Music - Missing Features, Bugs, Issues & Troubleshooting

[ErikGrim]

Catalina 10.15.5 - Music 1.0.5.14
On Big Sur?
Revision history:

Spoiler

Catalina B3 - Music 1.0.0.282
Catalina B4 - Music 1.0.0.317
Catalina B5 - Music 1.0.0.341
Catalina B6 - Music 1.0.0.355
Catalina B7 - Music 1.0.0.368
Catalina B8 - Music 1.0.0.386
Catalina B9 - Music 1.0.0.416
Catalina B10 - Music 1.0.0.421
Catalina B11/GM - Music 1.0.0.426
Catalina 10.15.1b1 - Music 1.0.1.22
Catalina 10.15.1b2 - Music 1.0.1.33
Catalina 10.15.1b3/GM - Music 1.0.1.37
Catalina 10.15.2b1 - Music 1.0.2.19
Catalina 10.15.2b2 - Music 1.0.2.32
Catalina 10.15.2b3 - Music 1.0.2.36
Catalina 10.15.2 - Music 1.0.2.37
Catalina 10.15.3b3 - Music 1.0.3.1
Catalina 10.15.4b1 - Music 1.0.4.5
Catalina 10.15.4b2 - Music 1.0.4.89
Catalina 10.15.4b4 -> Catalina 10.15.5b1 - Music 1.0.4.104
Catalina 10.15.5b2 - Music 1.0.5.3
Catalina 10.15.5b3 - Music 1.0.5.9
Catalina 10.15.5b4 - Music 1.0.5.12
Catalina 10.15.5b5 - Music 1.0.5.14

Missing Features

1. Internet radio (old style streaming stations)
2. 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 browser
3. Album/song view: Can't view albums in place. Music has a separate page for every album. Artist view can view them in a list.
4. In song view, the options to "always show artwork" and "sort by artwork" have been removed
5. No option for setting grid size in album view. ie in iTunes you could have 13 albums on each row, in Music only 5. Makes scrolling through library tedious.
6. Can't view a bigger version of the album art from Now playing. (in iTunes you could cmd + click to open a bigger artwork. This was separate from the mini player which wouldn't resize quite large and won't open in iTunes full screen)
7. Gestures missing in Apple Music (compare to iTunes Store where gestures still work)
8. XML library is no longer automatically generated for "sharing info" to other apps but can still be created via "Export Library" – this causes issues for some DJ software.
9. According to marketing material, playlist sidebar is meant to have icons based on album art or custom - coming in future update (?). Still nothing in 1.0.5.x.
10. Can’t select non downloaded matched songs and batch download them using Download from the context menu. Workaround: Share a playlist with yourself containing all the tracks you want to download, open the link in the email, open in Music. Then there will be a download icon next to the context menu.
11. No way to rename playlists inline either from the sidebar or in playlist title on main page. When clicking rename or double clicking, a new dialog box with text box to edit the name pops up. Seems very kludgy.
12. Ripping old CD's into "Music" Still does not seem to add "Non Apple" Artwork - requires manually adding artwork
13. Column browser - Good News - It's Back v1.0.2.19 - In View Menu - See Screen Shot
14. Multiple library selection (option clicking when opening the app).
15. Can't keep files where they are when importing new music Working if unchecking Copy Files to Music Media folder in preferences
16. Can't import old iTunes library except once when updating to Catalina place copy of old iTunes library in "music" folder and hold option key to choose the library to open it and import
17. The iOS iTunes Remote app doesn't work yet with the Music app. Still shocking that the app has not been updated yet. App update required, sync manually not through Home Sharing (see troubleshooting)
18. Siri can't control Music
19. AirPods gestures can't control Music

