10 Solutions to fix Apple Music not playing songs

coco

April 22, 2026

Apple Music has been one of the top music streaming services in the world, with over 100 million songs and 30,000 playlists. It is available on almost all of your devices, like iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows, Apple TV, Smart TVs, Gaming Consoles, etc. However, sometimes you may have trouble playing Apple Music. Don’t worry, here in this guide, we will show you several common solutions to fix Apple Music not playing songs and a powerful Apple Music downloader to download Apple Music songs to MP3.

1. Check your internet connection

If the songs are not downloaded to or stored on your device, you will need to stream them with a solid internet connection: both Wi-Fi and cellular data connections will work. To check your internet connection, try the following methods:

• Open another app or a web page on your device.
• Turn off the internet connection and then turn it on again.
• Connect to another network.
• Try using another device.
• If your Wi-Fi signal isn’t working on any device, you might simply need to restart your router.

2. Check your Apple ID

If you have several Apple IDs in use, make sure you’ve logged in with the correct one. Here’s how to check the Apple ID of your device:

On Windows&Mac:

1. Run Apple Music or iTunes. 
2. Click Account > View My Account.
3. If your Apple ID is incorrect, click Log out, then Sign in with the correct one.

On Mac and Windows, besides logging in with the right Apple ID, you also need to authorize this computer. You can authorize up to 5 computers with the same Apple ID.

On iPhone/iPad

1. Open the Music app.
2. Tap your profile icon in the upper-right corner.

On Android

1. Open the Apple Music app.
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner and select “Account.”

3. Check your Apple Music subscription

You can only play songs from the Apple Music streaming catalog with an active subscription, so check whether you have an active Apple Music subscription.

On Mac

1. Open the Apple Music app. 
2. Click Account > Account Settings.
3. Log in with your Apple ID and password.
4. On the page that appears, scroll to Subscriptions, then click Manage.
5. Check whether the Apple Music subscription is active.

On Windows PC

1. On your PC, open iTunes.
2. From the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, choose Account, then choose View My Account.
3. Scroll to the Settings section. Next to Subscriptions, click Manage.
4. Check whether Apple Music subscription is active.

On iPhone or iPad

1. Open the Settings app. 
2. Tap your name, then tap Subscriptions.
3. Check whether Apple Music subscription is active.

If you are in an Apple Music family plan and your entire library is gone, go to Settings > Apple ID > Media and Purchases. Sign out, restart your phone, sign back in, make sure Sync Library is on and see if your library loads.

On Android

1. Open the Apple Music app.
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner and select “Account.”
3. You can see your subscription

On Apple TV

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Users & Accounts, then select your account.
3. Select Subscriptions.
4. Check whether Apple Music subscription is active.

4. Restart the Apple Music app

Try forcing the Apple Music app to close and then open it again. This will refresh the app and make it load all the temporary data again, which can fix common errors. The way you close an app depends on the type of device that you have. 

iPhone X and later and iPad

1. From the Home Screen, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle of the screen.
2. Swipe right or left to find the app that you want to close.  
3. Swipe up on the app’s preview to close the app.

iPhone SE, iPhone 8 and earlier, and iPod touch

1. Double-click the Home button to show your most recently used apps. 
2. Swipe right or left to find the app that you want to close.  
3. Swipe up on the app’s preview to close the app.

Mac

Right-click the Music icon on the Dock and click “Quit”.

5. Restart your device

Restarting remains the “golden rule” of troubleshooting app glitches, including Apple Music. Apple Music is constantly communicating with the iCloud Music Library to verify your subscription and sync playlists across devices. If you have grayed-out songs or a playback error, restarting re-authenticates your Apple ID and forces a fresh connection to the sync servers, which usually makes your library reappear.

Restarting also gives your device a fresh start and kills background task collisions that can cause the app to freeze or skip tracks during Apple Music playback.

6. Turn on Sync Library

iCloud Music Library stores your Apple Music songs and playlists in iCloud so you can access them on all your devices.

On Windows

With the Apple Music app

1. Click the three-dot icon at the top of the sidebar and select Settings.
2. Click General and turn on Sync Library.

With iTunes

1. Click Edit > Preferences.
2. Check iCloud Music Library.

On Mac

1. Open the Apple Music app. 
2. Click Music > Settings.
3. Check Sync Library.

On iPhone/iPad

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Music.
3. Turn on Sync Library. 

7. Download the songs offline

If a single song or two still won’t play, click the download icon to download it to your device for offline playback.

1. Open Music or iTunes. 
2. Click the playlist or album that won’t play.
3. Click the +Add button to add it to your Library.
4. Then click the Download icon.
5. To download individual songs, click the + icon to add them to Library, then click the Download icon.

8. More than one device is trying to play Apple Music

Apple Music allows up to 10 devices with the same Apple ID to be signed into a single user Apple Music account. However, you cannot stream music to more than one device at a time. If you wish to stream music on multiple devices at the same time, you must first set up one of your devices with a separate Apple ID, then set up Family Share, and then sign up for the Family version of Apple Music. With an Apple Music family subscription, up to six people can enjoy unlimited access to Apple Music on their devices. Each member of an Apple Music family subscription can stream millions of songs from the Apple Music catalog.

9. Turn off the explicit filter

On iPhone/iPad

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
2. Turn off Content & Privacy Restrictions.

If you wish to allow the explicit contents for your music and podcasts when the “Content & Privacy Restrictions” setting is enabled, go to Content Restrictions – Music, Podcasts, Fitness, and choose Explicit.

On Mac

1. Click Apple menu > System Settings.
2. Click Screen Time > Content & Privacy.
3. Turn off Content & Privacy Restrictions.

On Windows

1. Go to iTunes > Edit > Preferences.
2. Under the Restrictions tab, uncheck Music with explicit content.
3. When prompted, click Yes to allow iTunes app to allow the explicit content.

10. Download Apple Music songs to MP3 and play with other music players

The best way to fix Apple Music not playing songs is to download Apple Music songs to MP3 and preserve them forever. You can back them up to USB drive, external hard drive, etc.

Step 1. Launch Pazu Apple Music Converter

Download, install and run Pazu Apple Music Converter on your Mac or Windows.

Step 2. Choose output format

The default format is M4A in 256kbps. Apple Music Converter also supports MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV and AIFF. Click the gear icon if you want to change output format or output folder.

Step 3. Choose a playlist, artist or album you want to download

Follow the on-screen instructions to choose a playlist, artist, or album that you want to download.

Step 4. Start to download Apple Music songs

Click “Convert” button to start downloading Apple Music songs to MP3, so you can play them anywhere you want, even after cancelling Apple Music subscription.