Airplay on Apple TV won't play certain songs

Question

Airplay on Apple TV won't play certain songs

I have an Apple TV HD and an iPhone 14 Pro Max that I am using to listen to music, both are updated using the latest available software. I have a paid subscription to Apple Music and iTunes Match. The problem I am encountering is that when I use my phone's Music app, and go to Control Other Speakers & TVs to control the Apple TV and play music on it, it won't play certain songs. Particularly, it seems to be songs that had been uploaded by me and not matched to a song on Apple Music that it struggles with.

I will pick a song to play, and instead of playing it, it just skips that song, and then skips every song on that album, and never plays anything.

If I pick a song that I know exists on Apple Music, it seems to play it right away. If I do this, and then go back and forth a bit, I can eventually get it to play the "uploaded" music. But if I pause, and then try to resume, it will just start skipping every song again, and I have to fiddle with it to get it to play the "uploaded" music again.

Would appreciate any help on this.

Apple TV HD, tvOS 18

Posted on Jul 11, 2025 10:34 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

xtheguitarmanx Author

Level 1

20 points

Aug 27, 2025 12:41 PM in response to Urquhart1244

Thanks for the reply.

To be clear, I am trying to have the Apple TV play the file, so its presence on the phone shouldn’t matter. The phone is being used as a controller, via the “Control Other Speakers” in the Airplay menu. Using this, I believe the phone is bypassed and the Apple TV is playing things directly.

I have been working on this issue and have found it may be an issue with wake up. If the Apple TV is asleep, and I try to play a non-matched song, it fails and will just continuously skip all songs on the album. Eventually, if I try a different album, it will start playing, but if I go back and try to play the first album, it still fails.

However, if I manually wake the Apple TV first, by using the iOS remote and hitting the home button to wake it, then it will play these songs on the first attempt.

So maybe this is some sort of wake up issue?

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Answer 2

Urquhart1244

Level 10

146,112 points

Jul 21, 2025 4:32 AM in response to xtheguitarmanx

AirPlay should play any audio file that is downloaded on your iPhone, without relying on the Apple Music catalog.

If that is what you are doing, then I can’t replicate this issue.

I do subscribe to Apple Music (but not iTunes Match), but I can’t be sure about an uploaded track to test, that is in my iCloud Music Library, and that isn’t in the catalog, and that hasn’t been downloaded to my iPhone. I think pretty much all of my library music is also present in the AM catalog. I don’t seem to have odd special recordings, sorry.

Unless someone else chimes in with a new idea, I would suggest to contact an expert from the Apple Support staff for further assistance. Contact Apple for support and service (phone numbers) or start your support request online (chat/email/callback).

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