In short: Enable the “Add Playlist Songs” feature on the Apple Music app. When it’s enabled, songs that you add to your playlists will also be added to the library automatically.
If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can add music and music videos from the Apple Music catalog to your music library. You can then stream them or download them to listen offline.
However, some people have reported that Apple Music is not adding songs to their library. The app will say “added to library” but the song didn’t show up in the library.
In this article, I’ll share with you some simple troubleshooting tips to get the Apple Music app working again and start adding songs to your library. Let’s get started.
Enable the “Add Playlist Songs” feature
The first thing you should do is enable the “Add Playlist Songs” feature. When it’s enabled, songs that you add to your playlists will also be added to the library automatically.
With one simple setting, you can allow songs to go into your music library when you add them to a playlist. It’s small things like this that are often the most helpful.
Here’s how to enable the “Add Playlist Songs” feature on iPhone or iPad:
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap on Music.
- Tap on Add Playlist Songs to enable the feature.
Here’s how to enable the “Add Playlist Songs” feature on Mac:
- Open the Music app.
- Click Music from the top menu bar.
- Select the Advanced tab.
- Check the box next to Add songs to Library when adding to playlists.
- Click OK.
If you’re using iTunes on macOS Mojave and earlier, go to iTunes Preferences > General and check the Add songs to Library when adding to playlists.
Once you’ve enabled this setting, try adding a song (something not in your library) to a playlist on the Apple Music app to see if the problem goes away.
The song should now be added to your library.
Some people listen to songs on Apple Music and want to add their favorites to their playlists, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they want those songs added to their music library.
This is why the feature was created. It’s for the people who might want to add songs to their Apple Music playlists, but choose to not add them to the library.
If you don’t want Apple Music to add songs to your library when you add them to a playlist, then ignore this troubleshooting step, and let’s move on to the next one.
Force close Apple Music and restart your device
Before you do anything fancy, why don’t you try force-closing the Apple Music app? According to Apple, force closing an app could be done if it’s unresponsive.
If you’re using an iPhone X and later, swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen and pause in the middle of the screen. Swipe right or left to find the Apple Music app.
Swipe up on the app’s preview to close the app.
The method is slightly different if you’re using an iPhone SE, iPhone 8 and earlier, or iPod touch. You’ll need to double-click the Home button to show your most recently used apps.
Then, swipe right or left to find the Apple Music app that you need to force close. Once you’ve navigated to Apple Music, swipe up on the app’s preview to close the app.
After force-closing the Apple Music app, restart your device, and open the Apple Music app. Make sure you have a good Wi-Fi connection and try adding a song to your library.
Turn Sync Library OFF and then ON again
If you use Apple Music on several devices, and you notice that the app is not adding songs to your library or not showing up on a device, there could be a problem with the Sync Library.
The first thing you should do is to make sure that all of your devices have Sync Library turned ON and signed in with the same Apple ID that you use with Apple Music.
If the Sync Library feature has been turned on all your devices, then you can try turning it OFF, then ON again. It could solve the issue of Apple Music not adding songs to your library.
Finding the Sync Library settings on an iPhone or iPad is pretty straightforward, but if you use a Mac, you can learn how to toggle the Sync Library feature, right here.
There was a time when Apple Music wasn’t adding songs to my library. All I did was turn OFF Sync Library, waited, then turned on Sync Library again.
Lo and behold, Apple Music started adding songs to my library.
However, you should know that once Sync Library is OFF, Apple Music will delete all offline songs from your device. You’ll have to download the offline songs again.
Sign out of Apple Music and then sign back in
If turning off Sync Library and then turning it back on doesn’t work, try signing out of Apple Music and then signing back in. It could solve Apple Music not adding songs to the library.
Disabling the Sync Library setting, as well as signing out of Apple Music, are two actions that will remove all of the downloaded songs on your device, so proceed with caution.
You need to sign Apple’s new terms and conditions
It sounds random, but not being able to add songs to your Apple Music library may have something to do with Apple’s new terms and conditions.
Let me explain.
There was a time when I wasn’t able to add songs to my library (on my MacBook). I opened Apple Music on my iPhone and added a random song to my library.
If you have the same issue, you’ll probably be asked to agree to new terms and conditions. Once you do that, you should be able to add songs to your library on Apple Music.
Some people weren’t able to add songs to the library because there are new terms and conditions from Apple. Once it’s been signed, the problem is solved.
The weird thing is, you’ll need to use another device to “trigger” the new terms and conditions, so it’s an issue for those of you who only use Apple Music on one device.
Here’s how to “trigger” the new terms and conditions if you use one device:
If you use a MacBook, activate the Add songs to your Library when you add them to playlists option. If you use an iPhone, activate the Add Playlist Songs option.
Choose a song that is not in your library. Then, add the song to a playlist. You can choose to add the song to any of your playlists or create a new one. The song will be added to the library.
Next, choose another song that is not in your library. Choose the option “Add to Library”. The new terms and conditions will appear and you’ll be able to accept them.
Once you’ve done that you can learn how to clear Apple Music library.
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