iTunes Match issues

[Diode]

After syncing iTunes match to my iPhone, I noticed some issues (Such as "Unknown artist appearing etc) and I'm trying to reset my library on the phone. However I can't seem to completely wipe music on my phone.

For instance - turning off iTunes match and "deleting" the library on my phone in System settings results in about 60 songs still on my iPhone with the cloud icon next to them.

Hooking my phone up to my computer and trying to sync just one song leaves that one song on my phone and about 1600 songs there (all with the cloud icon, this is about 1/2 of my collection). I can download those songs as if Match is enabled.

Now turning match back on only repopulates my phone with those 1600 songs - my collection on my phone is now missing about 1000 songs. Hence why I want to now reset my collection to start from a clean slate. Any way to do this without restoring my phone?

 

[GraphicsGeek]

After syncing iTunes match to my iPhone, I noticed some issues (Such as "Unknown artist appearing etc) and I'm trying to reset my library on the phone. However I can't seem to completely wipe music on my phone.

For instance - turning off iTunes match and "deleting" the library on my phone in System settings results in about 60 songs still on my iPhone with the cloud icon next to them.

Hooking my phone up to my computer and trying to sync just one song leaves that one song on my phone and about 1600 songs there (all with the cloud icon, this is about 1/2 of my collection). I can download those songs as if Match is enabled.

Now turning match back on only repopulates my phone with those 1600 songs - my collection on my phone is now missing about 1000 songs. Hence why I want to now reset my collection to start from a clean slate. Any way to do this without restoring my phone?

Anything appearing on your phone is in your iTunes library. So if you have an unknown artist, it's probably in your library and you need to fix the tags. If you bought music from iTunes it will be available for you to download in the cloud whether you subscribe to iTunes Match or not. Go to Settings>Music> and flip the Show All Music switch to on. After a few minutes all of your music in your iTunes library will show up on your phone. The songs with the cloud next to them just mean its in your library but not on your phone.

 

[Diode]

Anything appearing on your phone is in your iTunes library. So if you have an unknown artist, it's probably in your library and you need to fix the tags. If you bought music from iTunes it will be available for you to download in the cloud whether you subscribe to iTunes Match or not. Go to Settings>Music> and flip the Show All Music switch to on. After a few minutes all of your music in your iTunes library will show up on your phone. The songs with the cloud next to them just mean its in your library but not on your phone.

That's the thing though. Everything appears fine on my other idevices. Also my phone is missing about 1500 songs. I can't seem to reset it. Erasing settings does nothing - I have matched turned off now and about 1000 of my cloud songs are showing up - unknown artist included.

 

[TLewis]

Anything appearing on your phone is in your iTunes library. So if you have an unknown artist, it's probably in your library and you need to fix the tags.

When iTunes Match works, it seems to work well.

However, it can be horribly buggy. When I first enabled it on my iPad, I was missing artwork and songs, and fixing that was a real pain. I *think* I fixed it via something like:

1. Turn OFF iTunes Match on the iOS device.
2. Sync with iTunes (pc or mac).
3. Turn OFF music sync in iTunes.
4. Sync.
5. Delete any remaining music in the device.
6. Sync.
7. Reboot the device. (I think I also rebooted my pc and restarted iTunes, too.)
8. Turn ON iTunes Match on the iOS device. At this point, iTunes Match worked for me, although it took maybe an hour or two before all of my iCloud music appeared. (This is one of the bad things about iTunes Match: you're not told about the hidden background synchronization that occurs, you're not told about the progress, and you're not told about when it's done.)

Edit: if this doesn't work, you might be able to fix it by deleting the iOS media library sqlite database and having the device rebuild it. However, this isn't for the faint-of-heart; it's for experts only.

 

[gr8-1]

At this point, iTunes Match worked for me, although it took maybe an hour or two before all of my iCloud music appeared. (This is one of the bad things about iTunes Match: you're not told about the hidden background synchronization that occurs, you're not told about the progress, and you're not told about when it's done.)

Thanks man, that worked! My iTunes kept saying I had 1148 songs in iCloud but my iPhone only showed 1033. Your method fixed all of that plus I got my playlists. Very helpful!

 

[Diode]

Ok,

The only way I could get everything to work was to download iExplorer.

Use the program to browse to iTunes_Control and clear out the Media folder and the iTunes folder. Rebooted and this forced iOS to rebuild everything.

Going into settings and turning Match back on re-downloaded everything and my complete library is there. No more "Unknown Artists."

 

[JohnDoe98]

I'd recommend making sure you setup backup to your computer before you rebuild the database and make sure it is up to date. You might need to restore the iPad/iPhone if you delete too much in the iTunes Control folder.

 

[apunkrockmonk]

Ok,

The only way I could get everything to work was to download iExplorer.

Use the program to browse to iTunes_Control and clear out the Media folder and the iTunes folder. Rebooted and this forced iOS to rebuild everything.

Going into settings and turning Match back on re-downloaded everything and my complete library is there. No more "Unknown Artists."

I'm not seeing a Media folder in the iTunes_Control folder. Which folders are you supposed to clear out?

 

[Diode]

I'm not seeing a Media folder in the iTunes_Control folder. Which folders are you supposed to clear out?

I would say music then if it has anything in it.

 

[TLewis]

I'm not seeing a Media folder in the iTunes_Control folder. Which folders are you supposed to clear out?

This post explains it, although it uses a different tool: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13956192/

 

[apunkrockmonk]

Thank you! My music app was stuck in a weird crash loop and wouldn't open. The instructions in that post fixed it.