Music - Missing Features, Bugs, Issues & Troubleshooting

[WilliamDu]

After a year of thinking I was better off with Mojave, I decided to finally update my 2012 Mac Mini to Catalina. This forum thread scared me out of updating due to all of the problems with the Apple Music app. I use iTunes extensively in my day job, managing a music library of over 100,000 tracks. I don't bother with album art or any cloud features, nor do I subscribe to Apple Music, but I still have concerns about bugs that could potentially mess up the library. I'd be pretty screwed if a track magically disappeared, granted I do keep backups. And I am glad to hear the column browser made a return and Doug's AppleScripts can still be used, though I still worry!

Thanks to your suggestions, I updated to Catalina and installed iTunes with Retroactive. I haven't even tried the Apple Music app, but my library loaded up in iTunes just fine as if I were on Mojave. I also feel like iTunes is running a bit faster for me on Catalina. So it looks like I'm all set for the time being! I do hope the Apple Music app will eventually be improved so I can move my large library to it. If any of you have the same concerns I do, Retroactive will solve your problem!

*Edit* I do have a question though. If I open the Apple Music app, will it automatically load my iTunes library? I'm thinking about using Music for my own personal music collection while keeping my work library exclusively linked with iTunes. I know I can hold Option when starting Music to start a new library, but I guess what I'm asking is will Music create a separate library file without attempting to import or overwrite my existing iTunes library?

Have you tried syncing your iTunes to an IOS 14 device?
Scanning all sites and forums I can find, I see no solution for syncing an IOS 14 device to get iTunes files from a Mojave or earlier device to the 14 device without destroying or losing iTunes files and artwork. Sync on iTunes is refused without upgrading OS.
Looks like Apple really serious about forcing the world to go to Apple Music.

 

[WilliamDu]

After a year of thinking I was better off with Mojave, I decided to finally update my 2012 Mac Mini to Catalina. This forum thread scared me out of updating due to all of the problems with the Apple Music app. I use iTunes extensively in my day job, managing a music library of over 100,000 tracks. I don't bother with album art or any cloud features, nor do I subscribe to Apple Music, but I still have concerns about bugs that could potentially mess up the library. I'd be pretty screwed if a track magically disappeared, granted I do keep backups. And I am glad to hear the column browser made a return and Doug's AppleScripts can still be used, though I still worry!

Thanks to your suggestions, I updated to Catalina and installed iTunes with Retroactive. I haven't even tried the Apple Music app, but my library loaded up in iTunes just fine as if I were on Mojave. I also feel like iTunes is running a bit faster for me on Catalina. So it looks like I'm all set for the time being! I do hope the Apple Music app will eventually be improved so I can move my large library to it. If any of you have the same concerns I do, Retroactive will solve your problem!

*Edit* I do have a question though. If I open the Apple Music app, will it automatically load my iTunes library? I'm thinking about using Music for my own personal music collection while keeping my work library exclusively linked with iTunes. I know I can hold Option when starting Music to start a new library, but I guess what I'm asking is will Music create a separate library file without attempting to import or overwrite my existing iTunes library?

Have you tried syncing your iTunes library with an IOS device running 14.3?
I'm running Mojave and want to download my iTunes library to a new 256 GB iPod Touch, but they are only available with 14 now, which won't talk to Mojave.
Based on your encouraging post, it looks like the procedure is to upgrade to Catalina (UGH!), run Retroactive to retrieve iTunes, make sure my library is intact, and try to sync with an IOS device.
I have an iPhone 12 which will share my iTunes with my iMac via Bluetooth, but I want to actually move the library to the iPod Touch.
Did you download Retroactive before or after upgrading to Catalina?
I'm 89 and having some trouble understanding this new tech.

 

[squonk2]

Hi:

I'm an Apple dinosaur, so forgive the lack of current technology. This thread seems closest to my issues, so I thought I'd post and see if anyone can help me.

I have an iTunes library of tens of thousands of songs; most of which imported from my CD's. Some are downloaded from the iTunes store. I'm running Sierra on a 2014 MBP. I purchased two iPod Nanos for my boys as I introduced them to music and have been synching them with specific playlists for them in my iTunes.

Now, my boys are older and have their own Macs running Catalina with the app Apple Music 1.0.6.10. I am attempting to take the songs that they each had on their Nanos and put them on their Macs so they can sync their Nanos on their own, along with any music they purchase going forward from the iTunes store. We do not wish to subscribe to Apple Music or store/stream/download from iCloud.

