How do I fix empty Apple Music Library tabs on Mac after Sequoia update?

So this is a bit of a predicament. This actually used to have a workaround but that lately stopped working. This happened a while back with an older Mac version (can’t remember which).


One day I opened the Music app on my Mac and my library showed completely empty… well, kind of. If I clicked on a tab for “Artists”, “Albums”, “Songs”, etc. it showed as empty. But when I opened any of my custom made playlists, they display as normal. This only happened on my Mac by the way, I have no problems on iOS.


I did eventually find a workaround. I would right-click on the tab for “Artists”, “Albums”, etc. and select an option from the drop-down menu called “Update Genius Playlist” (or was it “Update Smart Playlist”?) and that would return it to normal; my songs appeared again. I had to do this every time I added something to my library, but I didn’t mind since I had said workaround.


However, said workaround eventually stopped working after one system update; the “Update Genius Playlist” option no longer appeared when I right-clicked on the sidebar tabs. But I did find out that right clicking on the window where the songs would appear would bring up a dropdown menu with the “Update Genius Playlist” option.


But with the Sequoia update, now that’s not an option anymore either. Right clicking on the area where the songs would appear now no longer brings up a dropdown menu.


This is infuriating and I’ve tried everything. I've unchecked my "Sync Across Devices" checkbox and re-checked it again, & that hasn’t worked. What can I do?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.3

Posted on Feb 22, 2025 08:23 PM

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5 replies

Feb 22, 2025 09:22 PM in response to JoGoTheVO

"UPDATE: it turns out by unchecking and rechecking “Sync Across Devices”, the “Update Smart Playlist” drop-down menu appears when I right click in the album art section of the playbar at the top of the window. So there’s a workaround. However, this is still very inconvenient and I’d like to know if there’s a way I can get my Smart Playlists (Artists, Albums, etc.) to refresh/update automatically whenever I add new music or update to a new version of MacOS so my songs all appear."

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Automatic Syncing:

The only way things sync automatically, is when you have an Apple Music Subscription. So, if you do not have one, then that can most certain be a reason for this not-automatic syncing issue. Learn More Here: Get Apple Music Subscription - App Store

Feb 23, 2025 12:02 PM in response to JoGoTheVO

I am an Apple Music supporter, so why isn’t it syncing?

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Music Library Syncing:


Go Here: Sync Music Between your Mac and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


Don’t have my Mac in front of me at the moment, but troubleshooting this last night, going into the Library menu of Music, there was something to hover over over and the wording was dulled-out and read something along the lines of “Sync Across Devices”, or “Update Smart Playlist”. To right-click, you have to select a song first to get a popup window. So, what you are explaining may just be part of the GUI.

Feb 22, 2025 08:31 PM in response to JoGoTheVO

UPDATE: it turns out by unchecking and rechecking “Sync Across Devices”, the “Update Smart Playlist” drop-down menu appears when I right click in the album art section of the playbar at the top of the window. So there’s a workaround. However, this is still very inconvenient and I’d like to know if there’s a way I can get my Smart Playlists (Artists, Albums, etc.) to refresh/update automatically whenever I add new music or update to a new version of MacOS so my songs all appear.

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How do I fix empty Apple Music Library tabs on Mac after Sequoia update?

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