How to Fix the Apple Music “This Content Is Not Authorized” Error?

Suddenly finding that your Apple Music is not working and giving you an error message that says “ Apple Music This Content is Not Authorized”?

Apple Music is a music streaming platform that allows you to listen to your favourite songs and beats at a simple tap of your finger. The platform has a considerably large library of different music that you can listen to and even offers more such as podcasts and other audio content that you can listen to at your own leisure.

Alongside Apple Music, iTunes serves as an accompanying app for the streaming platform as it allows desktop users to enjoy the content that is uniquely available to Apple Music while also having its own share of features which makes it popular for many people besides Apple users.

Despite this popularity and streamlined music streaming platform, the app can often not work properly and can struggle with playing some of the content found inside it. This usually ends up with no music playing from the app at all, error messages popping up and can even end up with the app crashing altogether.

One of the requirements that Apple Music needs to work properly is a strong and stable internet connection, save for certain exceptions. This is a requirement for all music streaming platforms and services as it allows you to not only play your favourite songs but also download them or even whole albums to play for later.

Despite this, however, several users have been reporting that they have been getting error messages that say “Apple Music This Content is Not Authorized” whenever they try to access and play any song from Apple Music. This problem happens regardless if you are streaming a song online or playing a song you previously downloaded, leading to no music or audio content being played at all until it is resolved.

The resulting situation can become incredibly frustrating, which is why we are here with this guide that aims to give out 6 reasons why you might get the “Apple Music This Content is Not Authorized” error messages as well as 9 fixes that you can try out to resolve the situation.

Apple Music is mainly available to the mainline Apple Products that have iOS (phones) and macOS (laptops/desktops). The app is also available on other platforms, such as Windows desktops. We will be exploring fixes for these platforms whenever applicable and possible.

With everything out of the way, let’s get down to fixing some errors with Apple Music!

 

Check out our other guides covering similar Apple Music issues for more fixes:

• Apple Music Not Working, Connecting, or Playing Songs
• Apple Music in Web Browser or Web Player Not Working
• Apple CarPlay Not Working, Showing or Black Screen
• Apple Carplay Keeps Disconnecting
• “Unable to Connect Apple Carplay” Error

 

 

Why Does the Apple Music “This Content is Not Authorized” Error Happen?

1. System Server Problems With Apple Music

One simple reason why you might be having issues with playing songs from Apple Music, as well as getting the said error message, can be a result of a direct problem from Apple Servers. Apple Music and, by extension, iTunes are music streaming platforms and can only properly function and work if you have a stable internet connection as well as the servers themselves are healthy.

If the latter is experiencing problems in its overall health or the specific service tied to Apple Music, you can reasonably expect Apple Music to not function properly if at all. Because of this, we recommend looking into and checking the server status for Apple Music (Step 1) since if a problem lies on Apple’s end, you can only wait for it to be solved.

 

2. Corrupted/Missing Files

In another light of issues, you might have, corrupted files in your Apple Music and iTunes can also result in you getting the error message for the content you are accessing. It can be easily inferred that any corrupted data can’t be used, which can lead to the problem occurring.

If you happen to be experiencing this problem when trying to play songs you previously downloaded, you can consider checking the songs you have downloaded and redownloading them (Step 2) to have new versions available. Additionally, you can also clean out the app’s cache and data (Step 3), as you might be having problematic files even deeper into the app.

 

3. Unauthorized Device/Platform

As a unique issue to desktop users, iTunes requires any valid and active Apple ID to properly use the platform and access most, if not all, of its features. Proper authorization from your account is required. Otherwise, the app will become unusable or be severely limited by the types of content you can access.

Consider checking and authorizing your Apple ID to your iTunes on your Desktop (Step 4) if you are getting this problem, as you might simply lack the proper credentials to properly access the content you are trying to open.

 

4. Performance Issues With The App

Another reason why you might be having problems with playing music with the app and platform can come as a direct result of performance issues you might be having with the application. This performance issue can either be a result of the app having too much data to handle or not enough memory in your phone to utilize.

There are several ways you can avoid getting issues caused by drops in performance, as well as avoid getting repeat instances of these things happening. One thing you can do is tweak your Apple Music settings (Step 5) on your phone or sign out and restart your Apple Music/iTunes completely (Step 6).

 

5. Network And Internet Issues

As we previously mentioned, a stable and strong internet connection is required in order to make Apple Music function properly. You might be having a problem popping up in your app as a result of something going wrong with your internet connection. Besides having a weak connection overall, other factors can come into play that can result in these problems happening.