Re-emphasizing: this is my music that I have imported from my CD's. I'm just trying to get the music onto their computers so they can sync their own Nanos rather than still have it sync to my Mac.

In the past, I would placed the Artist Folder and Album Folder containing the m4a files in the iTunes Media or iTunes Music folder, then import using Add To Library in iTunes. For the Apple Music app in Catalina, the folder structure has all changed. Now, within the iTunes Media folder, I see a folder for Music and one for iTunes. The Music folder only contains a Music Library file. I would presumably go to the iTunes Media folder within the iTunes folder, but it contains folders named Automatically Add To iTunes, Automatically Add To Music, and Automatically Add To TV. I would like to put the music I own in the correct folder so they can sync properly to their Nanos and continue to do so as they start buying their own music from the iTunes store.

I guess it's just a matter of my learning how this new OS thinks about and organizes music. Feel free to send a link to an article if you have one. Again, I know I'm a dinosaur in a streaming world. I appreciate any guidance. Thanks so much.

 

[funnysharks]

Anyone noticed different behaviour?

Sometimes when I click on the Playing Next button it slides across and makes the artwork smaller - other times the artwork stays the same size and the Playing Next column overlaps the song times.

 

[machenryr]

Where has the count gone? How can I get the number of listens back?

 

[Schismz]

Where has the count gone? How can I get the number of listens back?

If you just want to set the # of listens of any given track, to any value that you like. This is a pretty cool script that works well for me. I'm still using Catalina, will probably pull the trigger on Big Sur when it hits 11.2 (all apps I need will hopefully have finished updating by then).

Doug's AppleScripts UPDATED: Add or Subtract Play Count v3.0 » Doug's AppleScripts

Download over 500 AppleScripts for the Mac, plus get tips and information on writing your own. This site is published by Doug Adams.

dougscripts.com

 

[machenryr]

If you just want to set the # of listens of any given track, to any value that you like. This is a pretty cool script that works well for me. I'm still using Catalina, will probably pull the trigger on Big Sur when it hits 11.2 (all apps I need will hopefully have finished updating by then).

Doug's AppleScripts UPDATED: Add or Subtract Play Count v3.0 » Doug's AppleScripts

Download over 500 AppleScripts for the Mac, plus get tips and information on writing your own. This site is published by Doug Adams.

dougscripts.com

Thanks but I'm a little confused because iTunes usedd to do this and I found it very helpful. It would list the popularity of my own spins making it easy to find songs.

 

[Schismz]

Thanks but I'm a little confused because iTunes usedd to do this and I found it very helpful. It would list the popularity of my own spins making it easy to find songs.

That's different, I misunderstood what you were trying to achieve. If your play counts have all vanished, that's a bug. Mine all transitioned from nearly 2 decades of iTunes / OS/X over to Music.app on Catalina with no problem. Album cover art also worked, but only on Mac Pro, when I sync playlists to iPhone it starts dropping cover art/showing random albums, doubling music in smart-lists... It's kinda a total mess at the moment for tracks I physically own/have on my workstation, which is 62,000 tracks @ nearly 1TB. I guess it worked for iCloud and that's all Apple really spent much time testing?

Did it work for you on Catalina and then stop working when you upgraded to Big Sur?

 

[machenryr]

I’m sorry. I’m on Catalina. I got the news Mac Pro last year. It never worked after Catalina.

 

[LizKat]

Suddenly, after months and months of Catalina's good behavior on my 2020 MBA, my music libraries on that laptop no longer update playcounts or last played dates unless --get this-- I am SIGNED OUT of my account that owns the purchased music. Yeah. Signed out. When I sign in, I can play music that is located on the laptop as usual, but no playcounts or dates played will update, and when I look at preferences in the Music app, there's not even any info whatsoever about the music library, ie. the tab for General preferences does not even MENTION a library or offer cloud syncing options or anything. It looks like this:

​

If I sign in, I see the general preferences revert to showing info on whether I am syncing to iCloud or not. Also, if I'm using my Apple Music library (I have two libraries and use the option-key to select on on launch), the option to browse Apple music returns to its normal functions, but then my playcounts of downloaded music (theirs or mine) in that library don't update either.

All this apparently began happening for some reason on May 19th although I didn't notice it until the 21st.

