How to access old iTunes purchases associated with an inaccessible email on a new Mac Studio?

I recently got a new Mac Studio and, after loading my music onto it, I authorized the computer using my current iCloud account. However, when I play music on the Studio, I sometimes get a popup asking me to authorize a very old email account, a @roadrunner.com address that is now part of Spectrum. I no longer have access to this account and cannot authorize these songs because I don’t have the password.


I checked my iPhone, and the songs do not appear there either. Since I cannot enter the password for the old email, have I lost access to all my old purchases? If not, how can I retrieve them, and is there a way to identify which songs in my iTunes library are associated with that old email account?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Authorized New Computer, but...

Mac Studio, macOS 15.6

Posted on Sep 28, 2025 5:28 PM

Reply
2 replies

Sep 29, 2025 5:35 AM in response to rskern

Hi Rskern,


It is not asking you for the password to your old email. It is asking for the password you used with your Apple Account when you had that old email (which may or may not be the same). Anyway, if you don't have it, see if this helps:

If you forgot your Apple Account password - Apple Support

You didn't say how old the old purchases are, but if "very old" means they are pre-2009, recovering them will give you new copies of the DRM-protected 128 kbps files, which may be more trouble than they are worth.


Sep 29, 2025 8:13 AM in response to ed2345

I reset my password yesterday. That's the information I found before posting this question on the forum.

It was probably before 2009, as I started with the 1st generation iPod. I looked at the album that was having an issue and it was released in 2006. As these errors pop-up I'll keep a playlist to see what albums need to be deleted.

How to access old iTunes purchases associated with an inaccessible email on a new Mac Studio?

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