If you are having issues adding songs or albums to your playlists in Apple Music, there are a few potential causes and solutions to try. Playlists not updating properly is a common complaint among Apple Music users, but the good news is that there are steps you can take to troubleshoot and fix the problem.
Quick Answers
Here are some quick potential answers to why nothing is adding to your Apple Music playlist:
- Your Apple Music subscription has expired
- The song/album is not available in your region
- There is an internet connectivity issue
- The Apple Music app needs to be updated
- Your iCloud music library is out of sync
- There is a corrupted song file
- You’ve reached the playlist limit of 100,000 songs
Expired Subscription
One of the most common reasons nothing will add to your Apple Music playlist is because your subscription has expired. Apple Music requires an active subscription to be able to add songs or albums to your library and playlists. If your subscription lapsed, you’ll need to renew it before being able to add new content.
To check your subscription status, open the App Store on your iOS device and tap on your profile icon in the top right. On the account screen, scroll down to “Subscriptions” and check if Apple Music is listed as “Active.” If not, you’ll need to resubscribe to continue building playlists.
Content Unavailable in Your Region
Due to music licensing agreements, certain songs and albums may not be available to add to playlists in your country or region. Apple Music’s catalog availability varies by location, so you may run into issues trying to add content that is restricted where you live.
You can typically identify if a licensing restriction is the culprit if you get an error message that the content “Cannot be Added” or “Is not available in your region.” Unfortunately the only way around geo-blocking is to switch to a different region in your Apple Music account settings, which requires cancelling your current subscription.
Internet Connectivity Issues
Since Apple Music is a streaming service, an internet connection is required for adding content to your library and playlists. If you are experiencing network connectivity problems, it can prevent songs or albums from being added successfully.
Try disabling Wi-Fi and switching to a cellular data connection, or vice versa, to rule out any problems with your current network. Also reset your device’s network settings under General > Reset. Check if other apps are experiencing connectivity issues as well.
If you are connected to the internet but still unable to add music, you may need to restart your router if the issue is with your Wi-Fi network. An intermittent internet connection can disrupt adding content to Apple Music.
Update Apple Music App
An outdated version of the Apple Music app could also be the reason that nothing will add to your playlists. Apple regularly releases updates to fix bugs and improve performance of Music.
On your iOS device, open the App Store, tap your profile icon, and go to Available Updates to see if Apple Music needs to be updated. Also update iOS to the latest version via Settings > General > Software Update to ensure system compatibility.
On Mac, check the App Store or Mac App Store for pending Apple Music and system updates. Keeping your apps up to date will help resolve potential adding issues.
iCloud Music Library Out of Sync
Your iCloud Music Library stores all of the content added to your Apple Music account. If this online library becomes out of sync between devices, it can prevent adding new songs or albums.
To re-sync your iCloud Music Library, go to Settings > Music on iOS and tap Sync Library. You can also disable and re-enable iCloud Music Library to trigger a full re-upload. On Mac, choose Music > Preferences > General and re-enable iCloud Music Library.
Allow time for any pending uploads or changes to sync across your devices. Once your cloud library is back in sync, adding content to playlists should work again.
Corrupted Song Files
In rare cases, a corrupted song file can prevent adding a track to Apple Music playlists. The corruption likely occurred during the original download, and makes that file unreadable by the Apple Music app.
To identify corrupted files, try adding the problem songs or albums individually. Any tracks that error out are likely corrupted. You will need to delete and re-download these files.
On Mac, hold Option while clicking the song file, then choose Delete from the menu. On iOS, swipe left on the problem song and tap Delete.
Then search for the song again in Apple Music and re-download it. With a fresh file, you should now be able to add the track to playlists.
Playlist Limit Reached
Apple Music playlists are capped at a maximum of 100,000 songs per playlist. If you’ve hit this limit, you’ll need to trim down your oversized playlists before being able to add more songs.
Check your longest playlists under Library > Playlists and sort by Song Count in descending order. Select any lists over 100K songs and delete tracks until under the limit.
As an alternative, you can make copies of your extra-large playlists up to the 100K cap so that your original can continue growing. The playlist limit applies on a per-playlist basis.
Other Potential Causes
Here are a few other miscellaneous things to check if the above troubleshooting hasn’t resolved your Apple Music playlist issues:
- Restart your device
- Log out and back into Apple Music
- Disable/re-enable Offline Listening
- Check amount of free storage space on device
- Remove track from other playlists before re-adding
- Add content using a different device
Resetting your phone or computer, signing out of Apple Music, and toggling settings like Offline Listening can help clear out any problematic cache or data that may be causing adding errors.
Limited storage space and duplicates in other playlists can also prevent properly adding songs. Checking your storage breakdown and playlist content can identify these issues.
Contact Apple Support
If you still can’t resolve playlist problems after exhausting other troubleshooting, reach out to Apple support for additional help.
You can contact Apple support by phone, chat, email, or scheduling an appointment at an Apple retail store’s Genius Bar. Support specialists can look at your specific account, diagnose problems, and hopefully get your playlists back up and running.
Use a Third Party App
As a last resort, consider using a third party playlist manager app for building playlists. Apps like SongOwl, Cecilia, or Stamp offer advanced playlist creation and syncing across multiple music services.
While Apple Music has its limitations, these dedicated playlist apps provide more tools for organizing your music library. However, you may need to pay for a premium subscription to access certain features.
Summary
Here are the key points to remember when troubleshooting Apple Music playlist issues:
- Check subscription status
- Confirm song/album availability in your region
- Restart device and router to fix connectivity problems
- Update Apple Music app and iOS/MacOS
- Re-sync iCloud Music Library
- Delete and re-download any corrupted files
- Trim overloaded playlists exceeding 100K limit
- Contact Apple Support if issues persist
- Try a third party playlist manager app
With systematic troubleshooting, you should be able to resolve most adding errors. Apple Music’s playlists may have limitations, but identifying the cause of problems will allow you to work around them.