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iTunes Radio Automatically Skips through Songs

When listening to iTunes Radio through my AppleTV 3, iPhone 6, iPad 3, and iMac 2013 iTunes Radio will just start skipping through songs. The current song plays through to the end, but then starts scanning through 20-30+ songs before playing the same song that just played. This happens on every station I have created, and also on the suggested featured stations.

This just started yesterday after updating to iOS 8.2. I logged out of iTunes on all devices and signed back in, but the problem persisted. I also rebooted all devices with still no luck. My Husband is also having the same issue on his iPhone 5 and iPad 3 under a different iTunes account.

I happened to be out of Wifi range on my iPhone and tried iTunes Radio and surprisingly the skipping stopped. The minute I got back into Wifi range the skipping would start up again after the current song ends. So it seems like it has something to do with my Wifi which are run off of an AirPort Time Capsule and Extreme (all up to date). I rebooted my modem and AirPort’s thinking there was some weird config issue, but the skipping was still happening. I have not changed anything with my internet provider and have more than enough bandwidth.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix or further troubleshoot?

Posted on Mar 10, 2015 12:43 PM

104 replies

Mar 11, 2015 5:24 PM in response to ohio_state_nut

II'm really thinking this is a Cox issue as everyone here complaining appears to be with Cox. Can someone with a different ISP confirm its happening to them?

Mar 11, 2015 5:45 PM in response to kkerst

I have the same problem and my Internet provider is Cox as well.

Mar 11, 2015 5:49 PM in response to tlatkovich

Apple had me change the DNS server to temporary addresses and iTunes radio started working on all devices. Down side, it's temporary and won't last more than a couple days. Apple suggested I call Cox back to have them give me new DNS server addresses. The Apple Tech did say that their Engineering Team is working on it and that any updates to the DNS would come from a software update. Back to Cox I go.

Mar 11, 2015 6:12 PM in response to ohio_state_nut

I have Cox communications as well here in Phoenix, AZ. I've had this problem on my iPad mini 3 wifi only for about 3 weeks. I did was Apple support told me to do. Right before they recommended a device swap, I said I wanted to try this on a different wifi network. I walked to my local Target where it has free guest wifi. I loaded the stations on iTunes radio and it played every station and song smoothly without the annoying song skips. Next, I returned home and tried the iTunes radio once more and problem persists. I'm wondering if it could be firewall settings on the router?

Mar 11, 2015 6:58 PM in response to filbertfromphoenix

Just got off the phone with Cox. This is the first that they have heard of this DNS issue. The Tech first reinstalled the same firmware on the modem and then gave me new DNS server addresses that I then entered into my Time Capsule (Base Station) on AirPort Utility. iTunes Radio started working on my iPad and iMac! After closing iTunes on both devices and reopening, iTunes Radio stopped working. I changed the DNS server back to the original that Cox had, no Radio. I then changed back to the new DNS addresses Cox gave, no Radio. I then changed to the DNS addresses Apple gave, and presto, iTunes Radio started working again.

The Cox Tech wants me to try the new DNS addressing he gave tomorrow afternoon to see if maybe a overnight refresh will help. He will call me back tomorrow afternoon to see if anything changed and update me if he was able to find anything else about this issue.

In the meantime and for those on the thread, below are the addresses from Cox that don't work, and the ones from Apple that do.

Original Cox DNS:

68.105.28.12

68.105.29.12

New Cox DNS:

68.105.28.13

68.105.29.13

Apple Temporary DNS

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

kkerst

Level 1

9 points

Mar 11, 2015 7:26 PM in response to ohio_state_nut

Whoa! I just tried this and it works like a charm. Aren't those DNS settings google's? They look very familiar. DNS settings were

68.105.28.11

68.105.29.11

Doesn't this point to Cox having a problem? I'm glad you got this pinpointed, seems like we're on the right track here.

kkerst

Level 1

9 points

Mar 11, 2015 7:31 PM in response to kkerst

Well, I spoke too soon. It only played one song, a commercial (of course, we knew that would work) then chocked up again.

Mar 11, 2015 7:31 PM in response to kkerst

After some searching, yes they are Google's. Also found quite a few posts on various websites stating Cox DNS ***** and that people use Google DNS on a ongoing basis. I may just forget the issue with Cox and keep Google's DNS going forward.

Mar 11, 2015 7:35 PM in response to ohio_state_nut

That's odd. It's been working great for me. Im sure a Google search will pull up public DNS servers that you could test out.

Churox01

Level 1

0 points

Mar 11, 2015 8:14 PM in response to ohio_state_nut

Today I began to experience the same problem. It's not a crisis so I'm not going to call anyone most likely, but my ISP is in fact COX. I would also like to point out that this problem is occurring on my iPhone that is currently still using IOS 7 at the latest version of it.

Mar 11, 2015 8:17 PM in response to Churox01

The problem is the DNS server with Cox. You can change the server on your router to any of the public servers listed in the link below.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/a/free-public-dns-servers.htm

modprobe

Level 1

8 points

Mar 11, 2015 9:26 PM in response to ohio_state_nut

thanks for sharing all the information ohio_state_nut, i can say that google's DNS servers have been up for several years now and it's safe to set it up as a dinfinitive solution. I'll update my time capsule with Google's DNS servers as well and call it a day 🙂

modprobe

Level 1

8 points

Mar 11, 2015 9:28 PM in response to modprobe

ah, never mind, iTunes radio is working now without modifying the DNS, I live in phx and have cox.

kkerst

Level 1

9 points

Mar 11, 2015 10:45 PM in response to modprobe

Yeah, I set mine back to Cox DNS as well, and it's magically working now. It's still a bit fickle, with some songs getting stuck, but nothing like it was the past few nights.Thanks for everyone's help on this.

Mar 12, 2015 8:10 AM in response to ohio_state_nut

ohio_state_nut: Thanks for spending the time on the phone with Cox support.

As of this morning, I'm not getting consistent results. I tried the new DNS and the old DNS (haven't tried the Apple one's). Some songs play now, but there's still a lot of skipping. Are you having any luck today?

iTunes Radio Automatically Skips through Songs