Bugs

1. Filter search does not persist when switching between playlists
2. Playlist/albums scroll positions aren't retained if you switch away from them. Album now retains position as of 1.0.2.37. Playlists DO NOT.
3. Playlists do not retain view and column width settings after converting iTunes library
4. When I am playing a song in the list view and then I click Controls -> Go to Current Song (cmd + L) it changes to the album view (and goes back to the song view after clicking on the back arrow). When I do the same thing playing a song from a smart playlist, it remains in the song view.
5. After a restart of the app the sorting changes from "Album by Artist/Year" to "Album" in smart playlists.
6. Genius results can’t be updated right now. An Unknown error occured (18004) (4001). This also happens in iTunes under Catalina.
7. A new playlist is not created takes a long time to appear when creating from an album in Apple Music. To reproduce, click the "More" (the three dots (•••) button on an album in browsing mode of Apple Music, then select "Add to Playlist," which then provides a long list of playlists, including "New Playlist.". Takes a long time with a "Creating playlist in Library" in activitiy. Causes error 9,039.
8. Some of the advanced playback features (for example Sound Check, Equalizer settings, Volume Adjust and Start/Stop) are not working when AirPlay playback is enabled.
9. On a wired (Ethernet) connection with WiFi off, try selecting an AirPlay output in Music. The primary network connection will immediately drop out and take some time to reestablish itself. Any network traffic (e-mail, file transfers, etc.) will be interrupted. (Holdover bug from iTunes)
10. Music app will randomly stop registering double clicks on a song to play. I have to use the "Play" button when you hover over the song number. If I quit and reopen the app double clicking works for a while and then stops again.
11. Consolidate files does not works: the files are not copied to the Media folder (fixed in b8)
12. Logged out of Apple Music. No way to sign in. When trying to sign up with a plan, get a dialog that says I am already a member. Then get shuffled to the genres you love screen with the next button obscured by the Apple Music ad.
13. Does not connect to Apple servers to collect iTunes Match data.
14. Apple Music: See All (top songs/albums etc.) on artist page doesn’t do anything
15. Library can disappear completely (see troubleshooting)
16. Crash on deleting multiple playlists (iCloud syncing issue?)
17. Locks up on Updating Cloud Music Library
18. Album art can be missing both in local/iCloud playlists
19. Can't uncheck Update Album Art
20. Views and sorting settings for playlist are not saved through restarts (fixed in b5)
21. Error 9309 on opening after force quit/crash

Issues

1. Filter field DOES NOT PERSIST between switching playlists.
2. Filter field is ugly. Shows redundant "Filter text" label and takes up too much space.
3. Back button is ugly. Redesigned in 1.0.1, but still a single button on same spaced line as "Filter text"
4. Can’t remove playlist header in Song view
5. AppleScript / Scrobblers / Keyboard remote apps addressing “iTunes.app” no longer working
6. UI conventions from iOS are unwelcome, especially the slide-in lyrics / playing next panes
7. Playlist views, column widths etc. are not retained when transferring from iTunes to Music
8. Loading the library can take a long time, especially after a force quit. Even on SSD.
9. Beachball often apperas when using the new search.
10. Updating artist artwork takes a long time / lots of CPU
11. Same font weight and size and tighter kerning for both primary/secondary text (instead of say Bold artist, regular title) in Apple music. Only differentiation is font colour/brightness. Harder to read and scan - especially on non-retina screens.
12. The UI is so gray that at a glance sometimes you might not realise Music is the foreground application.
13. Show Only Downloaded Music" option is now universal. Not per playlist.
14. Songs not in two columns anymore if you have a large screen, causing excessive scrolling in Album view.
15. Random UI bugs. It will lag, sometimes flash when going between albums, and the animations are sometimes very abrupt.
16. Beachball when switching to any library view or playlist for the first time (SSD).
17. The stoplights buttons are aligned too far to the left
18. The hover zoom in Apple Music is blurry on non-retina screens Hover effect removed in b6
19. Remote app (iOS) not working
20. Switching to Music from any other app has a delay

