Apple Music Family Plan Not Working? – Complete Fix Guide

An Apple Music family plan not working issue can get annoying and frustrating. Fortunately, we have the solution.

Whenever certain family members can’t access the Apple Music catalog may be due to several reasons.

We’ve come up with proven solutions, so you don’t have to spend hours staring at the problem.

If your Apple Music Family subscription isn’t working, don’t worry! We’ve got you covered!

To fix your Apple Music family plan that’s not working properly, you want to make sure you’re subscribed and not using a trial account. You can also try signing out of Apple Music and signing back in.

Finally, removing all the family members and adding them again should help resolve this issue once and for all.

Before we proceed to the solutions, let us discuss the possible reasons your Apple Family Music isn’t working.  

Why Apple Music Family Subscription Not Working

When your Apple Music Family subscription isn’t working, check the Apple ID you’re using on the devices is the same one you enrolled on the platform.

You also want to make sure it’s not an error with your account where it forgets the members that are enrolled.

Here are the other problems that you can expect when your Apple Music family plan stops working:

1. Account Still In Trial

The issue is pretty common among family members who are still on a free trial. When the trial ends, the family sharing stops working.

2. Not Set on The Share Feature List

Apple Music has not been set in the Share Feature list. When this happens, you want to ensure that your account’s family organizer has set this up properly.

3. Account Malfunction

There can be a minor glitch on the software of your device, or Apple Music is down for everyone.

4. Using the Wrong Apple ID

You may have used a different Apple ID to join the Apple Music family plan. Check if your Apple ID is the same on your subscription.

These are the possible reasons your Apple Music family plan isn’t working. If you know the culprit, you can apply the best solution.

How to Fix Apple Music Family Plan Not Working

Before you try more advanced solutions to fix Apple Music not working on family plan, start with a simple but effective alternative.

Restarting the Apple Music app on your phone can fix temporary bugs and glitches.

Open your device’s settings and click Apps or Application Manager. Find the Apple Music app and hit force-quit. Relaunch the app and see if this helps.

If this method doesn’t work for you, check the solutions below and change your settings accordingly.

Solution #1: Sign Out of Your Apple Music Account

If you’re experiencing an issue with your Apple Music family plan, the first cause you want to consider is an account problem.

This is because it’s one of the easiest fixes you can do. All you need to do is sign out of your Apple Music account and sign back in.

This will refresh your session with the server resolving the problem.

Here’s how to sign out and sign back into your Apple Music account:

1. Go to your device’s Settings.
2. Select your profile.
3. Go to iTunes and App Store.
4. Choose your ID.
5. Tap on Sign Out.

Note: If you’re on a Mac, you can open the Music app and sign out from there.

Solution #2: Verify the Apple ID on Your Devices

Your Apple Music family plan is sensitive to the account IDs you enter to enroll.

If the Apple ID on your devices does not match the one found on your account, they won’t be able to access the full benefits of the family plan.

It can be a tedious process, but it’s one way of verifying why some devices can use the family plan while others cannot.

This problem is quite common if you’re using multiple Apple IDs.

Here’s how to check the Apple IDs for your devices:

1. Open your phone’s Settings app.
2. Go to Family.
3. Select each member of the family plan.
4. Make sure that the ID on the plan is logged into their device.
5. Change the Apple ID on devices to match those in the plan.

Tip: To get Apple Music to work on a particular device, it needs to use an Apple ID that's enrolled in the family plan.

Solution #3: Activate Apple Music on the Share Feature List

Apple allows you to customize features that you can share with your family.

One of them is Apple Music, and it needs to be activated so the family plan will work with your family members.

Even if you have set up your Apple Music family plan but turned this off, the persons you added to the plan will not be able to access your subscription.

Here’s how to activate Apple Music as a shared feature on your phone:

1. Go to the Settings app on your phone.
2. Choose your profile.
3. Select Family Sharing.
4. Tap on Apple Music.
5. Toggle the switch to the On position.

Solution #4: Remove and Add Family Members Again

One of the ways to effectively fix the Apple Music family subscription issues is to enroll them into the plan manually.

Account malfunctions like this are a common occurrence. This usually happens to older accounts where Apple’s database can experience bugs and glitches.

To restore your entry, you’re going to need to remove your family members from the account and add them again.

This should give you a fresher entry where Apple Music can recognize the accounts you enrolled.

Here’s how to remove and add accounts to your Apple Music family plan:

1. Open your phone’s Settings.
2. Go to your profile, then select Family Sharing.
3. Select the name of the member you want to remove.
4. Tap on Remove from Family.
5. Add them back in by selecting Add Member.

Note: You can only remove and add family members if you’re the account organizer.

Solution #5: Set Your Devices to the Same Country

If your Apple Music family plan doesn’t quite work with your enrolled accounts and devices, you want to dive deep into your settings.

The country setting on the Apple ID accounts is the one to look out for.

It’s important that you set all the accounts on your family plan to the same country.

With streaming services, there are usually licensing restrictions. To make this easier for Apple to process, set the accounts to the U.S.

Here’s how to change the Country setting on your Apple account:

1. Go to your phone’s Settings app.
2. Select your profile, then go to Media and Purchases.
3. Choose View Account, then select Country or Region.
4. Tap the Change Country or Region button.
5. Select your new country and agree to the terms and conditions.

Note: If you’re going to change your country or region, you’ll need to spend the remaining balance on your Apple ID.

Solution #6: Sign Up for the Family Plan After the Trial Period Ends

You can try Apple Music and all its premium features for a limited time. This allows you to gauge the product to decide whether you want to continue using it.

One of the features you can try is the family plan. This will provide your other family members access to Apple Music.

If it suddenly stops working, it’s likely that your trial period is over. You’ll need to sign up for the paid version to regain access and get it working again.

Here’s how to get the Apple Music family plan:

1. Open the Apple Music app on your phone.
2. Go to the Listen Now tab.
3. Select Family.
4. Sign in with your Apple ID to make the purchase.
5. Confirm your billing information, and select Join.

Note: You want to ensure that you set up Family Sharing on your Apple account before getting Apple Music.

These are the ways how you can get your Apple Music family plan to work again.

It’s important that you enable Apple Music sharing first on your phone so you don’t run into any more issues.

If you do, you can contact Apple customer support if you need additional assistance with your account.

Read Next: How to Get Netflix on Apple Watch?

Bottom Line

You should now be able to resolve the Apple Music family plan not working issue.

These are all easy solutions that don’t need any technical expertise. You will be able to get your family plan working again in just a couple of minutes.