iTunes not updating Playcount

I have this same problem. The iTunes on my Mac does not update any play count on any song I play on my Mac since I updated to MacOS 10.13.6. I output to my computer speakers via my headphone jack on my 2017 iMac. I also output to my AppleTV (though my TV soundbar speakers) and my four HomePods. My AppleTV and HomePods all have the latest updates. I noticed the play count not updating soon after installing 10.13.6 on my Mac. Using my Time Machine, I restored to the previous version (10.13.5) and the play counts started updating again. So the problem is definitely in MacOS 10.13.6. I will await the next MacOS update and look to see if this problem is addressed an fixed before I install the update.

I'm now noticing that if I am playing something on my Mac's iTunes, and airplaying to my HomePod, iTunes doesn't remember where on the song/podcast I stopped, if I quit iTunes and restart it. If I'm not using Airplay, iTunes remembers where I was.

I just noticed that I have this same problem - play count doesn’t increment if HomePod is being used to stream music from my Mac. Although for me, it is not 100% of the time - some tracks do get updated with today’s play date, but in a maddeningly inconsistent manner (i.e., same album, ripped at same time, some tracks are ignored, some are updated).

Also in my case, for years, I’ve used an AppleTV to stream music to my stereo, this has always worked as it should. I suspect a bug in the AirPlay 2 update.

Definitely AirPlay bug, if I play just from an iMac it updates and as soon as I add an AppleTV or AirPlay to a Denon receiver it stops working. I was hoping I could just always have the music on for my iMac at low volume when I'm streaming to my other devices.., alas no dice. 😟

Does anyone know if this is fixed in macOS Mojave, or tvOS 12?

Having to stop using AirPlay is sub-optimal.

It seems to be AirPlay2, not AirPlay. After I upgraded to the latest High Sierra MAC update that included AirPlay2, my iTunes play count would no longer update. I restored my hard drive to the previous version (that does NOT have AirPlay2), and all is fine now. I even output to all my AirPlay devices only (1 Apple TV, 4 Homepods but not through the computer audio output) and iTunes updates the play count on iTunes fine (this is using the OS version that does NOT support AirPlay2 yet).

I am awaiting Mojave to see if this clears things up. If it doesn't, back to the old version that does!

Maybe associated with this bug - I've been playing a podcast on my iMac and HomePod at the same time. I stop for a moment to play a song. When I get back, the podcast is set to the start of the podcast - as though I hadn't been listening to it for an hour.

Howard Brazee wrote:

When I get back, the podcast is set to the start of the podcast - as though I hadn't been listening to it for an hour.

Is the option "Remember playback position" selected? Look in the Options tab of Podcast Info for the item.

Yes the exact same issue has happened to me but only very recently and I think since I did an update. This is like, a serious issue for me. My music organisation is hugely based on my play counts and I take it super seriously. I really hope another update will fix this. It really erks me knowing heavy play of an album isn't being updated in my iTunes which I've had for years and years with successful play count data.

I don't have Apple Music. I hope this isn't a way to push people off having their own music libraries??
PLEASE FIX THIS APPLE!

IOS 12 did not fix this.

It still doesn't mark my podcast played when it is streamed both places.

While listening to a podcast, today, I told my HomePod to sing a song. It did - and the podcast on my Mac got very, very loud.

Same here. Also, I discovered that iTunes will not let me change the artwork for tracks. When I uncheck the Airplay 2 device it then let's me change the artwork. That is a strange correlation. Same for the play count situation. Bugs.

I was not responding to your post but to the post of Howard Brazee who was talking about a IOS12 update.

But you are right. The combination iTunes and Airplay2 shows the "playcount not updating" bug. So if you upgrade your Airport Express from Airplay to Airplay2 iTunes will stop updating the playcounts.

Argh! My MacBook Pro is just a little too old to run Mojave - and iTunes 12.8 seems to be the end of the line for High Sierra. I stream all my music to Airplay, and I make extensive use of Smart Playlists with last played and play counts.

So... I guess I am out of luck here.

Apple, it would be nice if you could release a bug fix for iTunes that I (and anyone still on High Sierra) could use until I upgrade my hardware. Because for me, this turns iTunes into a pretty useless app.

I downgraded my Airport express to the previous version and now everything works as it did before.

macOS: How to Roll Back the Firmware on Your AirPort - The Mac Observer

Note: I had to reboot my network and mac afterward for iTunes to find the airplay/airport speakers.

I’ve got lots of different Airplay devices and discovered my Denon Receiver didn’t update playcount consistently. My next choice was to play to my AppleTV but that had the same problem. I now play to other devices and it’s all good. Hoping everything will get a fix one day.

I have this problem with High Sierra and iTunes 12.8.0.150 when streaming to my Apple TV.

Some on this thread say that it is fixed with Mojave and iTunes 12.9 but it should still be fixed for High Sierra. like to wait before moving on to the next OS. "Last Played" is no longer updated either.