Level 1

62 points

Apple Music won't play songs - "Not playing"

So starting last week at some point, Apple Music on my iPhone seems to have just stopped working. It refuses to play anything that is not in my library, nothing from "For you", "Radio", or any saved Apple Music Playlists.

The now playing card only shows "Not playing". If I hit the play button enough times it seems to just pick a random set of songs from my library and start playing.

I have already tried:

Restarting the music app
Reinstalling the music app
Resetting network settings
Restarting the iPhone
Signing out of iCloud and singing back in.
Erasing all content and settings (I restored from backup, I might need to try this again without restoring)

No luck from any of the above. Anyone know how to fix this?

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 11.3

Posted on Apr 10, 2018 11:02 AM

Top-ranking reply

Scott Willsey

Level 1

47 points

Posted on Apr 29, 2018 5:23 PM

I think I know what's going on and why only a clean install without backup restore fixed the issue. It appears to be a corrupt cache file.

I have the same issue and I can play anything I purchased, whether downloaded or in the cloud, but I cannot play anything from Apple Music. I can download songs, but then I get a dialog box about the song not being authorized rather than the silent fail and "Not Playing" status I get if I try to stream it from Apple Music.

Anyway, I connected the iPhone to my Mac and fired up Console, and here's what I see when I try to play an Apple Music song in the Music app:

default

15:26:53.305659 -0700

SpringBoard

Request: playbackState 66A52D72-244F-4A19-9511-B866A7744A5F for origin-iPhone/client-com.apple.Music-766 (Music)/player-Music is short-circuiting because cache

default

15:26:53.308170 -0700

SpringBoard

Response: playbackState 66A52D72-244F-4A19-9511-B866A7744A5F returned Stopped with error (null) for origin-iPhone/client-com.apple.Music-766 (Music)/player-Music in 0.0006 seconds

I have a case open with Apple and am going to talk to them on the phone tomorrow, but my guess is they can't do anything other than take my console log and see if they can learn something from it while I wipe my phone and try to get on with my life.

I do have iMazing and iExplorer, and I should hopefully be able to restore app data for those apps that don't use the cloud to store it. Either way, it's going to be a painful experience and a massive waste of time.

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79 replies

May 4, 2018 4:21 PM in response to teltech290

So far nothing helpful. I was called by an apple support person, and there was no resolution. They had me try all the things I've already tried, then sent me a link to upload my log file to. I've heard nothing back since.

I just wiped my phone and am installing an 11.4.3 beta using my developer account. I'm sure music will work. Then I'll restore from backup, and I'm sure it will break again.

I'm really not happy about this experience AT ALL.

May 5, 2018 3:47 AM in response to OregonWoodman

Thanks OregonWoodman !

This worked a treat. Did exactly the same thing for my iPhone 8 and all is working as it should now...

My For You selection is all there, whereas before it was blank, and I also had the Not Playing issue with random songs being selected..

May 7, 2018 11:39 PM in response to Scott Willsey

Curious, have you tried filing a bug report directly in Apple's "RADAR" bug reporting system yet? All the info they need should be there in your original post about the cache file.

Going to WWDC in a month too and going to find someone there to bug them about this as well.

May 7, 2018 11:57 PM in response to teltech290

No, but it’s not a bad idea. I did get an email from the support guy who called me the other day and he says they’re still working on it, which I assume means going over the log file I sent. I hope they are. This is a stupid problem for anyone to have to have.

May 27, 2018 5:41 PM in response to cmx

I solved the problem at least enough to meet my needs. I canceled Apple Music subscription and just went back to using iTunes Match. I’m getting tired of giving money to a company that can’t even get the “Arist” picture displayed properly. Pathetic.

jocelynm

Level 1

4 points

Jun 21, 2018 10:48 AM in response to Stukdog

Just wanted to reply that I just tried this (e.g. delete music, backup, clean install, restore) but it didn't fix the problem; apple music still won't play songs, and only my iphone; ipad and itunes (both windows and mac) work fine, it's only a problem on my iphone.

Aug 25, 2018 6:12 PM in response to cmx

I will never EVER by Apple phones again!!! Multiple problems like this. I’ve spent a lot of money on songs and albums I can no longer play. Apple refuses to help. Maybe I should just refuse to keep paying for this phone. Very angry and totally frustrated.

Oct 13, 2018 12:46 PM in response to cmx

i am experiencing a similar problem. music which I put on my Mac via a disc in 2014 and which I transferred to my iPhone to play will not play - the file is there I can see it - and the subscribe to Apple Music thing pops up. honestly I am a bit sick of this nonsense with apple, seriously considering getting away from their platform if this is the way things are going.

GMTTX

Level 1

4 points

Dec 31, 2018 9:10 AM in response to Scott Willsey

OK I use android and I have to pay a bit more for Apple music. I am having that problem after 3 months of it working smooth. Wiping won't work and I can't even download music anymore. I don't know how to ask a Apple support guy or something so please help.

Jan 17, 2019 5:28 PM in response to cmx

I just added Apple Music only to find this problem. I am okay as a user but certainly not a software engineer. I guess I will continue using Amazon Music--it's not worth it to me to start over with everything on this phone at this point. My iPhone 7 has died three times in the last just-under-2-years. Needless to say, I am considering going back to Android. This has not been a good experience all the way around.

May 5, 2018 6:06 AM in response to OregonWoodman

I was super hopeful, but sadly this didn’t solve it for me. Thanks for the suggestion!

May 5, 2018 8:30 AM in response to OregonWoodman

I tried it on my iPhone and it didn’t work. When I sign back in as myself, the problem returns.

Jun 20, 2018 1:35 PM in response to Stukdog

I tried your procedure, but it doesn't helped at my iPhone at all... And the Apple Support doesn't help me anyway... Very poor for a device which costs 1300,- EUR / $!

Aug 30, 2018 3:52 AM in response to goatmasterfunk

The problem is back for me.
Slash Love at the Roxy has about 6 tracks that will not play...

Aug 30, 2018 9:10 AM in response to SysAdmom

Thanks for the path.
However, when I get to COUNTY/REGION I get a message that "To change stores, you first need to cancel your Apple Music Subscription".

Any ideas?

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Apple Music won't play songs - "Not playing"