iTunes/Apple Music buffering

Hello olwags,

Thanks for that info and for choosing the Apple Support Communities. If we understand correctly, you are having an issue with playing songs in the Music app on your Mac, as it will pause and buffer. First, try running First Aid on your hard drive with the built in Disk Utility tool, as this can correct simple issues like you're experiencing.

How to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility - Apple Support

You can figure out if unexpected behavior is related to a user file or setting by trying to reproduce the issue from another user account. This process includes creating a new user account, logging in to it, and testing for the issue.

Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac - Apple Support

Cheers!

Hello olwags,

Since that persisted in a new user account, let's use the applicable set of steps below to boot into safe mode to see if that continues from there:

Start up in safe mode

Find out whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps.

If you're using a Mac with Apple silicon

1. Shut down your Mac.

2. Press and hold the power button on your Mac. As you continue to hold the power button, your Mac turns on and loads startup options. When you see Options, release the power button.

3. Select your startup disk. It's named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name.

4. Press and hold the Shift key, then click the “Continue in Safe Mode” button below your startup disk.

5. Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again.

If you're using an Intel-based Mac

If you're not using a Mac with Apple silicon, you're using an Intel-based Mac.

1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.

2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac. 

3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window. If you can't start up in safe mode, make sure that your Mac isn't using a firmware password.

You can also find those steps in this resource: Use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

It can take a few extra minutes to boot into safe mode. Your screen may flash or flicker while in safe mode. Those behaviors are expected. Testing in safe mode runs a check on your disk, removes some cached files, and can help isolate conflicts with startup items. Once you've tested that behavior in safe mode, you can restart to leave safe mode.

Let us know your results, and we'll keep moving forward from there.

Hi olwags,

Thanks for trying. To review this further for you, we recommend for you to contact Apple Support. You can contact them through this link here: Get Support

Best regards.