If you happen to be experiencing problems with the app despite having a considerably strong and stable connection, consider resetting your network connection (Step 7), as you might be having these problems as a result of something going wrong with the settings.

 

6. Outdated Apple Music/iTunes or Device

The last reason why you might be having problems with your Apple Music can be a result of having either an outdated app or operating system in the device you are using. An outdated app can have several problems that can plague it, with the most common one is being unable to access content and data intended for updated apps.

If you have been having problems with the app and haven’t updated it in a while, then consider checking and updating your Apple Music/iTunes (Step 8) or updating your operating system (Step 9) to its latest version.

 

 

9 Fixes for the Apple Music “This Content is Not Authorized Error”

1. Check System Server Status For Apple Music

Many apps and services from Apple often require their servers to be in good health and status to work and function properly. The server plays an important role in Apple Music to work without any issues, which is why a strong and stable internet connection is necessary, especially if you are streaming new content you haven’t downloaded locally.

 

Heading over to Apple’s System Status Website will allow you to get a general idea of the server status of each of Apple’s services as well as a general overview of the server’s health. The website will contain all the necessary information you might need to know about the server and its service, as well as keep you up-to-date with anything that might happen to any one of them.

Besides that you can also refer to third-party server status checker websites, such as Downdetector. We recommend checking Downdetector’s page for Apple Music, as they compile user reports to indicate whether there are ongoing issues with the service. Plus, you can refer to the live map and comments section to determine whether other users are reporting similar issues with Apple Music.

 

 

2. Re-Download Your Music in Apple Music

As we previously mentioned, it is possible that you might be having problems with the application as a result of something going wrong with the files in your Apple Music/iTunes. It is possible for files to get corrupted, especially if they have been downloaded for some time already.

Deleting and redownloading your songs is the best way to quickly solve these issues and doesn’t require you to go through downloading all your songs again. Here’s what you can do:

 

For iPhone/iPad

1. Open your Song Library in your Apple Music App.
2. Find the song you want to delete and then tap and hold the music track. Tap on “Remove” to delete it.

 

3. In the following prompt, after tapping on the remove, tap on “Remove Download” or “Delete Album”.

 

4. After the song has been deleted, tap on the Cloud ☁️ icon beside the track to re-download it.

 

For Desktop (macOS/Windows)

1. In your iTunes app, click on “Library” and then click on “Songs” in the side menu.

 

2. Find the song you want to delete and click on “More” (three horizontal dots) or right-click the song and click on “Remove from Download” to delete the song.

 

3. After the track has been deleted, click on the “Download” button (either an Arrow Pointing Down ⬇️ or a Cloud ☁️) to re-download the song.

 

Following the steps above will allow you to quickly go over the steps to quickly redownload a song in your Apple Music. Once a song has been redownloaded, you can simply tap on the song/s the next time you want to play it, and it should play the song without any issues.

 

 

3. Clean Apple Music/iTunes Cache And Data

Similar to the previous fix, corrupted files aren’t only limited to songs you downloaded; it can also be other things related to the app that is causing it to not function properly, which will require you to clean out your app cache and data.

Cleaning out the cache and data will remove several files but not the application itself, which will save you time from re-downloading it. Here’s how you can do it:

 

For iPhone/iPad

1. Open the Settings ⚙️ app on your iOS device.

 

2. From your Settings, navigate to the “General” option and open it.

 

3. From your General option, find and open “iPad/iPhone Storage”. This will open an app list with all the apps you have installed.

 

4. From the app list, find Apple Music 🎵 (often shortened to Music) and open it.

 

5. Tap on the “Delete Documents & Data” or “Delete Data” option. If you can’t find it, tap “Documents & Data” first to expand it.

 

For macOS

1. Open and Launch “Finder” after closing iTunes.

 

2. Press CMD + SHIFT + G to open the Go to Folder prompt and type in “~/Library/Caches/com.apple.itunes”.

 

3. Select the file that says “cache” and delete 🗑️ it.

 

For Windows

1. Use the key combination “Windows Key + R” to open the run command. Type in “%temp%” in the Run command window.

 

2. From the Temporary folder, click on “Local” at the address bar to open it.

 

3. Look for the “Apple Computer” folder in your Local folder and open it.

 

4. This will contain an iTunes folder (and other Apple-based applications you’ve installed) that you can open.

 

5. Select and delete 🗑️ the “Cache” file inside the iTunes folder to delete all data in your computer.

 

Following the steps above will allow you to clean up any cache and data found in each of the respective platforms. It is important that you regularly follow this routine if you notice any sudden drops in performance as despite the app’s capacity to clear it automatically, it can sometimes not function well and misbehave considerably.

