-54: CDs can no longer be imported into iTunes

orange barrel wrote:

A few days ago, I tried to import a new CD into iTunes using an Apple superdrive and got a -54 error message. I thought the CD must have a problem and tried a second new CD. Same error message.

I tried importing a CD I’d imported in the past. Same error message. Now I knew it wasn’t the CDs that were the problem. I called support.

The first agent verified my OS was up to date (14.3.1). Then she checked all my settings. They were okay. She changed several of them, one at a time, retrying import after each change. Same error message with every change. She enlisted a senior advisor.

The senior advisor also rechecked all the settings. After several -54 messages, he asked me to just play the CD. It wouldn’t play. His conclusion: the Apple superdrive I was using to import the CD was the problem. However, he said the Genius Bar folks would have to verify this by: 1) trying to import a CD into their computer using my superdrive; 2) trying to import a CD into my computer using their superdrive. The first would determine if the superdrive was the problem; the second would determine whether or not something on my computer was the problem. He made me an appointment.

The tech at the Genius Bar verified the 154 failure warning with my computer and my superdrive. He was unable to import a CD from my superdrive into his store computer because, he explained, the store computers are programmed to block any import of any customer data. That test could not be performed. 

He did use another Apple superdrive to try importing a CD into my computer. That produced the -54 failure warning.

Like the two phone support folks, he alsoi had never seen a -54 error message before. He consulted with a senior advisor who explained the latest update to the OS includes programming changes that no longer allow Apple to bypass licensing restrictions that are encoded into the CDs to prevent unauthorized reproduction/distribution. 

He explained Apple, like everyone else, has shifted to the subscription streaming model. That is why Apple no longer supports iTunes. 

That, anyway, is what I've been told. It sounds reasonable — but so did the explanation for why my problem was my superdrive. Is this last explanation actually true? If so, does anyone know of a system as great as the old Apple iTunes system for collecting and listening to one's own music collection and tailored playlists on an iPod-like device with the same capacity for imported music and a jack for a good headphone?

If you see error -54 - Apple Support

Same problem here, unknown error -54 occurs whether I try to import a purchased music CD that is not available in Music or one that I made on my own. I was thrilled to see the fix referenced by Orange Barrel, but unfortunately it did not work for me as Removable Volumes was on and even with turning it on and off and getting in and out of Music, I still get the same error.

To add to my comment above, I get the same error message when trying to import an MP3 from a thumb drive. Bottom line, no imports seem to be allowed even though there is a prominent button asking if you want to import the CD you just loaded. There must be a setting somewhere, or just a bug for that matter, that is making imports not possible.