Playlists and music are not syncing (can't add any music to my iPhone now)

Try the following all-purpose steps for dealing with erratic device or sync behaviour. They assume that all of the content you want on the device is in your library ready for restoring. If it isn't see Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device first. I would also recommend you copy everything out of the camera roll if you haven't already.

1. Backup device.
2. Restore as a new device.
3. Restore the backup you made earlier.

Use an encrypted backup (*) if you want to preserve passwords, Wi-Fi settings, web history and health data where appropriate. I also suggest syncing with a selection of playlists (unless you're using iCloud Music Library) rather than manually adding content as, if nothing else, the process above is easier to do if you ever have to go through it again.

(*) The downside with backup encryption is that if you forget the password when you need it again, which could be years later, you may need to invoke a workaround to turn off encryption as shown in Re: disable encrypted backups, which can only help if your device is in a state that can backup to iCloud.

See also the break up large transfers method given in Corrupt iPod Classic.

tt2

Just had this same problem. I left clicked each of the grey songs one at a time and clicked on "check selection" at the bottom of the pop up. This made each song go from grey to its normal dark resolution and my phone would finally update with those songs upon syncing.

Might not be the same fix for everyone but hope this helps a few.

What a load of tripe.

I found that my music collection was getting too large, so I downgraded all my music to a smaller bitrate, deleted everything from my iTunes music (as well as in the physical folder) copied the new music over to my Music library and dragged it all into iTunes. I have around 10000 songs so it's a big collection.

The music syncs to my iPad no problem.

On my iPhone, the sync keeps cancelling itself at approximately 6000 songs and then deletes the 6000 off the phone and I am back at square one.

When I try the other method of 'Add to device' the sync doesn't cancel, it completes but then gets stuck at 'waiting for items to copy'. When I pulled the plug after 20 mins, no music on device.

I have even tried using a 3rd party app to get my music on the phone - it works but there is an issue with Playlists (they are empty when using this method) and I really need my playlists, so not a solution.

I don't really want to use the Playlist method of syncing to device (instead of synching all music, manually select the Playlist) because then only the music in Playlists is copied. Again, don't want to have to manually select all folders in the right column as there are thousands (and brilliantly, no 'select all').

Bit fed up after spending days on this and making no progress.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've already tried multiple restores with the same results, although I didn't restore as a new device, just restored the backup straight back to the phone.

The thing is, all 10000 songs sync to the iPad, so I know there isn't an issue with iTunes or the amount of songs. It would be a massive pain for me to have to increment my syncs and manually tick about 500 folders and so on. Shouldn't have to.

For now, I have managed to sync only the Playlists, which essentially means only music in my Playlists are on the phone currently. Suppose I can live with that for now. Suppose someone is going to suggest adding ALL my music to a Playlist. Guess that's an option too.

Got a new iPhone 8 and it wasn't syncing playlists, followed your advice and went to iTunes preferences, went to downloads and found my music wasn't checked, I powered my phone down and all my playlists are now there,

Thanks for the help.

No[e, No help.

Step '6. Select Add To.' isn't there. No 'add to' is available to pick.

I've spent weeks trying to get itunes and my iphone to correctly sync artwork and playlists. I've concluded it's simply not possible to get it to work correctly

Try this post.

tt2

When is apple going to give us an answer on this, it is game changer if it doesn't work.

Same issue here. Songs I added on my iPhone at work were grayed out on my Mac when I got home. Removed them from my library and readded on my Mac. Now, the phone totally sees the songs added to my library, but doesn't sync any playlist changes I also made.

Music syncing has changed in iTunes 12.2.0 and iOS 8.4 Music App.

1. With your device plugged into your Mac through USB, open iTunes on your Mac.
2. Select Music from the icon tabs on the upper left of the interface.
3. Then under Playlists, select your playlist you want to sync with your phone.
4. The playlist name will appear as a banner image under the Apple Logo.
5. Select the three dots to the right of the Play and Shuffle controls.
6. Select Add To.
7. Then select Add To Device.
8. Now that you have the playlist you want to sync added to the queue to sync to your phone. Let's sync the playlist to your phone.
9. Select your Device in the top row of icons on the upper left of the interface.
10. Select Summary.
11. Check Sync only checked songs and videos.
12. Then select Sync in the lower right to sync that playlist to your iPhone.

I hope that helps.

You used to select the playlists under the Device icon tab, and check off the playlists and artists you want to sync in previous versions of iTunes. Now you start by selecting the playlist in your whole music library, and adding that to your device. It's a bit backwards, but that how it works.

tried all these steps... still did not sync to my phone !

same here, tried those steps and still did not work ..under playlist tab of my music, still have the pink create screen even though i created 2 playlist in itunes and synced per the above instructions. (note, i don't have any playlists on my phone

iphone 6, ios 8.4

Hi,

I'm no expert but this seemed to work for me at least for the greyed out songs in iTunes on Mac.

Plugged in my iOS device and checked the 'Sync only checked songs and videos' box.

Now any songs that I add to My Music on my iPhone or iPad show up black and play after I've synced my iOS device to my iMac.

It seems to work the other way too, songs added in Apple Music on iMac are appearing on my iOS Apple Music.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the input! Unfortunately, I think we're talking about different issues. With iOS 8.4 and iTunes 12.2, if you're a member of Apple Music, your devices are supposed to use the iCloud Music Library, meaning you do not need to plug in your device to sync. In fact, if you used iTunes Match since it was released, you haven't had to plug in your devices either - before the updates yesterday, changes to playlists and libraries were synced wirelessly using iCloud. Apple Music is supposed to replicate this function, but it currently isn't between OS X and iOS.

It's definitely working in some capacity because playlist changes I make on my iPhone are reflected immediately on my iPad. Just doesn't work for iOS -> OS X or vice versa.

On your phone:

Go to Settings -> Music -> Turn off iCloud Music Library

On itunes:

Sync playlist and music like you use to with earlier versions.