Massive iTunes/Music problem

[Smellmet]

Apologies for the long post but I am having massive problems with my iTunes/music library on my windows 10 laptop and iMac. When I try and play certain songs, I’m hit with ‘this computer is not authorised to play this song’ (even though it is), so I authorise it by entering my ID/password and it just says it again straight away, in a loop.

It is doing it on nearly all the 1,263 AAC files (they are not protected AAC) in my 15,000 strong library. The mp3, matched AAC and purchased AAC files do not seem to be affected. Some of these files were added to the library 15 years ago and I’ve never had an issue like this before. The windows library is my ‘master’ library so to speak - I periodically copy it over to my work iMac (27” i7 2017 model) and the issue is perfectly replicated on that machine also on the same song files.

These files are not available to re-download as they have not been matched by iTunes Match (despite being mainstream stuff and not obscure in the slightest) which I subscribed to last September so I could convert as many of my files as possible to higher quality versions. Because of this my account says I’m unable to de-authorise all computers until September of this year for some reason.

I cannot convert them to mp3 or any other format within iTunes/music as I just get unknown error 42017

I’ve been looking online how to sort the problem and have so far tried doing the ’turn off user account controls’ which did absolutely nothing.

There’s a method where you have to delete the ‘SC’ folder which is a hidden file that if deleted resets the account settings, I have done this and this hasn’t worked either.

I have only ever had one Apple ID so it’s definitely nothing to do with multiple accounts.

I’m reasonably computer savvy, so would completely deleting iTunes and the library from my PC and putting it back on work? I dunno, the fact that it is also doing it on my Mac suggests it’s an account issue to me.

I’m desperate to get this sorted as I’ve been carefully curating this library since 2005. It is my musical life.

 

[Slartibart]

Copy one of the affected files per drag’n’drop from iTunes onto your desktop.
Check with VLC (you might download and install it) wether it will play (right click the icon and use “Open with”).

If VLC plays the file just fine:
Get all2mp3.
Copy the affected files out of iTunes.
Use all2mp3 to convert it.
Check the new MP3 in iTunes.


If it does not:
Select the file icon again and open the Info-panel (command key + “I”)
Check file size (is the affected AAC large?).
Under “More info” there should be some information like Album, title, duration. (?)
Check “Sharing&Permissions” - your user should be in the list of users and should be able to read+write to the file. (?)

 

[Smellmet]

Copy one of the affected files per drag’n’drop from iTunes onto your desktop.
Check with VLC (you might download and install it) wether it will play (right click the icon and use “Open with”).

If VLC plays the file just fine:
Get all2mp3.
Copy the affected files out of iTunes.
Use all2mp3 to convert it.
Check the new MP3 in iTunes.


If it does not:
Select the file icon again and open the Info-panel (command key + “I”)
Check file size (is the affected AAC large?).
Under “More info” there should be some information like Album, title, duration. (?)
Check “Sharing&Permissions” - your user should be in the list of users and should be able to read+write to the file. (?)

It won't play on that VLC.

I can download and install the all2mp3 but when I try and open it it just says it needs to be updated with no option to do so.

The file in question I'm using as a test is 'A-ha - take on me' (as you can see, not obscure, so why didn't it get matched) which was added to my library in 2005 and has never caused an issue before. The file size is 8MB, which doesn't seem out of the ordinary, and all permissions say read and write.

 

[mikzn]

Does the music file have the extenson? ie .mp3 / .m4a /

I have had files that were missing the file extensions and would not play - adding the extension makes them playable again

If that is not the case - maybe the files have been corrupted?

 

[Smellmet]

Does the music file have the extenson? ie .mp3 / .m4a /

I have had files that were missing the file extensions and would not play - adding the extension makes them playable again

If that is not the case - maybe the files have been corrupted?

Yeah they are m4a files.

