Problems with Apple Music Playlists

Here’s what it looks like.   
 

Hi ​@chriszim 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear of this issue you’ve been having with your iTunes (Apple Music) playlists not importing properly. 

As you’ve manually exported your playlists, you should be getting the most up-to-date version of your xml file.

I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports.

Though, one option might be to export your playlists differently - as individual .M3U files, for example.

I hope this helps.

I did get in touch with technical support (up to level 2), and was on the phone with them for 2 hours while they remoted in, got diagnostics, etc.   But, could not find a resolution.   I was a little dissappointed with them since I felt like the technician made it sound like my fault (eg., said I probably had missing music files or were corrupted, etc.), but I’m using a brand new computer and verified that every music file is there and working fine.

Hi ​@chriszim 

Sorry to hear that they could not help, and I am sorry to also hear that they made it sound like it was your fault. I’d like to think what they meant to say was that it was something local in nature and for you to find and fix, rather than a bug in the software that we need to fix.

I like you to please try something. Instead of using the iTunes/Apple Music app to create the xml file, the Sonos app will create it if it does not find it, and I’d like to see what the speakers will do if they find a file created by the Sonos app.

So, please open your iTunes folder in the macOS file browser to find your current XML file(s) (iTunes Music Library.xml or iTunes Music.xml) and remove them.

Next, open the Sonos app for your Mac (downloadable here), and do the following:

1. From the Manage menu, select Music Library Settings.
2. Under the section for “My music folders on Sonos,” select - (minus) and remove the existing share.
3. Under the section for “My music folders on Sonos,” select + (plus)
4. Select Networked device (ex. NAS drive).
5. Type the network path for your shared music folder and select Next.
6. Enter the username and password for the account used to share the music folder.
7. Allow time for the indexing to happen

Please check for a file in your iTunes folder being created during this process - it will be called iTunes Music Library.xml or iTunes Music.xml. If one does not appear in the folder after performing the above steps, it’s possible that choosing the third option at step 4 will prevent the creation of the file, though the above steps are needed to add the share to Sonos in a manner in which it will play. If this is the case, I recommend exporting your playlists as individual m3u files in iTunes/Apple Music, as I suggested in my first reply - doing so will negate the need to index any xml file and I suspect the importation of the playlists will go better as a result.

I hope this helps.

Hi Cory,

Thanks for the reply and appreciate your help!   My Apple Music Library is located on an external drive.  I’ve done the steps above previously (without the iTunes XML file there), and Sonos does not create the new file.   I’ve also exported one of the Apple Music playlists as an .m3u and didn’t seem to help / make a difference; Sonos appears to still auto-create these.

Hi ​@chriszim 

Ah ha!  - That expanded view shows there are .m3u8 files in use - please search your music folder for all and any .m3u8 files and delete them.

As you are using an external drive, the Sonos app will not create the xml file for you, but with all and any .m3u8 files gone, let’s see what happens next.

Your NAS drive may have files in the recycle folder - be sure to empty this in case it is being indexed.

I hope this helps.

Hi, I searched and had no .m3u8 files on the music folder/external drive and trash is empty.

Hi ​@chriszim 

Well, that is strange - I see no reason why the Sonos app would list a bunch of non-existent files like that.

Perhaps the files are hidden? Or perhaps they are in the iTunes folder on your Mac and are being inserted into the xml file during the export process as a result?

I think it very likely that there are .m3u8 files somewhere. At a guess, I would say an export to m3u8 files was attempted from within iTunes at some point, and these files are the residuals of that. Strange that they do not work, but if they were exported to the local drive rather than to the NAS, I guess that would make sense.

I hope this helps.

I recently switched from Spotify to Apple Music and used a tool called TracklistPro. It worked great for me!"
TracklistPro is a simple and efficient tool that lets you transfer playlists effortlessly between Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and more, ensuring your music stays intact without the hassle of rebuilding from scratch.

Hi ​@chriszim 

Ah! That explains it - HLS is a audio streaming protocol, rather than being an actual audio file, and that must be why it is being interpreted as a playlist. We receive them when streaming, so the speakers do know what to do with them. Not that they should be in a music collection, which is why things looked a bit weird for you.

Thanks for coming back and updating the thread!