Why Are Some Songs Grayed Out on Apple Music (And How to Fix It)

There’s nothing better than listening to your favorite album, which is why it’s so disturbing when tracks stop playing on your Apple device. And when you take a look at the track list, you may find that some of your tracks are grayed out. What is happening?

This is often caused by your device being offline. Typically, you will regain access once you are back online.

Licensing is another common cause. The music industry is built around a system of territorial licensing, with labels owning different rights and then selling them or staggered release schedules – sometimes even on AI-generated tracks.

This territorial licensing model means that artists or labels sometimes remove songs from Apple Music’s catalog, or not make them available at all in a specific region. When this happens, the song will not be available and will appear grayed out. There’s nothing you or Apple can do about it.

How to check if it’s a licensing issue

To check if a song’s license has been revoked, open Apple Music/iTunes, click Songs in the sidebar, right-click the column headers (where it says Name) and check the box for it Cloud Statuswhich shows:

• No longer available: Track likely removed by artist or label
• Exclamation point (!): A local synchronization problem
• Waiting for: Synchronization is incomplete

There are other causes that the following guide will help you resolve.

If your tracks are still grayed out and you’ve verified that it’s not a licensing issue, here are some other solutions you can try.

Turn it off and on again

I always recommend a complete reboot of your device. It’s as simple as turning your Mac or PC off and on, or performing a force reset on your iPad or iPhone. Turning devices off and on solves many consumer technology problems.

Delete and re-upload track

Select the track, delete it, then find it in Apple Music and download it again. If the track is not available, it has probably been removed from the platform.

Check synchronizationerrors

The Music app may have developed a problem; let’s fix it:

• iPhone or iPad: Open Settings > Applications > Music and change Sync library disabled. Wait 30 seconds, turn it back on and open Apple Music.
• Mac: Open Apple Music, choose Settings > General in the menu bar, and uncheck the box Synchronize library article. Wait a few seconds, then turn it back on.
• Windows: Click gear or profile icon, choose Settings then select the General tab at the top of this window. Find Synchronize libraryturn it off, click ALL RIGHT and turn it back on after a few seconds.

Are you still having problems? The problem could be deeper than your phone’s settings. Here’s how to see if it’s a problem with your Apple account.

Content Restrictions

To protect minors, Apple Music’s Content Restrictions feature prevents playback of explicitly marked tracks. Replace this in Settings > Content Restrictions in Apple Music on Windows or in System Settings > Content & Privacy on Apple devices. Just set it to allow explicit content.

Verify your Apple account

Another reason why music sometimes seems to disappear is that the songs were purchased with a different Apple account than the one you are currently using. You will regain access once you log out of your current account and log in with the correct one.

Reset your Apple account

As a last resort, you can try signing out of your Apple account on your device in Settings > Apple Accountt > Media and purchasing and pressing the Log out before reconnecting.