Solved: “This Item Cannot be Played” Issue on Apple Music

Have you been interrupted by signs such as “Item Not Available” and wondered why some songs would grey out on Apple Music？ To figure it out, we have done research online. Actually, there are many reasons that could cause the issue.

Based on that, we will give you a solution with some clear tips that will help you identify and solve the problem that you are encountering. Moreover, there is a workaround that will get the unavailable songs back to you.

In this solution, you will find out the reason that causes the greyed out songs and specific ways to solve them.

First of all, open a website on the browser to check if your network is working. If not, contact the network provider.

Suppose your network is alright, ask yourself these questions:

1. If most/all the songs can not be played happen on every device, even Apple Music Web player. Tip 1
2. If most/all the songs can not be played only happen on your smartphone. Tip2
3. If most/all the songs can not be played only happen on your desktop. Tip3
4. If some songs grey out but can be played. Tip4
5. If some specific songs can not be played, warning you with the sign “Explicit content”. Tip5
6. If some specific songs just can not be played saying “Item Not Available”. Tip6

(If you want another time-saving way, you can directly read the workaround and get rid of these situations quickly.)

Tip 1. Check Apple Music Status and Turn on Sync Library

If your network is working, most of the songs-greyed-out issues may come from that the service of Apple Music is down or Sync Library has been turned off on your device.

1. Check Apple Music Status

Open this website — system status, find the circle at the rear of Apple Music. If it is green, the service of Apple Music is alright.

2. Turn on Sync Library On iOS Devices

Before going to the steps, make sure you have updated the latest version of iOS/iPad OS.

Open the Settings app, click Music, turn on Sync Library.

3. Turn on Sync Library on Mac

First: Update to the latest version of macOS.

Second: Double-click the Apple Music app. Select Music on the menu bar at the top of the screen, press Preferences on the dropdown list.

Third: On the General tab, and select Sync Library. Then, click the OK button.

4. Turn on Sync Library on Windows

First, ensure the latest version of iTunes has been installed.

Then, launch iTunes. And go to Edit > Preferences, press iCloud Music Library, select the OK button.

Tip 2: Check Your Smart Phone

If greyed out songs only show on your mobile phone, then making the relevant adjustment on our phone would be enough to solve the problem.

Check Your iPhone

1. Restart Your iPhone

Step 1: Turn off iPhone

Go to Settings > General > touch Shut Down.

Step 2: Turn on iPhone

Press and hold the Side button.

2. Resign in to Your Account on AppStore

Step 1: Sign out to Your Account

Go to Settings app, tap your name on the top.

Hit Media & Purchases, then touch Sign out.

Step 2: Sign in to Your Account

Touch AppStore, click the human silhouette on the top right of the interface, then sign in to your account.

3. Reinstall Apple Music App

Press and hold the Apple Music App on the screen, tap the Delete on the poping menu. Then install Apple Music from the App Store.

Check your Android phone

1. Restart Your Android Phone

Press and hold the power button. A menu will appear in a few seconds, click Restart.

2.Reinstall Apple Music Apple

Unlock your phone. Keep touching the Apple Music icon, then drag it to the top.

If you see the uninstall option, move the Apple Music icon on the uninstall option. Then install Apple Music back to the Google Store.

Tip 3: Resign in to Your Account on Desktop

Resign in to Your Account in iTunes on Windows

Step 1: Sign out to Your Account

Open iTunes. Select Account > Sign Out.

Step 2: Sign in to Your Account

Click Account > Sign in. Sign in to your Apple ID in a popping window. Then, press the Sign In button.

Resign in to Your Account in Apple Music on Mac

Step 1: Sign out to Your Account

Click the Music icon. And select the Account on the menu bar. Then, choose Sign Out.

Step 2: Sign in to Your Account

Then, click Account on the menu bar. Then, select Sign In. Sign in to your Apple ID in a popping window.

Tip 4: Sync Your Songs Among Devices

Some songs may be playable on your desktop but grey out on your other devices since these songs are not syncing. You can transfer those songs to your mobile devices by selecting the checkbox.

1. Sync Your Songs Among Devices on Windows

Open iTunes > Library, check if there is a check next to each song. If not, click the check box.

However, if you don’t find the check box choose Edit > Preferences > General > List view checkboxes.

2. Sync Your Songs Among Devices on Mac

Launch Apple Music, click the songs in the library. Select the checkboxes of the songs that you want to sync.

However, if you can not don’t find the checkbox: choose Music > Preferences on the menu bar at the top of the screen. Under the General tab, press Songs list checkboxes.

Tip 5. Turn off Restrictions on Screen Time of Settings App

The restriction of parental control will stop you from explicit content. You can turn it off on the iOS devices. Here is the procedure:

Open the Settings app, go to Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions. You will see a page showing the detail settings, tap the button on the top right to disable screen time restriction. Now, you will be able to play those songs.

Tip 6: Search the Artist Name to Find the Song in Apple Music

The song may be modified or removed by the artist, search it on Apple Music to find out the reasons. If you find the new version of the greyed out songs, you can add them to your library and delete the old ones.

Suppose you find the song but in grey text, the song is not available in your region.

If you find this tip is not working, these songs may no longer be available in your Apple Music.

However, you can also find the song on other streaming platforms or websites (Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, etc) and save the song to your PC.

In some cases, a specific song is unavailable on Apple Music, if you want to get it back, you can only download them from other resources. We are here to suggest a powerful tool — Musify Music Downloader.

With which, you can download songs that Apple music won’t play from other platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music, SoundCloud, etc.

Or you can convert online videos to MP3 files from popular websites (YouTube, Facebook, Audio Boom, etc). Besides, Musify supports users directly downloading the song with a share link, which simplifies the download process.

You can download the songs with these steps:

Step 1: Download and Install Musify

Step 2: Copy the Sharelink of the Unavailable Songs (Here we will present how to do this on YouTube)

If you find the unavailable song is on a YouTube video, you can copy the link from the address bar.

Switch to the Musify, click the Paste URL button, then you will find the downloading process begins.

Step 3: Find the Downloaded Music Files

If you want to find the location of the downloaded music files, select the Downloaded tab. Press the folder icon at the rear of a song. You will find the output folder that contains the unavailable song.

Finally, you have got the unavailable songs back. You can also play it on many music players.

Your Content Goes HereWith the solutions above, you can totally find out which issue led to grey-out songs, and make those Apple songs play on your device.

Moreover, if the songs are not available on Apple Music anymore, you can also get the music files from other platforms.

Once you download them, you will be able to play the grey-out songs on any device such as a car player, Samsung watch, etc. Or even, set the song can’t be played on Apple Music as a ringtone of your phone.