Mac Music (itunes) lost all my Playlists on Jan 30th ... now empty

Macbook Music (itunes) lost all my Playlists around Jan 30th and is now empty. I've tried to reload the library but get a -50 error code. I was receiving Library warnings prior to the failure but figured I knew where the library file is to reload like I did with the old itunes. I was able to sync the most updated playlists to my iPad but a lot of songs that devices songs are GREY and unable to be played. Any way to copy the playlists off the ipad device to my computer?


I do NOT have a Timemachine device backup setup. Can anyone fix this? I refuse to rebuild with Apple at this point.


I did re-join Music Match afterwards but it's been a week without successfully loading also. i hoped it would load playlists from the last time it matched.


Any advice?

MacBook Air 13″

Posted on Feb 4, 2024 1:27 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 4, 2024 2:06 PM

I resolved my own issue. Here is the link I used.


Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrad… - Apple Community

Here are the instructions I used:

"In macOS 10.15 Catalina and later the Music Library.musiclibrary file is a package that contains equivalents for the library files that would previously have been in the iTunes folder. Internally there is a file called Library.musicdb, which would appear to be the real analog to the .itl file. Music creates Temp File.tmp files within the .musiclibrary package when updating the library, so it is possible that in a corrupted library there will be a .tmp file that can be restored if you right click on Music Library.musiclibrary and Show Package Contents. If restoring a .musiclibrary package from Time Machine you should option-start Music and explicitly select the restored file."


I copied the Library.Musicdb file and pasted to the active MusicLibrary file. Then I restarted Music (iTunes holding down SHIFT and OPTION) and selected that updated file.


All my Playlists are now restored though the library needs a small update. Sadly I don't know how to do this other than add to library which for some ridiculous reason duplicates every song in my library. Now I need to delete all music and reload losing my Recently Added history. Apple this is absurd!!!

Similar questions

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 4, 2024 2:06 PM in response to StoneBlack

I resolved my own issue. Here is the link I used.


Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrad… - Apple Community

Here are the instructions I used:

"In macOS 10.15 Catalina and later the Music Library.musiclibrary file is a package that contains equivalents for the library files that would previously have been in the iTunes folder. Internally there is a file called Library.musicdb, which would appear to be the real analog to the .itl file. Music creates Temp File.tmp files within the .musiclibrary package when updating the library, so it is possible that in a corrupted library there will be a .tmp file that can be restored if you right click on Music Library.musiclibrary and Show Package Contents. If restoring a .musiclibrary package from Time Machine you should option-start Music and explicitly select the restored file."


I copied the Library.Musicdb file and pasted to the active MusicLibrary file. Then I restarted Music (iTunes holding down SHIFT and OPTION) and selected that updated file.


All my Playlists are now restored though the library needs a small update. Sadly I don't know how to do this other than add to library which for some ridiculous reason duplicates every song in my library. Now I need to delete all music and reload losing my Recently Added history. Apple this is absurd!!!

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Mac Music (itunes) lost all my Playlists on Jan 30th ... now empty

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.