Why Aren’t Certain Songs on Apple Music? – Easy Fix!

If you want to know why aren’t certain songs on Apple Music, you’ve come to the right place.

With over 88 million Apple Music users, we’ll tackle the reasons songs aren’t playing on the iOS platform and what you can do about it.

By following these solutions, you can get those songs back in your library in no time.

Tune in to find out how!

The top culprit for why some songs aren’t on Apple Music is licensing. It can discourage artists from uploading their music to streaming services. Another is a syncing problem with your Cloud Library, where your songs are not downloaded to your device properly.

Before we proceed to the fixes, let us discuss the possible causes of songs not playing on Apple Music.

Why Are My Songs on Apple Music Not Playing

There can be a number of reasons your songs are not playing on Apple Music.

Check the Cloud status if your music library is stored on your computer. Also, make sure you have an active subscription to Apple Music.

If none of the above is the culprit, the issue may be due to one of these:

1. Internet Connectivity Issues

You may be disconnected from your WiFi or have reached your mobile data limit.

Since Apple Music requires the Internet to work, poor or unstable connection will result in songs not playing.

2. Music Licensing

The songs you’re trying to play may not have the proper license, meaning the owner didn’t grant Apple Music the rights to carry them.

3. Device is Not Synced Properly

You may have forgotten to sync your library to all of your devices. Either the songs are waiting to upload, or you deleted the song on your other devices.

4. Not Using the Same Apple ID

You didn’t sign in to your devices with the same Apple ID you use with Apple Music and didn’t turn on Sync Library.

These are the possible reasons your songs aren’t playing on Apple Music. Now, let’s move on to solving the issue.

Fixing Why Aren’t Certain Songs on Apple Music

Are you wondering why are some songs not on apple music? The culprit could be as simple as the song is not available in Apple Music.

Another possible cause is a poor connection where your music won’t load or sync properly.

Now, before you proceed to more advanced solutions, you will want to perform these basic troubleshooting steps.

Start by force-closing the app, then relaunch it and see if it helps. If not, restart your phone and router.

You can proceed to the rest of these proven solutions if these fail.

Solution #1: Check the Cloud Status of the Song on Your Computer

If you suddenly find out that some of the songs on your playlist have become unavailable on Apple Music, you want to check their status.

There are a lot of things that can cause your songs to go missing from your Apple Music library.

It can happen to any song, whether you purchased it or imported it from one of your collections.

Knowing the status of these songs should help you figure out what you should do to get them back in your music library.

Here are the steps to check the cloud status of your song:

1. Open the Apple Music app on your Mac.
2. If you have a PC, open iTunes.
3. In the sidebar menu, go to Songs.
4. Select View, then Show View Options.
5. Click on Cloud Status and Cloud Download.

Here’s what you should do for each status:

1. Removed: Click the arrow, then select Add to Cloud Music Library.
2. Waiting: Go to File, then Library. Click on Update Cloud Library.
3. Exclamation Point: Click on the icon, then select Locate.
4. Grayed Out: Song was removed from Apple Music.

Note: You can only perform the check on a Mac or Windows PC.

Solution #2: Change the Country for Your Apple Account

Since Apple Music is a streaming service, it needs to follow licensing rules. Some songs may not be available in the country that your phone is set to.

If you have made changes to your location settings, you’re likely to experience issues with songs going missing.

The fix for this is simple. All you need to do is revert your location settings to the country when you purchased the song.

This will ensure that you’ll be able to get that certain song back into your music library.

Here’s how to change the country of your Apple account:

1. Open the Settings app on your phone.
2. Select your name.
3. Go to Media and Purchases.
4. Select View Account.
5. Choose a Country or Region, and change it.

Note: You can also change your account’s region or country by using your Mac or online via a web browser.

Solution #3: Disable Parental Controls on Apple Music

One particular feature that can actively block songs in your library from showing up and playing is Apple Music’s Parental Controls.

Turning this on will restrict songs depending on their content. Apple Music uses a rating system where you can set a certain threshold.

It’s possible that it’s switched on for your account, that’s why some songs are missing from your library.

You want to check your settings and make sure that this is turned off so you can listen to all of your music library.

Here’s how to disable parental controls on Apple Music:

1. Go to your phone’s Settings app.
2. Select Screen Time, then Content and Privacy Restrictions.
3. Switch it On.
4. Tap on Content Restrictions.
5. Select Music, Podcasts, and News, then choose Clean.

Note: You can also turn it off on the Apple Music app on your computer, which will reflect the changes on your phone.

Solution #4: Reauthorize Your Computer on iTunes

Authorizing your computer to the iTunes Store gives it access to songs you have purchased.

If you have songs that suddenly disappear, this is one of the steps that you should take to restore them.

There are instances when your computer is unlinked to your account.

If you don’t reauthorize it, your computer won’t be able to detect purchased songs and won’t include them in your library.

Here’s how to reauthorize your computer to the iTunes Store:

On the Apple Music app on your Mac:

1. Make sure that you’re signed in to your Apple ID.
2. Go to the Menu bar and find Account.
3. Select Account, then Authorizations.
4. Choose Deauthorize This Computer.
5. Then Authorize This Computer after a minute.

On iTunes on your Windows PC:

1. Open the iTunes app on your computer.
2. Select Account at the top of the iTunes window.
3. Click on Authorizations.
4. Select Deauthorize This Computer.
5. Wait for 1 to 2 minutes, then click Authorize This Computer.

Tip: Authorizing devices can only be done on a Mac or Windows computer. You can't authorize a computer using your iPhone or iPad.

Solution #5: Sync Apple Music with Your iCloud Library

If you’re keeping a cloud library of your music, a sync problem can occur, removing your songs from your device.

To resolve this, you’re going to need to enable syncing so all your devices will have the same music library.

You can re-enable syncing so your devices can reconnect to your iCloud Library.

Here’s how to re-enable library sync on your devices:

On your iPhone or iPad:

1. Open your device’s Settings app.
2. Select Music.
3. Tap on Sync Library to toggle the switch Off.
4. Wait for a minute or two.
5. Tap on it again to turn it On.

On your Mac:

1. Go to File, then Library.
2. Select Organize Library, then Consolidate Files
3. Go to Music, then Preferences.
4. On the General tab, click on Sync Library to turn it Off.
5. Wait for 1 to 2 minutes, and click it again to turn it On.

Solution #6: Manually Add the Songs to Your Playlist

One of the primary reasons songs are not on Apple Music is that they’re simply unavailable there.

Licensing issues can stop an artist from uploading their music on the platform.

If this is the case, your option would be manually uploaded and imported to your playlist.

Here’s how to add songs manually to the Apple Music playlist:

1. On the Apple Music app on your computer, click File.
2. Choose Add File to Library.
3. Select the music files you want to add.
4. Turn on Library Sync on your computer and iPhone.
5. Wait for your phone to sync and play your added song.

Note: You'll need to have bought a physical copy of the song so you can successfully import it to Apple Music.

Not all songs are going to be available on Apple Music or other platforms. If you have access to other streaming services, you can check if the song is available there.

You can also contact Apple customer support if you need help with restoring songs that have gone missing from your playlist.

Bottom Line

Why aren’t certain songs on Apple Music? For the most part, it’s usually a glitch in the system that might make some songs unavailable.

Follow these steps, and you should be able to get them back.

Otherwise, if it’s a licensing issue, there’s nothing you can do about it until the artist decides to upload their music to the platform.

Read Next: How to Put Music on Apple Music for Free?