points

Mar 1, 2024 8:51 AM in response to Ian Robinson3

Just now had the same experience… it stopped working on the Mac… frustrating.

The iPhone solution still works for me; I suppose this is because I am still on iOS 16.

Mar 8, 2024 9:44 AM in response to jjfromn

This has been patched it no longer works. The 4 tile album format stays for just a few seconds then changes back to a generic cover.

Nyx666

Level 1

9 points

Mar 21, 2024 6:44 PM in response to jjfromn

This did not work for me. It still displays generic boring “art”. It works for a second, it displays the album, but then it automatically reverts to the new abstract gradients.

Apr 20, 2024 1:08 PM in response to sg65au

No solution has been found. That doesn’t work.

May 2, 2024 2:22 PM in response to highcroft777

Well if they want to start doing it this way fine... I guess I'll have to steal images from the internet to get something closer to what I want... great fix, am I right?

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Apple Music no longer shows album artwork on playlists