Troubleshooting

1. To rebuild your library, try deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Music.plist then
   1. Move your music out of the Music folder and delete everything left in it.
   2. cd ~/Library and remove any folders that have Music or iTunes in the name
   3. cd ~/Library/Caches and delete any folders with Music or iTunes in the name
   4. Reboot
   5. Put your music folders back where you had them before. You may need to Import your music again to let the Music app organize them in a way that makes sense to it
2. OR: This Applescript will force playlist re-build from original "iTunes Music Library.xml"
   https://github.com/dimecho/iTunes-Catalina
3. Music Store can be enabled under view and in preferences.
4. Pseudo column browser under Artists (Library > Edit) (no longer needed as column browser is back!)
5. Home Sharing has moved to the Sharing pane in System Preferences (Media Sharing)
6. Some sync issues for older iPods fixed by installing ItunesAccess https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/has-anyone-gotten-an-ipod-shuffle-2nd-gen-to-work.2196567/
7. Switching all your playlists (back) to song view is quicker if you add a keyboard shortcut (System Prefs -> Keyboard) to this View item:
   
   
8. Doug Adams have started updating all his scripts for Music
9. You may need to connect the remote app manually and not with home sharing:
   open remote app => tap settings in upper right corner => add iTunes library => in the music app in your Mac: look for the remote app symbol (arrow with your iPhone name) and enter the 4 digits
10. Music always starting in full screen mode? Close Music, run
    
    defaults delete com.apple.Music
    
    in Terminal, and reopen Music.
11. Seeing as we are stuck with 1.0.5.x for Catalina, your best solution is probably to just install iTunes again.

New welcome features:

1. New top bar
   
2. Indented selection of playlists - gone again.
3. Real-time lyrics in pane, mini-player and full screen mode (1.0.4.89)
4. New Full screen mode activated from mini-player zoom button or keyboard shortcut
   
   Thanks to @Internet Enzyme for discovering and screenshots
5. 1.0.5.9 allows you to two-finger scroll the volume and track bars.

Continues in new thread for Big Sur: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/music-missing-features-bugs-issues-troubleshooting.2242371/

Wiki post: everyone is welcome to add to and edit.

 

[Madonnnaaaaaaaaa]

Album art not showing randomly on local built libraries (worked fine on iTunes)

 

[matt_and_187_like_this]

Gestures missing
Annoying "back" button that takes up too much space
Playlists still not figured out (list is uninspired)
Apple Music integration not improved over previous version

 

[colinwil]

Catalina B3 - Music 1.0.0.282

1. Library can disappear completely - anyone have a fix for this?

I had this - after upgrading from Beta 2 to Beta 3. All music and playlists gone - a heart-stopping moment.

After much experimentation I found I could fix it by simply deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Music.plist.

Anyone else with this problem, please give this a try and report back...

 

[rishi.talreja]

More issues:

• No multiple library support
• Can't keep files where they are when importing new music
• Can't import old iTunes library except once when updating to Catalina (my Music library messed up and I found out I couldn't import after deleting and deciding to start over)
• Can't view albums in place. Music has a separate page for every album.
• Can't view a bigger version of the album art from Now playing. (in iTunes you could cmd + click to open a bigger artwork. This was separate from the mini player which wouldn't resize quite large and won't open in iTunes full screen)

 

[mvdw84]

I had this - after upgrading from Beta 2 to Beta 3. All music and playlists gone - a heart-stopping moment.

After much experimentation I found I could fix it by simply deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Music.plist.

Anyone else with this problem, please give this a try and report back...

My music library and playlists all disappeared - looked at this folder above and I don't even have a file with that name.

 

[ErikGrim]

Thanks for input everyone. I'll try deleting that plist and see if it rebuilds from iTunes library.

 

[Mpedroza90]

I continuously get "The folder containing “Music Library” cannot be found, and is required. Please choose or create a new music library." when I click on choose library, it doesn't allow me to select my previous iTunes library. Anyone find a fix for this? I tried deleting the plist and it did not work

 

[nollimac]

Was disappointed to find no Internet radio and could not play songs from my old iPod...that's won't make Music fly. It also didn't separate the two albums on the iPod and just bunch them up into one list of mp3 files.