Just seems weird that it's done it on the PC and the mac at the same time, and only on these AAC files that were loaded into the library years ago. All the files concerned are between 2005 and 2014

 

[retta283]

As of iTunes 5 (2005) purchased songs do not need sign-in to be played. If you have an older version of iTunes that you can use to test these tracks with (don't sign in, maybe even keep the machine offline) perhaps this can be an indicator that some data in the songs is scrambled, potentially corrupted by a bug in iTunes/Music. I have no problem playing (or converting) AAC files that were purchased by other accounts in iTunes.

edit: reread and saw that it's not a problem on purchased AAC, still try the above and see because it could be corruption or issue related to new versions

 

[Smellmet]

As of iTunes 5 (2005) purchased songs do not need sign-in to be played. If you have an older version of iTunes that you can use to test these tracks with (don't sign in, maybe even keep the machine offline) perhaps this can be an indicator that some data in the songs is scrambled, potentially corrupted by a bug in iTunes/Music. I have no problem playing (or converting) AAC files that were purchased by other accounts in iTunes.

edit: reread and saw that it's not a problem on purchased AAC, still try the above and see because it could be corruption or issue related to new versions

I've got no way of getting hold of an old iTunes. I'm on with Apple support with it but I feel like I'm getting nowhere. If it was totally random with mp3s and other file types not playing I'd maybe agree with file corruption but they're all a specific file (AAC unprotected) that are all fairly old. It's almost like they're unsupported or something.

I really, REALLY don't want to have to ditch iTunes. The amount of work I've put into curating this library is INSANE. Every single track of my 15500 strong library I've put in the correct year, album, star rating and put them into nearly 100 different playlists.

 

[retta283]

I've got no way of getting hold of an old iTunes. I'm on with Apple support with it but I feel like I'm getting nowhere. If it was totally random with mp3s and other file types not playing I'd maybe agree with file corruption but they're all a specific file (AAC unprotected) that are all fairly old. It's almost like they're unsupported or something.

I really, REALLY don't want to have to ditch iTunes. The amount of work I've put into curating this library is INSANE. Every single track of my 15500 strong library I've put in the correct year, album, star rating and put them into nearly 100 different playlists.

I have a 15-year library that's over a terabyte and I have duplicate backups of every year across 3 hard drives, because I've been terrified for years that my library will get ruined. Indeed, on my 2020 27" iMac with Big Sur it did get ruined so I lost about 2 months on it. It is really a shame when things get messed up, my music library has immense historical and emotional value to me and I assume yours does to yourself. Wish I had more experience on this particular issue.

If you'd like to, you could send me a file or two that is problematic and I can try it out on various machines running Big Sur all the way back to Tiger, and maybe find something out.

 

[Slartibart]

I've got no way of getting hold of an old iTunes. .

some older versions are linked here.

 

[mikzn]

Yeah they are m4a files.

Just seems weird that it's done it on the PC and the mac at the same time, and only on these AAC files that were loaded into the library years ago. All the files concerned are between 2005 and 2014

If VLC won't play those files - that is probably not a good sign ? VLC will ussually play just about anything.

Do the files show up properly in the finder and can you play them with the finder? - see screen shot ( Icon View)

I am not sure how an old version of iTunes will work when VLC can't play the files?

Hopefully you find some thing simple and it is not files that were corrupted during a transfer etc - I would hate to loose that many songs and start over

 

[Smellmet]

If VLC won't play those files - that is probably not a good sign ? VLC will ussually play just about anything.

Do the files show up properly in the finder and can you play them with the finder? - see screen shot ( Icon View)

I am not sure how an old version of iTunes will work when VLC can't play the files?

Hopefully you find some thing simple and it is not files that were corrupted during a transfer etc - I would hate to loose that many songs and start over

View attachment 1728500

How do you mean by play them in the finder?

 

[Smellmet]

I have a 15-year library that's over a terabyte and I have duplicate backups of every year across 3 hard drives, because I've been terrified for years that my library will get ruined. Indeed, on my 2020 27" iMac with Big Sur it did get ruined so I lost about 2 months on it. It is really a shame when things get messed up, my music library has immense historical and emotional value to me and I assume yours does to yourself. Wish I had more experience on this particular issue.