I have a couple iPhones that have music on them and they used to be sync'd to Tunes on my previous laptop which was running Mojave at that time. The phones don't use Apple music, so their content is static now for a long time. They have been updated to iOS 14 so I can't sync them to Music on Catalina on the 2020 MBA. To sync them I would have to take the the MBA from Catalina to Big Sur, which I don't want to do right now.

Somehow I think the use of the music on the phones is affecting the way the playcounts work with my laptop during times when I am using the Apple Music library on my laptop. There used to be some kind of bug in Catalna about that, and it seems to have shown up again, not sure why.

But this time it's different, I mean I never experienced having to sign out and stay signed out to see playcounts start updating again. I didn't even know my protected music files (some older ones with Apple's DRM on them) would even play unless I was signed in. Apparently now as long as you've authorized your machine, signing in is not a requirement just to play tracks locally. Weird. When it was buggy before, I sometimes had to sign out, reboot the machine, relaunch iTunes using desired library and then sign in again. Now I can't get playcounts to update at all on the laptop if I am signed in.

What I don't get is how to use my Apple music library on Catalina (which DOES require that I sign in or else I don't see anything but my downloaded music, either mine or Apple Music tracks) and yet keep track of play counts and stuff recently played, because that library also acts like the main library and does not update playcounts or dates when I am signed in.

Not sure if I'm asking for help or just kvetching. Maybe I'll have to upgrade to Big Sur after all but I have some software that won't run on it so I feel like Apple has me in a corner not of my own doing. Most of all I don't understand what has happened to my setup. I suspect something in the most recent security update to the OS which I did just apply recently, possibly on the 19th when all this started happened without my noticing. I remember that update taking a long time and rebooting about four times, so... ?!

 

[Roxy.music]

Suddenly, after months and months of Catalina's good behavior on my 2020 MBA, my music libraries on that laptop no longer update playcounts or last played dates unless --get this-- I am SIGNED OUT of my account that owns the purchased music. Yeah. Signed out. When I sign in, I can play music that is located on the laptop as usual, but no playcounts or dates played will update, and when I look at preferences in the Music app, there's not even any info whatsoever about the music library, ie. the tab for General preferences does not even MENTION a library or offer cloud syncing options or anything. It looks like this:

View attachment 1780395​

If I sign in, I see the general preferences revert to showing info on whether I am syncing to iCloud or not. Also, if I'm using my Apple Music library (I have two libraries and use the option-key to select on on launch), the option to browse Apple music returns to its normal functions, but then my playcounts of downloaded music (theirs or mine) in that library don't update either.

All this apparently began happening for some reason on May 19th although I didn't notice it until the 21st.

I have a couple iPhones that have music on them and they used to be sync'd to Tunes on my previous laptop which was running Mojave at that time. The phones don't use Apple music, so their content is static now for a long time. They have been updated to iOS 14 so I can't sync them to Music on Catalina on the 2020 MBA. To sync them I would have to take the the MBA from Catalina to Big Sur, which I don't want to do right now.

Somehow I think the use of the music on the phones is affecting the way the playcounts work with my laptop during times when I am using the Apple Music library on my laptop. There used to be some kind of bug in Catalna about that, and it seems to have shown up again, not sure why.

But this time it's different, I mean I never experienced having to sign out and stay signed out to see playcounts start updating again. I didn't even know my protected music files (some older ones with Apple's DRM on them) would even play unless I was signed in. Apparently now as long as you've authorized your machine, signing in is not a requirement just to play tracks locally. Weird. When it was buggy before, I sometimes had to sign out, reboot the machine, relaunch iTunes using desired library and then sign in again. Now I can't get playcounts to update at all on the laptop if I am signed in.

What I don't get is how to use my Apple music library on Catalina (which DOES require that I sign in or else I don't see anything but my downloaded music, either mine or Apple Music tracks) and yet keep track of play counts and stuff recently played, because that library also acts like the main library and does not update playcounts or dates when I am signed in.

Not sure if I'm asking for help or just kvetching. Maybe I'll have to upgrade to Big Sur after all but I have some software that won't run on it so I feel like Apple has me in a corner not of my own doing. Most of all I don't understand what has happened to my setup. I suspect something in the most recent security update to the OS which I did just apply recently, possibly on the 19th when all this started happened without my noticing. I remember that update taking a long time and rebooting about four times, so... ?!

Try restoring to a old Time Machine back up.

 

[LizKat]

Try restoring to a old Time Machine back up.

Heh, yeah. I would do that for sure if there were anything else going on that didn't look ok....