 

[ErikGrim]

After much experimentation I found I could fix it by simply deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Music.plist.

Anyone else with this problem, please give this a try and report back...

Deleting this file and restarting did not restore my iTunes library. I now only have an offline iCloud library :/

 

[geminicon]

Deleting this file and restarting did not restore my iTunes library. I now only have an offline iCloud library :/

My iCloud Music Library will not even load; it just stays at the "Loading" page. I left it open over an hour earlier and nothing loaded. I have a large library but when the beta was first installed it did not take long.

 

[jlgg]

A few more for your list

• In song view, the options to "always show artwork" and "sort by artwork" have been removed
• “Sort by” options don’t stick upon relaunch of app. ie in album view, sort by title reverts to sort by year upon relaunch
• No option for setting grid size in album view. ie in Mojave I have 13 albums on each row, in Catalina only 5. Makes scrolling through library tedious

 

[ErikGrim]

A few more for your list

• In song view, the options to "always show artwork" and "sort by artwork" have been removed
• “Sort by” options don’t stick upon relaunch of app. ie in album view, sort by title reverts to sort by year upon relaunch
• No option for setting grid size in album view. ie in Mojave I have 13 albums on each row, in Catalina only 5. Makes scrolling through library tedious

Thanks, added. Everyone is able to edit the wiki post, so feel free to edit and add

 

[rishi.talreja]

Deleting this file and restarting did not restore my iTunes library. I now only have an offline iCloud library :/

Welcome to the club! I've had the same problem and have not been able to fix it using any means so far. I've tried deleting the pref file, the music library itself, music cache (which is what caused my library to go bonkers in the first place) and a combination of all of these. But my music app remains to this day just offline iCloud tracks even though I have a 300gb iTunes library, none of the mp3s are actually referenced. I'm waiting for the GM release to downgrade to Mojave backup and then update again to avoid all this.

 

[ErikGrim]

Oof. Not much progress in the latest beta. Post updated.

 

[Madonnnaaaaaaaaa]

Having a lot of these issues. Half my embedded album art still isn’t showing in beta 4. Also doesn’t show when synced to iPhone

 

[billgr0248]

Maybe this has been addressed elsewhere but I didn't see it. When I view the albums in my library MANY of the SONGS have a download icon...some of them have 2. Is there a convenient way to eliminate all these duplicate outside of selection each one individually, selecting delete from library & then hide?

 

[Hergesheimer]

I know it‘s a beta , but that Music App is not working at all. They should have waited and have added it to Catalina at a later stage or beta.

 

[uniquexoxo]

The only thing I hate about Music app is that iTunes Remote no longer works

 

[Xyth]

Does Artist View still have those round images next to each entry in the list of artist names? Hoping not because they're hardly ever accurate and can't be changed manually.

 

[matt_and_187_like_this]

Not a bug nor an issue, more a feature request:

Idea to improve visibility and usability of Beats 1 service:
Split Beats 1 and Radio Stations into own categories. Right now you click on Radio and see mostly Beats 1 content anyway, but not the On Demand section. More to explore all the way to the bottom of the page does not only look weird but has just two categories. The Station part is basically empty with only a carousel of featured stations.
Maybe add a "Live" Button right into the left column next to the Radio for quick access to the Beats 1 live stream.

 

[thomascbullock]

The only thing I hate about Music app is that iTunes Remote no longer works

Have we heard anything with respect to whether this is a bug or if they're deprecating the Remote app? That would be a real shame if so.

 

[Roxy.music]

Thanks, added. Everyone is able to edit the wiki post, so feel free to edit and add

[doublepost=1564337253][/doublepost]From what you are saying, I will have to stay with Mojave until they sort out the bugs.

 

[applCore]

Have these issues all been reported to Apple via Feedback Assistant?

 

[Madonnnaaaaaaaaa]

I’ve reported about syncing issues, album art not showing, library being deleted from beta 4 onwards