 

 

4. Authorize Your Desktop For Apple Music

Desktop versions of Apple Music through iTunes often require an Apple ID to be associated so that you will be able to access the same level of content and accessibility as your mobile counterpart.

An authorization with your account is required to do this, as without it; you won’t be able to access the same level of content you were able to access in the mobile version. Here’s how you can do it:

1. In your iTunes App, click on “Account” from the menu.
2. In the Account Menu, click on “Authorizations” and then click on “Authorize this Computer”.
3. Enter your Apple ID and password credentials to finish the authorization.

Following the steps above will allow you to authorize any desktop unit that has iTunes installed and your account logged in to access the same kind of content you can regularly access in your mobile phone. This isn’t only limited to one computer but can be done to multiple computers as long as you repeat each step.

 

 

5. Tweak Your Settings in Apple Music

With Apple Music, there are certain settings that affect the app’s performance and overall stability. Turning off these setting options usually won’t cause any harm in the long but can affect the performance in the long term.

You can tweak your settings, such as enabling these features to improve your experience with the app. Here’s how you can do them and what you need to tweak:

1. Open the Settings ⚙️ app on your iOS device.

 

2. From your device’s Settings app, scroll down, navigate to the “Music” 🎵 option, and open it.

 

3. From the Music Settings portion of the app, find and enable the “Show Apple Music” option. This should be enabled by default but can be disabled due to other devices.

 

4. After enabling “Show Apple Music”, find the “iCloud Music Library” option and enable it also. Similar to the “Show Apple Music” option, this is enabled by default.

 

Following the steps above will enable certain features in Apple Music that will allow you to use the app much easier, as well as encounter fewer issues that might lead to your music not playing properly or even showing up together.

These settings are only available and found in iPhones and iPad and, at this moment, have no desktop counterpart making it a fix that is only available to the mobile versions of Apple Music, similar to the previous step.

 

 

6. Sign-Out And Restart Your Apple Music

Apple Music, like most apps on any device, can be prone to crashing as a result of either the app underperforming or something going wrong while the application is running. Regardless of how it happens, an app crashing can be difficult to recover from and often cause other issues.

Signing out and restarting your Apple Music is one of the best ways to avoid crashing if you are experiencing severe lapses in performance. Here’s how you can do it:

 

For iPhone/iPad

1. Open the Settings ⚙️ app on your iOS device.

 

2. Open your Account Profile by tapping on your Account Name

 

3. In your Account Profile, tap on “iTunes & App Store”.
4. Tap on your Apple ID and then tap on “Sign Out” after tapping on “iTunes & App Store”.

 

5. After signing out of your Account, on your Home screen, swipe up from the bottom of your device.

 

6. Look for the tab containing Apple Music and then tap, hold and swipe up to close the application.

 

For Desktop (macOS/Windows)

1. In your iTunes on your Desktop, tap on “Account” in the menu.

 

2. Under the Account menu, tap on “Sign Out” to sign out of your Apple ID.

Following the steps above will allow you to sign out of your account connected to Apple Music and neatly close the app. The next time you open the app, it will be a new instance that will have most issues you previously have been absent from. Additionally, you might need to re-download all of your downloaded music, as signing out will cause all your downloaded content to be also deleted.

 

 

7. Reset Your Network/Internet Connection

Many internet connections usually won’t have any issues connecting to different services but can sometimes run into problems if the connection is considerably old.

Resetting your network/internet connection is one of the best ways to avoid this problem, as it gives you a newer internet connection instance. Here’s how you can do it:

 

For iPhone

1. Open the Settings ⚙️ app on your iOS device.

 

2. In your Settings app, tap on “General”.

 

3. Under the General tab of your settings, scroll down until you find “Reset”. Tap on it.

 

4. After tapping on Reset, tap on “Reset Network Settings” and confirm the Reset afterwards to start the process.

 

For macOS

1. Click on the Apple Icon found in the System Tray in the upper-left portion of your desktop, and afterwards, click on “System Preference”.

.

