The “Create Station” feature on Apple Music automatically plays a streaming radio based on a song, and it’s ten times better than the Autoplay feature in my opinion.
The Autoplay feature automates the same 5 to 8 songs in any instance, no matter what or who I’m playing. Create Station, on the other hand, provides songs that make way more sense.
I love the Create Station feature on Apple Music because I’ve discovered so many great artists. It’s like going on a journey of new and familiar music based on the song you love.
And it’s super accurate at finding songs you will like. It’s kind of ridiculous how good it is. But the problem is, sometimes the Apple Music Create Station won’t turn on.
The option to create a station from Apple Music often stops working. When you select Create Station, an error comes up with a “Could not create station. Try again later” message.
As a side note, the Create Station feature on Apple Music has been known to not work properly. What I’m sharing with you are just some workarounds without guarantee they’ll work.
Let’s hope Apple fixes the feature soon. However, I’m quite confident that if you follow the tips in this article, you should be able to enjoy the Create Station feature on Apple Music.
Make sure the software version is up to date
For Create Station to be able to work properly, your device (iPhone or MacBook, for example) must be running the latest software version, otherwise, it won’t work.
Update all of your Apple devices to the latest versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS. On your PC, make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes for Windows.
There were numerous times when Apple Music Create Station wasn’t working. The screen always gives me the “Could not create station. Try again later” message.
After updating my iPhone to the latest software, the Create Station feature seemingly fixed itself. My guess is that the software update restored the feature’ functionality on the Apple Music app.
Remember, it’s a good habit to keep the software of your device up to date. Software updates come with bug fixes and many improvements that keep apps working as well as they should.
Create a station using a different artist
As great as Create Station is, it has its limitations. For one, it works on some artists, but not on others. Sometimes, it works on a particular artist but then doesn’t work at a later stage.
My friend had the exact same problem. The feature will work on some songs but not others, and it has nothing to do with the relative popularity of the song.
If you’re dealing with this issue, try creating a station using a different song from a different artist. There’s a good chance that Apple Music can create a station based on that song.
My theory is that the Create Station feature doesn’t work for certain artists because the Apple Music app doesn’t have the necessary data to accumulate similar songs yet.
Also, the Apple Music Create Station feature only works for tracks that are natively on the Apple Music database. It doesn’t work for the songs you’ve uploaded from iTunes.
Create a station with the help of Siri
You can create a station by tapping the More icon (three dots icon), but did you know that you can also create a station by using your voice instead?
If you’re having trouble creating a station on Apple Music using the traditional method, try asking Siri for help. You’ll need to make sure Siri is activated on your device first.
Once Siri is activated, simply say “Hey Siri, start a station from,” then say the name of a song, artist, or genre. Using a voice command can help trigger the Create Station feature.
Create a station by searching for the song or artist
Some people have suggested that the Apple Music Create Station is not working only when they’re trying to create a station based on songs from the library.
Open Apple Music, then search for a particular artist. There’s a good chance that you can create a station based on any track, as long as the song hasn’t been added to your library.
Apple Music doesn’t know what you like and dislike
Sometimes, the Create Station feature on Apple Music is not working and is only playing 2 or 3 songs because the app doesn’t know what you like and dislike.
For me, creating a station plays much more relevant tracks compared to the Autoplay feature. However, both features rely on what you like and dislike to be able to recommend songs.
My suggestion is to use the Apple Music app more, including liking songs you like, as well as disliking songs you dislike. Once the app learns more about you, try creating a station.
Force close the app and try again
When Create Station is not working, what I find to work the best is to force close the Apple Music app. Once I open Apple Music the next time, I can always create a station.
Whenever I have my iPhone connected to my car’s Bluetooth, I have a problem with creating a station. I always receive the same “Could not create station. Try again later” message.
The curious thing is that the issue still persists even if I disconnect my iPhone from my car and don’t close the app. I have to close and reopen the Apple Music app to Create Station.
If this is happening to you, whether your iPhone is connected to your car or not, force close the Apple Music app and then try creating a station after you open the app.
You can learn how to force close an app on an iPhone right here, depending on your iPhone version. Apple said that closing an app is a great way to solve unresponsive apps.
I know it’s far from the ideal solution, but until Apple delivers an update that fixes this problem, force closing the Apple Music app is the most effective workaround I can find.
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