Apple apps and services have a good reputation for staying online and not crashing. But Murphy’s law will ensure that eventually, the thing you want to use will come crashing down just when you want to use it. If Apple Music suddenly stops working, here is a handy checklist of things to try to get your rock and roll lifestyle back on track.
Read more: Apple Music — is it worth it?
QUICK ANSWER
If Apple Music stops working, try all the easy things first. This includes restarting the Music app, restarting your computer, and checking to see if Apple Music is down for everyone. If these fail, check to make sure you have the latest updates and more.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
Restart the Music app
It’s always best to start with the easy stuff, and nothing is easier than shutting down the Music app and re-opening it.
You need to remember, though, that clicking the red dot in the top left-hand corner will NOT close the app — it merely minimizes it to the Dock. To close the Music app properly, you need to right-click the app icon in the Dock and select Quit.
If you’re having problems with the Music app, though, you may not be able to close it with the Quit command. You may have to Force Quit it. To do this, right-click on the app icon again, and eventually, the Quit option will be replaced by Force Quit.
Alternatively, open Activity Monitor, find the Music app, highlight it, then click the X icon at the top, followed by Force Quit.
When the Music app is completely closed, re-open it and see if it now works.
Check your internet connection
If you still can’t get it to work, the next step is to see if you still have an internet connection. This can easily be seen by looking at the top of your computer to find the Wi-Fi signal icon.
Just toggle off the Wi-Fi and toggle it back on again. If it fails to come back on, restart your router.
Check if Apple Music is down
If your internet connection is fine, then there’s a good chance the problem is at Apple’s end. The best way to find out is to go to Apple’s System Status page. This gives you the current status of each Apple service — red means it’s down, and green means it’s fine.
Get the latest updates and restart your device
If Apple Music is working, the next step is to make sure you have the latest updates.
To find out if you have the latest Music app, open the App Store and click the Updates tab. You will now see if there are any available updates for the apps installed on your computer. If there’s one for Apple Music, install it.
Then make sure you have the latest version of the operating system. To find out, click the Apple logo in the top left corner of the screen and select System Preferences. When the box comes up, click Software Update.
Once all updates have been applied, restart your computer.
Check your Apple Music subscription
Still not working? Then it’s time to dig a little deeper. Has your Apple Music subscription run out, perhaps? With all the subscriptions people have these days, it can be easy to overlook renewing something. We have done an article on canceling your Apple Music subscription. You can do the same method to see if your subscription is still active. If it isn’t, you can renew it with a couple of clicks.
Remove the album/song and re-add it
There’s one more thing you can try if all else has failed. Try removing the album or song that doesn’t work and immediately re-add it. Sometimes there is a glitch that stops some albums from playing, and usually, deleting it and re-adding it removes the blockage.
Contact Apple Support