2. In your System Preferences, look and click on “Network”.

 

3. Find the Wi-Fi connection you are currently connected to and click on it.

 

4. After clicking on the Network connection, click on the minus ➖ symbol to delete it.

 

5. Once the connection was deleted, click on the plus ➕ symbol to re-add the network connection.

 

For Windows

1. Open your Command Prompt as an admin by typing “CMD” in your Search bar, and right-clicking then selecting “Run as Administrator”.

 

2. In the Command Prompt window, type in “ipconfig /release”, hit enter, and wait for it to finish.

 

3. Afterwards, type “ipconfig /flushdns” and hit enter to flush and clean your DNS settings.

 

4. Once the previous step is completed, type in “ipconfig /renew” to essentially restart and renew your internet settings and configurations. Once it finishes, you can close the window and restart your computer to make sure everything is applied properly.

 

Following the steps above will allow you to reset any network connection you might have without leaving behind any data from the old connection. Even if you are connected to the same network, having a new connection after deleting changes all your settings and even problems that you might’ve originally had with your old network.

 

 

8. Update Your Apple Music/iTunes App

Having an Apple Music that is outdated is not a big problem unless the app is several versions behind the current version. Many problems can pop up from having an old version running on your phone, as it will have problems not only accessing the servers but will also have problems with the servers working properly.

Updating your app is a simple and quick process which can be done by following the steps below:

 

For iPhone/iPad

1. First, open the App Store and search “Apple Music”. This will almost always redirect you to the Apple Music app page or give you a list of results that would contain the app in question among them.
2. The Apple Music app page will prompt you if any new updates are detected through an Update button but will avoid doing so if it is already on the latest version.

 

For Desktop (macOS & Windows)

1. Open your iTunes app on your Computer.
2. Click on “Help” in the iTunes menu.

 

3. From the Help menu, find and click on “Check for Updates”. This will immediately check for any available updates online for iTunes.

 

4. You will be prompted by iTunes if a new update is detected. Click on “Download iTunes” to confirm and start the update process.

 

Following the steps above will allow you to update your Apple Music/iTunes app considerably quickly without any issues.

 

9. Update Device Version/Software

Similar to keeping your app updated, it is likewise important to also have your device updated properly to the latest version possible to avoid any issues and incompatibilities caused by having an outdated device.

It is possible that you can experience unique problems as a result of having an outdated platform which will require an update to solve and fix. Here’s how you can do it:

 

For iPhone/iPad

1. Open the Settings ⚙️ app on your iOS device.

 

2. From your Settings, navigate to the “General” option and open it.

 

3. In the General options tab, find and open the “Software Update” option.

 

4. After tapping on “Software Update”, you can tap on the software update you want to install. Likewise, you can also select “Upgrade to…” to upgrade your iOS version to the latest one.

 

Regardless if you follow the first or second option, you can update your device with the latest information with applications and security. After installing the new updates, a device restart is recommended to ensure everything is applied properly.

 

For Desktop (macOS)

1. Click on the Apple Menu and select “System Preferences”.

 

2. From the System Preferences window, find and click “Software Update”.

 

Following the steps above will start an internet scan for updates for your system and other installed apps. If any updates are detected of any kind, the download for it will automatically be started. After everything is installed, you might be recommended to restart your device, which we advise you to follow.

 

Windows

1. Open your computer Settings through your system menu.

 

2. In your Windows Settings window, click on “Update & Security” from the category list.

 

3. Click “Windows Update” on the left-side task pane to open the corresponding tab.

 

4. Under Windows Update, click on the “Check for Updates” button.

 

Following the steps above will allow your system to scan for any updates online that it can download. You will be prompted that you are at the latest version if no new updates are detected. Otherwise, the latest updates will start downloading and installing immediately.

 

 

Conclusion

Apple Music is an incredibly convenient and content-rich streaming platform that places it on the top with many others in the same vein as it. The platform is easily accessible for many, and you can use it almost immediately without having to go through complex setups.

Despite this, however, it is still possible to experience problems such as the “Apple Music This Content is not Authorized” error message, which can make your experience less than desirable. We have curated this guide with 6 reasons and 9 fixes to address the problem as well as help anyone looking to solve this error message.

All in all, let us know down below 👇 in the comments:

1. If you found this guide helpful and which fixes worked best for you?
2. Any additional fixes we missed that you can share and that we should add?
3. Songs you might want to recommend for others to listen to?
4. What else do you use Apple Music for besides music?

Feel free to give this guide a quick share to anyone you might find is having “Apple Music This Content is Not Authorized” error messages popping up frequently with their Apple Music.