Too bad I didn't notice things getting out of whack in the music libraries between the 19th and the 21st when I noticed I was missing playcount updates, but everything else seems ok. And believe me, I did then look around through stuff I don't even use that often on that machine, just to make sure apps all still launch and can read their files...

So restoring seems a little too drastic at this point, even if I do care about aspects of my music library that are not necessarily correct now re playcounts and dates played. My workaround will keep things updated going forward... mostly, unless I go for another round of collecting new Apple Music and so have to sign IN to my account.

It's not like I haven't done other work on the machine since the 19th. Also I'm not sure I'd not end up with same result if I restored entirely (to undo the security update on the possibly incorrect assumption that THAT is the root of the problem) and then re-ran the security update, since I'd not like leaving that dangling. So I'll leave it to Apple to figure out any related Music issue, if they notice (or get it brought to their attention) and get around to it. I'm sure they're increasingly focused on only Big Sur issues and so I won't hold my breath.​

Honestly I'm almost tempted to just dispense with music altogether on my phones (temporarily) and make sure any stuff in those devices' settings like syncing and home sharing are all turned off... then see if I could sign IN to my account on the laptop in either library and have playcounts and played dates get updated properly. Then just reload those phones manually as desired by connecting them to the laptop after I get around to instaling Big Sur... assuming the issue I'm having is related to Catalina alone.

In the meantime my choice seems clear according to the wacky new rules the laptop running Catalina now has for my music:

I can remain signed OUT of my account in the Music app on the 2020 MBA, and then play any music on the machine that's local (downloaded Apple music, or anything in my separate library of purchased music), and have playcounts and date last played get updated.​

​

OR, I can sign IN to my account and then play any of that stuff plus any desired streaming from Apple music and have all the playcounts and last played dates remain unaltered.​

​

Probably I'm settling for the first option, as I like keeping track of the played dates and counts on the laptop.​

​

Well I'm headed back to battling the advance of weeds in the garden, where the only music I really need is the birds minding their nestlings....

 

[Roxy.music]

Heh, yeah. I would do that for sure if there were anything else going on that didn't look ok....

Too bad I didn't notice things getting out of whack in the music libraries between the 19th and the 21st when I noticed I was missing playcount updates, but everything else seems ok. And believe me, I did then look around through stuff I don't even use that often on that machine, just to make sure apps all still launch and can read their files...

So restoring seems a little too drastic at this point, even if I do care about aspects of my music library that are not necessarily correct now re playcounts and dates played. My workaround will keep things updated going forward... mostly, unless I go for another round of collecting new Apple Music and so have to sign IN to my account.

It's not like I haven't done other work on the machine since the 19th. Also I'm not sure I'd not end up with same result if I restored entirely (to undo the security update on the possibly incorrect assumption that THAT is the root of the problem) and then re-ran the security update, since I'd not like leaving that dangling. So I'll leave it to Apple to figure out any related Music issue, if they notice (or get it brought to their attention) and get around to it. I'm sure they're increasingly focused on only Big Sur issues and so I won't hold my breath.​

Honestly I'm almost tempted to just dispense with music altogether on my phones (temporarily) and make sure any stuff in those devices' settings like syncing and home sharing are all turned off... then see if I could sign IN to my account on the laptop in either library and have playcounts and played dates get updated properly. Then just reload those phones manually as desired by connecting them to the laptop after I get around to instaling Big Sur... assuming the issue I'm having is related to Catalina alone.

In the meantime my choice seems clear according to the wacky new rules the laptop running Catalina now has for my music:

I can remain signed OUT of my account in the Music app on the 2020 MBA, and then play any music on the machine that's local (downloaded Apple music, or anything in my separate library of purchased music), and have playcounts and date last played get updated.​

​

OR, I can sign IN to my account and then play any of that stuff plus any desired streaming from Apple music and have all the playcounts and last played dates remain unaltered.​

​

Probably I'm settling for the first option, as I like keeping track of the played dates and counts on the laptop.​

​

Well I'm headed back to battling the advance of weeds in the garden, where the only music I really need is the birds minding their nestlings....

You can not beat the sounds of birds chirping.

 

[chiefdave]

I have several playlists which contain tracks that aren't in my library. Deleting them from the playlist used to just be a swipe left and hit delete.

That options gone now but is there not a better way to remove a track than hitting the 3 dots in the top right, then edit, then the minus sign?

Seems a very long way round.