Can't Browse Apple Music in Music.app

[Jeffois]

Hi!

I just started my Apple Music trial. All good on my iOS devices. But on my Mac, I can't browse the Apple Music features. My local library is all there, accumulated over the years...

But all I see in the upper left corner is the phrase "Apple Music," with nothing there to click on. Like so:

I'm running the latest version of Catalina... I've restarted, I've signed out of iCloud...I've looked online to no avail, and searching within the forums didn't turn anything up.

Thoughts?

 

[CoastalOR]

Have you selected "iTunes Store" in the sidebar?
This thread might help:

Buying music from the Catalina Music Store...?

I just spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to buy songs/albums in the Catalina Music Store, and I was completely stumped. I just kept getting offers for a 'free' Apple Music trial. I finally said screw it and went to my Windows PC and bought the album I was looking for in the old/new...

forums.macrumors.com

Here is a long thread of some of the quirks of the Music app in Catelina:

Music - Missing Features, Bugs, Issues & Troubleshooting

Catalina 10.15.5 - Music 1.0.5.14 On Big Sur? Revision history: Missing Features Internet radio (old style streaming stations) Filter playlists (search in playlists) View -> Show Filter Field (Still does not persist between switching playlists Music 1.0.5.x ) very annoying when using column...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[chabig]

I am going guess that you are not signed into your Apple Music account. Look under the Account menu to verify.

 

[Jeffois]

I am going guess that you are not signed into your Apple Music account. Look under the Account menu to verify.

I'm definitely signed in to my icloud account. My iTunes Match is all there. I double-checked to make sure. And just to be clear, I'm not confused on the difference between ITM and AM, I'm just not canceling Match before I know for sure that I'm going to keep AM.

Have you selected "iTunes Store" in the sidebar?
This thread might help:

I have. An interesting thing I've discovered. I can play AM music from the advertisements in the itunes store. "Listen to whatever, only in Apple Music..." But I have no options for browsing it in the sidebar. The screenshot above tells the story---just the phrase "Apple Music," but no ability to browse the service.

 

[chabig]

Keep in mind that your iCloud account and your Apple Music account are not the same thing, however I am going to assume you meant Apple Music account. Beyond that, here is what I would try next:

1. Open Music Preferences > Restrictions and cycle Apple Music off and back on.
2. If that doesn't work, log out of your account and back in.
3. If that doesn't work, restart the computer.
4. If that doesn't work, download and run the latest Catalina combo updater.

Download macOS Catalina 10.15.4 Combo Update - Apple Support

macOS Catalina 10.15.4 introduces iCloud Drive folder sharing, Screen Time communications limits, Apple Music time-synced lyrics view, and more. The update also improves the stability, reliability, and security of your Mac.

support.apple.com

 

[Jeffois]

Keep in mind that your iCloud account and your Apple Music account are not the same thing, however I am going to assume you meant Apple Music account. Beyond that, here is what I would try next:

Download macOS Catalina 10.15.4 Combo Update - Apple Support

macOS Catalina 10.15.4 introduces iCloud Drive folder sharing, Screen Time communications limits, Apple Music time-synced lyrics view, and more. The update also improves the stability, reliability, and security of your Mac.

support.apple.com

You may be giving me too much credit!

As a long time Mac user (since 1992), I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know that. They use the same credentials, after all.

I can play AM when I click on a link for AM stuff within the iTunes Store. Just to make sure, I clicked on the “Join Apple Music” ad within there, and it told me that I’m already a subscriber. So my computer seems to know that I’m subscribed.

I’ll try the other measures. Though it was that way, then I upgraded to the latest update of Catalina yesterday, and it’s still with the sidebar silliness, and I had tried logging out of my account, and I had tried restarting, and upgrading the OS, I just didn't do the "combo" trick. That will have to wait until later in the day, because I have an online meeting in a couple of hours, I need to be sure that I have access to the machine until after that.

 

[chabig]

Your AppleID is the key to everything Apple, but iCloud and Apple Music are separate services. And yes, they all use your AppleID as the credential. If you're not signed in to Apple Music, the Music > Account menu will say "Sign in". If you are signed it will show account stuff. I'll assume you're signed in.

If the sidebar silliness existed before your upgrade to Catalina, I would still try the combo updater. If that doesn't work, then you might create another user account on the Mac and see how it looks there to identify whether the problem is with the system or your user account.

 

[Jeffois]

I do have another account, just in case of the need to test issues like this. I'll try that now.
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So, logged in to the other user account, and there was no Sidebar Silliness. Apple Music was there in the sidebar, fully browsable.

I had already been running Catalina, I just upgraded to the most recent update yesterday. Not sure if that matters, or if the Combo is still worth a shot.

 

[Jeffois]

Installed the Combo Updater. Still not showing me the tabs to browse AM.

 

[chabig]

So we know it’s something in your user account, probably in your Library. I’d start looking for iTunes plists there. Test by moving to your desktop rather deleting until you find the culprit.

 

[Jeffois]

So we know it’s something in your user account, probably in your Library. I’d start looking for iTunes plists there. Test by moving to your desktop rather deleting until you find the culprit.

Oy. Ok. I’ll give it a shot.
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So we know it’s something in your user account, probably in your Library. I’d start looking for iTunes plists there. Test by moving to your desktop rather deleting until you find the culprit.

That did it!! Thank you. For anyone who might see this thread in the future, after getting rid of many, many old iTunes plist files, it was the Apple Music plist file that did the trick. With Music.app closed, I dragged that to the desktop, opened the app, and voila!!!

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions!!