Why can't I play music from the cloud on my laptop?

When you enable automatic download, download previous purchases or sign into iTunes Match on a computer (or iOS device) it becomes associated with the Apple ID it is signed in with. Once associated with an ID, it cannot be associated with a different ID for 90 days. Sounds like your laptop was associated with a different ID than the one you used to subscribe to iTunes Match with 50 days ago. All you can do is wait.

In the meantime, you could download all the music to your PC, then use Home Sharing to access the library on your laptop if they are on the same wifi network.

thanks randers4, but I only have one Apple ID and it has been common on this laptop forever. However I did change this laptop to be the source for iMatch from my Mac at home, will that be the cause? Do I have to wait 90 days if I change what computer is the source for iMatch, even if it's all the same Apple ID?

Adding another computer to your iTunes Match account doesn't trigger the 90-day wait period unless your changed Apple IDs when you signed in. Again, any of three things will associate your computer with an Apple ID: sign in/subscribing to iTunes Match, downloading previous purchases, or enabling automatic downloads.

If the iTunes Match subscription is using a different ID, and you had already associated the computer with an ID, it cannot "switch" to the new ID for 90 days from when it was originally associated with the first ID.

ALL of my computers, iPhones, iPads, iPods etc. have ALWAYS used the SAME Apple ID. I haven't had another ID for years. So to clarify, when I got my new laptop, I signed in with that same Apple ID and chose to authorize that computer and turned on iMatch. All of my music from iCloud shows up on the laptop, but except for what I purchased on iTunes, is greyed out so that I can't play any of it. Everything works on all of my other items, (iPhones, iPad etc.) I have also turned off iMatch and back on plus updated iMatch on this computer several times to no avail (all using the one and only Apple ID I have).

I know you're saying that, but I can't think of a reason why you would be getting a warning that you couldn't play music within 40 days of turning on iTunes Match unless you changed IDs. This article explains this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4627.

If you feel you are getting this in error, try contacting iTunes store support and ask them what's going on, by going to https://expresslane.apple.com, then click iTunes>iTunes Store>Other iTunes Store Topics>The topic is not listed.

randers4, I apologize for any confusion, but I am not the same person that started this chain and is getting an error message. I don't get any message, it's just that the vast majority of my music can't be played. It shows the cloud with a down arrow inside it as if I could click on it to download it and play it but I can't click on it. It does nothing at all. I also have iCloud download and iCloud status both checked in the songs -> view -> options menu. It's confusing for me and frustrating. I appreciate you trying to help me!

Ahhh. I didnt' even notice that you weren't the original poster. Must need more coffee.

Where you able to successfully authorize your computer for the ID and sign into iTunes Match? If so, you might want to try starting over by signing out of iTunes Match (Store>Turn Off iTunes Match), sign out of the Apple ID (Store>Sign Out), sign back into the ID (Store>Sign In), then turn on iTunes Match again (Store>Turn On iTunes Match>Add this Computer).

I am pretty sure I have done all of that, but I'll do it again to be sure.

I did that again and it said my music is available in iCloud but there are only 356 songs instead of the 12,000 or so in the cloud. This happened before and it took a few days before all the music showed up. I'll see what happens this time.

Hopefully it will all show up in the next couple of days. Good luck!

Still no luck! Very frustrating!

I wonder if something unusual is going on because you have a fairly large library. You may want to post over in the iTunes Match forum where they have more expertise on this (https://discussions.apple.com/community/itunes/itunes_match). Maybe the can give you some better advice.

It's worth a try, thanks!

You're welcome. Good luck!