Solved: How to Fix Apple Music Not Playing Downloaded Songs

For Apple Music subscribers, it's perfect to have the download service to download songs to listen to offline from Apple Music catalog. However, it's not so perfect when the Apple Music downloaded songs not playing no matter how hard users have tried.

Don't despair. We've collected possible causes and fixes to this issue. For Apple Music users who would like to have more control of their downloaded music contents, we also offer some exclusives.

Part 1. Causes to Apple Music Downloaded Songs Not Playing

For starters we'd like to make it clear that this part is based on the download service and the downloaded songs - not on the app and devices for common fixes. The list here for the normal causes here is for identification and some steps to fix the related issue.

1. Your Subscription Is Unavailable

As the download service is one of the Apple Music subscription's features, the service should be checked to see whether it is expired, cancelled.

2. You Hasn't Finish the Download

One of the causes to Apple Music not playing downloaded songs is how Apple Music users use the download services. This means even the subscription is fine, Apple Music users can't listen to the downloaded songs offline if the download hasn't been finished for the offline mode.

You should consider redownloading those songs - and better in another version.

3. Downloaded Songs Are Restricted

To check content restrictions:

For iOS

1. From the Home Screen, open Settings.

2. Tap Screen Time, then Content & Privacy Restrictions.

3. Tap Content Restrictions.

4. Open the section Music, Podcasts, News & Workouts.

5. Tap on Explicit.

4. Dolby Atmos Is Not Support

When Dolby Atmos is turned on, the downloaded songs are always in Atomos. However, if the device speaker doesn't support this, this Apple Music not playing downloaded songs can be caused.

Please check whether the downloaded songs in Atmos and turn it off as well as the lossless downloads in the settings.

To check if the downloaded songs in Dolby Atmos:

1. For starters, tap the downloaded songs to play it.

2. Then in Now Playing, check for the Dolby Atmos badge.

Or

3. If the song on an album is available in Atmos, there'll be a Dolby Atmos badge on the album's detail.

If the downloaded song is in Atmos, lease delete the song and redownload it from the Apple Music catalog in another version.

To turn off Dolby Atmos in Settings:

For iOS

1. From the Home Screen, go to Settings.

2. Tap Music.

3. Under Audio, tap Dolby Atmos.

4. Choose Automatic, switch it to Always Off.

For Android

1. On mobile, open the Apple Music app.

2. Tap the More button (vertical 3 dots icon), then Settings.

3. Tap Dolby Atmos to turn it off.

5. Your Region Is Not Support

In some cases, Apple Music does not support the region users are in, which will prevent users to listen to some songs, including the downloaded ones for offline listening. Please make sure the subscription is renewed to support the region.

To renew the Apple Music Subscription:

For iOS

1. From the Home Screen, open the Settings app.

2. Hit on the username, then sign out.

Tips: From here it's required to enter the Apple ID password to confirm.

3. Repeat the steps to Settings app, then sign in.

4. Enter the credentials to sign back.

For Android

1. On mobile, open the Apple Music app.

2. Go to Account Setting.

3. Sign out the account.

4. Sign back with the information.

If a simple renew won't fix this Apple Music not playing downloaded songs issue, it's time to consider change the Apple Music region.

To change the Apple Music Region:

For iOS

1. Still, go to Settings.

2. Tap the username, then Media & Purchases.

3. Tap View Account to sign in with Apple ID for confirmation.

4. Tap Country/Region, then Change Country or Region.

5. Tap the new one with Apple ID, then review the Terms & Conditions.

6. Tap Agree, then tap it again to continue.

7. Follow the on-screen instruction to enter all the information required, then tap Next to finish this change.

in iTunes

1. On desktop, open iTunes app.

2. Click on Account, then View My Account to sign in with the Apple ID and passcode.

3. Under Apple ID summary, click Change Country or Region to enter password to continue with the iTunes Store.

Note: The Country/Region tab shows the current place with this credentials.

4. From the list of Select a country or region, choose a new one.

6. Your Region Settings Hasn't Been Corrected

According to Apple Music, if there's an specific Apple Music song not available, there can be a problematic region setting issue even after a change on the region. You should correct some settings:

in iTunes

1. Open iTunes desktop app.

2. Click Account, then Sign out of the iTunes Store.

3. To match the region to which the Apple ID is set or rest, then sign back in with the Apple ID.

Part 2. Fixes to Apple Music Not Playing Downloaded Songs

In addition to the causes to Apple Music downloaded not playing issue above for identification, here we have collected more fixes to Apple Music not playing downloaded songs issue, however more related to the device and app.

1. Update Your Device and App

When it comes to errors with the device and app, please make sure the device OS and the Apple Music app is on the up-to-date versions. After an available update, it's recommended to restart the device to make this change function.

2. Restart Your Device and App

After an available update or not, we also recommend to restart the app or the device when the issue hasn't been fix.

For iOS

1. From the Home button, swipe up to see all the apps running in the background.

2. Swipe left or right to find the Music app.

3. Pause in the Music app's preview, then swipe up the full close it.

4. Back to the Home Screen, restart the Music app.

For Android

1. On Android, go to Settings.

2. Scroll down to Apps & Applications.

3. Tap Manage applications to Apple Music.

4. Tap Apple Musicx.

5. Back to the Home screen, restart the Apple Music app.

3. Fix Your Internet Connection

As most music streaming services - like Apple Music requires a stable internet connection to download or redownload the songs from its catalog, it's useful to fix or rebuild the internet connection to start the download.

To Rebuild Wi-Fi connection:

It's simple to rebuild Wi-Fi connection with a few clicks. Switch it off then back on after 30 seconds to reopen the Apple Music app.

To allow Apple Music to use Cellular Data:

If the download is finished in cellular data, please allow Apple Music to use it with some settings.

For iOS

1. Still, go to Settings.

2. Tap on Music.

3. Hit on the option Settings.

4. Confirm if the Cellular Data and Streaming has been enabled.

Tips: After the Internet connection has been fixed, please remember to download the problematic songs in another version than the Atmos. We recommend downloading the whole album.

4. Clear Apple Music Cache

When there are errors with the files - like the downloaded songs, clearing cache is proved to be useful.

To clear Apple Music cache:

For Android

1. Still, go to Settings.

2. Tap Apps & notifications, then Apps.

3. Under App apps list, tap Apple Music.

4. Under App info, tap Storage.

5.Tap Clear cache.

5. Uninstall Apple Music App

If the fixes above haven been tried with no success, it's time to uninstall the Apple Music app but, we'd not recommend this step since all the downloaded songs, including the problematic ones, will disappear and require a redownload, which is a frustrating process.

From here we'd like to introduce the exclusives of how we can help to solve this Apple Music not playing downloaded songs issue.

Part 3. Exclusives: Convert Apple Music Downloaded Songs

What we hasn't mentioned for the main reasons to this issue is the DRM, which set limits to users' download service with the downloaded songs. While the DRM proves to be the main causes to most frustrating experiences, here we'd like to offer exclusives for Apple Music users to benefit from - ViWizard Audio Converter.

ViWizard Audio Converter is a powerful Amazon Music converter for Apple Music users to download and convert all the music from Apple Music catalog into more formats, including MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, WAV and M4B. Once added and converted, the music is safe on the device. Just as important, it's hard to go wrong with ViWizard.