iTunes has been an essential part of Apple’s iOS and macOS for years. iTunes serves as a digital store that allows you to purchase apps and services, and manage your content. Apple has been improving iTunes since the day one, expanding its usefulness just beyond being able to store your music and apps.
iTunes now can play your media files you purchase from the iTunes music store. The coolest part is that you can sync your music library to iTunes, so you can enjoy your favorite music tracks on the go. However, there are times when iTunes becomes a cause of annoyance.
A number of users have reported that iTunes fails to play music you purchase from the music store. Specifically, they have got a pop-up message saying that you are not authorized every time they attempt to play their content.
If you are among those users who have been affected by the issue, then we are here to help. In the section below, we are going to show you how to fix iTunes that won’t play purchased music. Before we begin, make sure you now have the latest version of iTunes on your Apple device.
Before trying to do anything, try authorizing iTunes on your Mac. To do this, open iTunes on your computer, then select Authorize This Computer from the menu and proceed with entering your Apple ID and password. If nothing changes, then make sure you read on.
How to fix iTunes that fails to play your purchased music
Method 1:
The next solution is to check if your music was purchased using the same Apple ID. In reality, if you have Family Sharing enabled in iTunes, you can share your music with other members of your family. However, there is a good chance that other members purchased music using their own Apple ID. If this is the case, you will be asked for authorization before you can play it.
Fortunately, you can find out what happened. To do this, you need to open iTunes on your Mac, then select the song that is asking for authorization and hit Get Info from the Files menu to proceed.
Next up, select Summary and you should see a list of Apple ID account that is signed in on your Mac. Now just simply find the name of the person who purchased the song. Once you are done, you simply need to ask for his or her authorization, so you can enjoy your tracks.
Method 2:
If everything is set up properly, but you still cannot play your music, then try logging in your Mac using your admin account. Keep in mind that an admin account has access to everything on your Mac and the power to change your system’s settings.
To sign in with your admin account, you first need to log out of your current user account. Once you are logged in with your admin details, then launch iTunes on your Mac. After that, select Authorize this Computer and then enter your Apple ID username and password.
Once you are done, log out of your admin account, then sign back in with your standard user account and try playing your music.
Method 3:
If nothing works, there is a good chance that your iTunes files have been corrupted. Fortunately, you can fix it. We will cover how in the section below.
Step one: Close iTunes on your Mac, then locate the folder that contains files we need to delete
Step two: Open the Finder window and click on Users > Shared. After that, select the SC Info folder and remove it
Step three: Launch iTunes on your computer, then select Authorize this Computer to see if the problem is fixed.
Method 4:
If you have too many devices linked to a single Apple ID, then it’s a good idea to remove the one you no longer use. The process is pretty simple and here is how.
To do this, launch iTunes on your computer, then select View My Account from the list of accounts. After that, provide your Apple ID details and navigate to iTunes in the Cloud > Manage Devices. From here, you can remove any device from the list.
If none of the above solutions work for you, then make sure you bring your Mac to a local Apple store to get support.
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Got any questions? Let us know in the comments below.
