my iCloud music libary doesn't update from MacBook to iPhone

This appears to be a common issue with iCML since the iOS 11.3 update. There is no fix for this, but there is a work around until Apple fixes this: just create a blank playlist on the iOS device. This forces a read/write with the library stored in iCloud, then all your changes will suddenly get pulled down. You have to do this every time, it's essentially a manual refresh now.

This is popping up enough in the forum now to suspect it’s an issue with iOS 11.3 given the timIng. I have a case open with Apple today. It’s not a known issue to the guy I spoke with but they are starting an investigation given the fact that I’ve rebooted, changed password, signed out of iCloud, switched iCloud music library off, etc. You name it, I’ve tried it. Very very time consuming. So if anyone reads this, don’t bother with the the troubleshooting steps and wasting your time. We’re just going to have to wait on this one for Apple to either fix things server side or release an update.

I’ve been having this issue recently. I managed to get it to finally work after logging in and out of my Apple ID on my desktop iTunes several times, and then turning iCloud Music Library on and off on my devices. I really don’t want to have to do this every time I want to update my songs though...

Just got off the phone with support regarding the investigation they opened. They are still holding the party line that they are not aware of any issue even though I have told them others have opened and have case numbers (mine is 100497140527 if any want to reference it in there calls). Unsurprisingly they recommended I restore my devices, not just from backup but as new! I have refused on the grounds that changes are clearly going up to iCloud. Just not being pushed down and this is since iOS 11.3. So my thinking is a server side issue or something broken in 11.3. Plus I know of one case where the person did a restore and the issue still persisted. I’ve asked for this to be escalated and for engineering to research the other cases and as such try and replicate the issue. If any one else has attempted a restore please let us know if it was successful in fixing this issue.

I can confirm doing an erase and restore does NOT fix this issue. In fact, I couldn't even get my iCloud music library to appear at all until I followed the tip above to create an empty playlist first.

I'm glad I found this forum as this has been driving me nuts and the people at Apple were less than helpful.

I found a workaround, for now, but it is in no way elegant. To "sync" the music, add another album or song from Apple Music in the device in which it's not showing up. This will force a refresh. Then, you can delete the random song or album you added.

What a royal pain. How can their quality control be so abysmal?

I'm also having the same problem.

After I've updated my devices to the latest versions of iOS (11.3) MacOS (10.13.4) and iTunes (12.7.4) the music library does not sync more automatically and mutually. In iOS MUSIC just creating a new playlist, as it was suggested here, and in the MAC just forcing the update of the library is that it is synchronized and the changes appear.

I even hope that Apple will release an update as soon as possible to correct the problem. We can not wait for iOS 11.4 to have our Apple MUSIC working properly as before.

Even easier, click a playlist, click edit, type anything random in the "description" field, hit done. This forces an update. Oddly enough, I can't find the playlist "description" field in iTunes on the Mac. Hoping this is fixed soon!

Spoke with Apple Support last night as I had scheduled a call before finding out this was a widespread issue. I told them not to bother running me through the troubleshooting steps as this issue is widespread and even cited your case number as well.

They forwarded my call to a senior specialist who is forwarding the matter to the engineering department and they will call me back on Thursday night to go over what they’ve found.

Nothing to report from my scheduled call..because they didn’t bother to! Not impressed. Will be calling them tomorrow. Interestingly one user reported that installing an 11.4 beta didn’t address it either. That’s not to say that an 11.3 point release wouldn’t fix it, but I would see this more as an indicator that this is something to fix on the Apple side (there was an issue with another service that links to Apple Music a while back that got fixed on the Apple end without an update). I’m pleased though that this is now getting traction and they can’t ignore it. I think I’ll LMAO if my adviser claims ‘no other reported issues!’

Yes, definitely looks like this has been fixed. It's great all of us made such a stink about it and it got their attention. Still, the way Apple deals with these kinds of things is not right. How many of us wasted umpteen hours trying to troubleshoot a problem that was so clearly server-side. And, worse, why not let everyone know that, yes, there is an issue and they're working on it once they knew?

For a company that makes products that revolutionized how we communicate, their communication is abysmal. (It harkens back to the battery fiasco; they didn't say anything publicly until they got caught.)

I'm still a loyal customer, but part of that is being able to let them know when they need to improve their game. And on communication, they need to improve — BADLY.

Not tested yet but glad it’s working for all. I totally agree with PFox78. Summarises perfectly how I felt about it. Wouldn’t say I’m loyal but I’m so heavily locked in and invested in the eco system. As are many. And Apple know this so that’s why they can get away with communicating so poorly. Oh well. Glad it’s working.

Have you tried a hard reboot? I had 2 of my devices steadfastly refuse to update late last night and I thought, “Great, here we go again”. Encouraged by the fact that another device was syncing fine, I tried a hard reboot On the other 2. Everything synced fine after that, although it can be slow. Hope it works for you because my advisor doesnt know how it was resolved and refuses to acknowledge there was an issue!

Thanks for thread, and the workarounds it has brought forth. I've had this issue for quite some time -- it's always the device you want to use that hasn't updated!

A simple manual sync or refresh option in the music app would save us all a lot of pain.