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Short songs stop next song streaming

Hi,


(First off I have the latest version of OS X and iTunes on a Late 2013 Mac Pro.)


I switched to Apple Music from Spotify a month or so ago and ever since then I've noticed a pretty major bug where whenever a song played from an album/playlist is <1 minute in length, the next song will never be played and the progress bar suggests that it's perpetually buffering. This is obviously a massive pain as it means for many albums I have to reset the app's course after every short interlude track!


After running fswatch I got a better idea of what was going wrong. It looks like the way AM handles streaming is when the current song is a minute from the end, iTunes signals the next track in the queue to start downloading so that it's ready to play when the current song is over. However, when the song is less than a minute long the next song's download is never initiated, apparently because some "one minute remaining" event is never triggered! This means the app just sits waiting for a download to finish that has in fact never started.


Here is a sample of the fswatch output, taken from a stream of "There Is Love In You" by Four Tet from the first time the album was played since a cache wipe, started from the beginning and left to play, ideally until the album's end. However, you will see that the tracks mysteriously stop downloading after "Pablo's Heart", a song with a track length of 0:12!


Fri Jun 3 11:09:25 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads Created IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:09:25 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Angel Echoes _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/download.m4p Created PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:09:25 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Angel Echoes _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp Created AttributeModified IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:09:25 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Angel Echoes _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:09:26 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Angel Echoes _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:09:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Angel Echoes _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/download.m4p Created Renamed Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:09:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/08/06/ 05/download.m4p Renamed IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:09:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/08/06/ 05/000000004EAA99C4-0000000014DB6568.m4p Renamed IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:09:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Angel Echoes _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Removed Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:09:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Angel Echoes _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp Created Removed AttributeModified IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:09:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads Created Removed IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:12:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads Created IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:12:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/download.m4p Created PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp Created AttributeModified IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:12:27 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:28 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:29 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:30 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:31 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:32 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:33 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/download.m4p Created Renamed Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:33 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/09/06/ 05/download.m4p Renamed IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:33 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/09/06/ 05/000000004EAA99C4-0000000014DB6569.m4p Renamed IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:33 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Removed Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:12:33 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Love Cry _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp Created Removed AttributeModified IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:12:33 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads Created Removed IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:21:41 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads Created IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:21:41 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Circling _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/download.m4p Created PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:21:41 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Circling _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp Created AttributeModified IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:21:41 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Circling _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:21:42 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Circling _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:21:43 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Circling _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:21:44 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Circling _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/download.m4p Created Renamed Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:21:44 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/10/06/ 05/download.m4p Renamed IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:21:44 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/10/06/ 05/000000004EAA99C4-0000000014DB656A.m4p Renamed IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:21:44 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Circling _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Removed Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:21:44 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Circling _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp Created Removed AttributeModified IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:21:44 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads Created Removed IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:26:57 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Pablo's Heart _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/download.m4p Created Renamed Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:26:57 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/11/06/ 05/download.m4p Renamed IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:26:57 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/11/06/ 05/000000004EAA99C4-0000000014DB656B.m4p Renamed IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:26:57 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Pablo's Heart _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp/Info.plist Created Removed Updated PlatformSpecific AttributeModified IsFile

Fri Jun 3 11:26:57 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads/Pablo's Heart _ There Is Love In You _ Four Tet.tmp Created Removed AttributeModified IsDir

Fri Jun 3 11:26:57 2016 ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iTunes/SubscriptionPlayCache/000000004EAA99C4/Downlo ads Created Removed IsDir


Interestingly, I can't find anyone else with this issue online so I have to assume this is a rare and isolated bug considering its impact. Is there any setting I can enable/disable to avoid this issue? The only way to "fix" it for me is to either

  1. Double-click on the song trying to "buffer" and force it to start the download again (i.e. for the first time). Sometimes this is a bit funky if other tracks on the album are already cached, and can skip ahead to later songs.
  2. Have the next song already cached so that missing the download doesn't matter.
  3. Restart iTunes (note that this doesn't fix the bug, just the current track not playing.)


Thanks for your time! Happy to relay any more information as required.

Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), iTunes 12.4.1.6

Posted on Jun 20, 2016 2:52 AM

Reply
1 reply

Jun 21, 2016 12:00 PM in response to ivoisbelongtous

YES, YES!


Finally someone else that´s is having this issue!!! Apple Care support made me reinstall the whole OS...



I am suffering it, constantly and in exactly the same way that you have described, since iTunes 12.4 came out. This make Apple Music almost unusable on Mac, (in IOS, at least for me, everything works great). Have sent feedback to Apple about it last night, hope they fix it quickly. Meanwhile, I have to download the albums that I want to hear to ensure that playing isn't gonna stop, which is completely ridiculous and defeats the porpouse of a streaming service . By the way, this isn't only happening with apple music tracks, but with iTunes Match tracks that you don't have stored locally. Anything under a minute, and the next song never start to play.


Excuse my English, I´m from Spain. Anything I can help, I´m here.


🙂


Latest OSX, iMac 21,5 Late 2013

Short songs stop next song streaming

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