Apple Music showing previews but won't play any songs

Subscribed to Apple Music. iCloud Sync with MacBook Pro. When I search for a song, it will show in Play window, but when I select the ... it shows PREVIEW and will not play. This particularly frustrating as I own the the original CDs that I had ripped to my MacBook Pro, prior to subscribing. I also occasionally upload self created content, that often has sync issues.


Apple Music has been a let down.


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Getting PREVIEW in music I searched for

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Aug 8, 2025 05:51 PM

Reply
22 replies

Aug 11, 2025 11:56 AM in response to Walletarian

Video files are not eligible for the cloud music library. Are these actually videos, or otherwise incorrectly formatted? Third-party tools may be able to extract audio for you if required.


With any track that has the status Error you can try right-clicking, then Add to Library in order to get Music to have another attempt at matching/uploading that item.


The same might work for tracks that are Waiting, although the faded tracks in your images might represent tracks from another library or device that have yet to finish processing there. On a computer you can also use File > Library > Update Cloud Library in an attempt to resume processing of incomplete updates.


The cloud music library will only accept unique tracks, those marked as duplicates will share properties with other tracks that have already been successfully matched or uploaded. You should eliminate same album duplicates from your library while retaining an original matched/uploaded/purchased copy. See Duplicate songs in iTunes/Music - Apple Community.


The cloud library won't take songs that are too long/short and too high/low a bitrate, and I don't think it particularly likes mono tracks. Your 30 second tracks with long names but no artist/album/track number metadata may also be an issue. Are they stored locally, or waiting to upload from some other computer or device?


Protected AAC files from your active Apple Account should already be included in your cloud library as part of your unhidden purchase history. Any purchases made with a different account will be ineligible. This may include purchases made with the same Apple ID when it was associated with a different email address, if you have ever changed that. Burning to audio CD and ripping back DRM free copies may be a workaround here.


tt2

Aug 15, 2025 10:00 AM in response to Walletarian

Voice Memo is a type that would have been excluded from the Cloud Music Library in the past back in iTunes. I didn't think that was an available type in the new Music app, but who knows? Perhaps it is encoded in the file type or genre somehow. Voice memos typically are recorded at a lower bit rate/depth than music.


The Apple Music library can contain locally stored music videos which can be played in that library. Those videos cannot be added to your cloud music library to be made available to other libraries and devices. It is a limitation of the service. Every library gets a music videos section. Your purchased and/or synced music videos will show up there.


Likewise purchases made with a different Apple ID/Account to the one used for your Apple Music subscription cannot be used with your cloud music library. Converting these tracks to new copies, even in the same format, should work. See Convert a song to a different file format with the Apple Music app or iTunes for Windows - Apple Support. E.g. set your import format to 256K AAC or MP3, convert the files with the old account details, then remove those from your library allowing the new files to match or upload.


tt2

Aug 8, 2025 06:20 PM in response to Walletarian

Getting PREVIEW in music I searched for

———-


A. Subscribed to Apple Music. iCloud Sync with MacBook Pro. When I search for a song, it will show in Play window, but when I select the ... it shows PREVIEW and will not play.

Confirm this Subscription went Through:

See here: View your Purchase History for the App Store and Other Apple media Services - Apple Support


B. […]This particularly frustrating as I own the the original CDs that I had ripped to my MacBook Pro, prior to subscribing. I also occasionally upload self created content, that often has sync issues. Apple Music has been a let down.

Getting Ripped Music on Music Library:

You need iTunes Match for this.

  1. Go Here: Subscribe to iTunes Match - Apple Support
  2. As it Reads: To access your songs and playlists on other devices, turn on Sync Library on all of your devices.”


C. Bing: will Apple Music play ripped cds

Aug 9, 2025 08:44 AM in response to TheLittles

TheLittles wrote:

B. […]This particularly frustrating as I own the the original CDs that I had ripped to my MacBook Pro, prior to subscribing. I also occasionally upload self created content, that often has sync issues. Apple Music has been a let down.
Getting Ripped Music on Music Library:
You need iTunes Match for this.


Nobody should need iTunes Match in addition to an Apple Music subscription. Apple Music will match/upload your locally stored music to your Cloud Music Library where it can be used, along with your unhidden purchases, across multiple computer libraries and devices. Apple Music also allows you to add content from the Apple Music catalog to your Cloud Music Library while you have an active subscription. It is a superset of the features of iTunes Match.


tt2

Aug 11, 2025 07:39 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks tt2. I'll probably try each in succession, note and respond. Is that ok with you?

"Video files are not eligible for the cloud music library. Are these actually videos, or otherwise incorrectly formatted? Third-party tools may be able to extract audio for you if required."