If you'd like to, you could send me a file or two that is problematic and I can try it out on various machines running Big Sur all the way back to Tiger, and maybe find something out.

I've got a backup, but I made it fairly recently, so I fear that I may have backed up the files that won't play. I'm gonna try and restore my backup library and put my recent downloads on my desktop, and pray it works.

Never seen anything like this in 15 years of using this app.

 

[Slartibart]

you can try to fix the files with Audacity (download here) and ffmpeg (get the 64Bit Version). Install and try to open one of your files. If it works, export as mp3. If the beginning of the file is acoustically corrupted you can try to fix it with the Repair-command in the Effects-menu.

 

[mikzn]

How do you mean by play them in the finder?

navigate to the actual file location of the unplayable song - you can view this path in iTunes - see below

then when you are viewing the file - switch to Icon View - as in the picture in my last post - single click on the center of the icon and it should play (single click - not double click)

 

[Smellmet]

navigate to the actual file location of the unplayable song - you can view this path in iTunes - see below

then when you are viewing the file - switch to Icon View - as in the picture in my last post - single click on the center of the icon and it should play (single click - not double click)


View attachment 1728521

All I see is this in icon view (sorry double posted the image)

 

[Smellmet]

Or I can view it like this, but there's no button in the middle

 

[mikzn]

All I see is this in icon view (sorry double posted the image)

yes that is it - if you single click (in center of the icon) and they don't play in the finder - and - if you can't play them in VLC that is not good

the extensions are there - so that is not the issue

 

[Smellmet]

Yet when I do the same thing for a file that WILL play in iTunes (still an AAC file but one of the unaffected ones) hey presto a button appears in the middle.

 

[mikzn]

starting to look like there is something wrong with the files - corrupted or Digital Rights Management (DRM) related ?

Maybe try one of the conversion software's - mentioned above?

Here is another if you want to try a different one - Max Audio Conversion

 

[Smellmet]

you can try to fix the files with Audacity (download here) and ffmpeg (get the 64Bit Version). Install and try to open one of your files. If it works, export as mp3. If the beginning of the file is acoustically corrupted you can try to fix it with the Repair-command in the Effects-menu.

This is all I get. I've installed the ffmpeg too

 

[Smellmet]

starting to look like there is something wrong with the files - corrupted or Digital Rights Management (DRM) related ?

Maybe try one of the conversion software's - mentioned above?

Here is another if you want to try a different one - Max Audio Conversion

I can agree with that, but how on earth has a Mac and a PC managed to corrupt the exact same files at the exact same time?

 

[Smellmet]

starting to look like there is something wrong with the files - corrupted or Digital Rights Management (DRM) related ?

Maybe try one of the conversion software's - mentioned above?

Here is another if you want to try a different one - Max Audio Conversion

This is all I get when I try to install that

 

[mikzn]

Click OK ? I have not tried MAX on Big Sur - but it works well on Mojave and I used it for years

Personally I now use Permute - but is it a paid App

Any conversion app will do - I can't think of why your files don't work on both Windows and Mac - it does not make sense that both would have the exact same corrupted files - unless they were both copied from a corrupted back up?

Edit - and FWIW this is one of the reasons I don't trust Time Machine for Back ups - CCC is worth the cost and "Peace of Mind"

 

[Smellmet]

So, I manage to convert the file to mp3 using an online service and the mp3 won't even add to the library, let alone play.

I think at this point the files are a goner and I either need to go through them and re-aquire them (which will lose their metadata) or attempt to restore the files via my backup and hope they were not corrupted in the transfer to my hard drive, but as I used that drive to transfer the files to the Mac, I think that will be a bust too.

 

[Smellmet]

Click OK ? I have not tried MAX on Big Sur - but it works well on Mojave and I used it for years

Personally I now use Permute - but is it a paid App

Any conversion app will do - I can't think of why your files don't work on both Windows and Mac - it does not make sense that both would have the exact same corrupted files - unless they were both copied from a corrupted back up?

When I click ok the dialogue box just closes and that's that.