INELIGIBLE CLOUD STATUS? Many of these may be karaoke rips, music and words (media I own on CDG, DVD, yes, even laser discs). Others were created in iMovie and exported (some may have used .mov, m4a, mp4.) I've tried to isolate those in the Music Video playlist. So these will not sync in cloud music library? How do I keep them synced on my MacBook Pro and iPhone 13? Do I have to sync separately from Cloud? I want to be able to "project" via my Apple TV 4K device.

I'll try a few by right-clicklng as you suggest.

Thank you again.

Aug 15, 2025 09:28 AM in response to turingtest2

ATTACHED. I tried on some ERROR status. Created content and voice memos. Would not ADD TO LIBRARY. The one's with PURCHASE DATE were likely procured with my previous AppleID with a different email. Question, why would those not at least match, as Purchase Date is populated? Lastly, if Music Videos are not stored in cloud, why is the Playlist title there? I figure, that's because they are still stored on my current Mac. I DID have some of these files during a previous attempt at Apple Music a few years back on another Mac. I did use a direct transfer of files between old and new Mac.



[Edited by Moderator]

Aug 15, 2025 08:15 AM in response to turingtest2

"The cloud library won't take songs that are too long/short and too high/low a bitrate, and I don't think it particularly likes mono tracks. Your 30 second tracks with long names but no artist/album/track number metadata may also be an issue. Are they stored locally, or waiting to upload from some other computer or device?"


Some of these are ringtones or voice messages. I believe they are stored locally. I do not have my iPhone syncing directly to Cloud via AppleMusic on my Mac, but I do sync iPhone w Mac.


How can I identify mono and bitrates. Is there a column under SONGS I could add?


Guess I could add some metadata.


Next project "Duplicates:" shudder.


Thanks.



Aug 15, 2025 08:32 AM in response to Walletarian

In Songs you can enable Bit Rate, Sample Rate, Time, and Kind, to give you some insight into those items that are being excluded. I don't think there is a direct way to display mono tracks, but you might see something on the File tab of Get Info.


If you're using an Apple Music subscription then I would expect anything marked as a duplicate to be a copy of some other track in your library that isn't marked as a duplicate. Eliminating all those marked as duplicates could potentially break some of your playlists, that may not currently be eligible for the cloud, but shouldn't mean you lose any songs per se. As noted earlier see Duplicate songs in iTunes/Music - Apple Community. Backup what you have before you start in case you get over enthusiastic at any point. You would typically want to remove all but one of each group of tracks that shows up in a Same Album duplicates listing.


tt2

Aug 16, 2025 05:52 AM in response to Walletarian

See Managing your Mac media libraries - Apple Community. iTunes Music is the old name for the media folder, which then became iTunes Media, then later gained a /Music subfolder for music, which may well be carried over into the Music app where it is essentially redundant. Ideally your media folder would be something like ~/Music/Music/Media where ~ is your user's home folder, and there is no /Music subfolder within /Media.


tt2

Aug 17, 2025 01:36 PM in response to turingtest2

IF... I logout of my current AppleID (@me.com), currently synced with Apple Music on my Mac

AND... I then open my previous AppleID (@gmail.com), and can download/recover previous purchases, will that overwrite the @me Apple Music or create another folder set?

I don't think I can access on an older Mac that has not tried AppleMusic at one time or another.


My Time Machine backups from older machines were lost when an external hard drive failed.



Aug 17, 2025 01:45 PM in response to turingtest2

It would have been nice if my purchased song lists from another AppleID (with my name and same Amex account method of payment) would have showed up as a Match to new AppleMusic library. I would technically not have been transferring AAC files to AppleMusic, just allowing my old playlists to match. If I discontinued my @me AppleMusic subscription, I'd expect they be removed from Cloud anyway.


Also, do you know of a video player that functions similar to AppleMusic, where you can set up Playlists? iMovie does not have that capability, nor does Quicktime.

Aug 17, 2025 03:26 PM in response to Walletarian

Walletarian wrote:

IF... I logout of my current AppleID (@me.com), currently synced with Apple Music on my Mac AND... I then open my previous AppleID (@gmail.com), and can download/recover previous purchases...


Using Apple Music (subscription service) associates your computer with that Apple ID, and it cannot be used to access past purchases from a different account for 90 days. See Authorization vs. association - Apple Community for details. Playlists only become connected to your Apple ID when you are using an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription. Switching between accounts may not help. You cannot connect to two different cloud music libraries from the same machine at the same time. Or at least not in the Apple Music application. Apple Music on the web might just work, but doesn't allow for anything to be downloaded.


Playlists of your downloaded matched/uploaded/purchased content remain in your library when you sign out of the cloud library service (Sync Library). It is best to do this before your subscription actually expires.


tt2

Apple Music showing previews but won't play any songs

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