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Contributor I
Dec 25, 2013 4:42 PM UTC

An unexpected error occurred while importing playlists.

I can't get my playlists imported from iTunes from my Mac.  It looks like all the songs come over but not the playlists.  I keep getting the error message above in the error log and do not know what is wrong.  What should I do?
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    6 replies

    Ryan S
    Retired Sonos Staff
    Dec 26, 2013 9:44 PM UTC
    Hello mpserafin,

    The iTunes playlists are in a file inside your shared folder called 'iTunes Music Library.xml'. That error message can mean that there are corrupt characters in that file, or that there was a problem indexing it for some other reason. Also, the Sonos system has a maximum limit of 65,000 tracks in your Sonos system, so if the index is full it would have skipped the playlists.

    Can you please submit a diagnostic from your system and reply back with your confirmation number after you've tried reindexing?

    Cheers.
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    Lyricist I
    Jul 5, 2016 7:27 AM UTC
    I'm having the same problem. Songs imported along with a few playlists (I have quite a lot of iTunes playlists) but not all. The playlists used to import OK. Diagnostics sent #6333107.
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    Jeff S
    Retired Sonos Staff
    Jul 6, 2016 4:21 PM UTC
    I'm having the same problem. Songs imported along with a few playlists (I have quite a lot of iTunes playlists) but not all. The playlists used to import OK. Diagnostics sent #6333107.

    Hi Rrutter,

    There seems to be an error when your Sonos system is trying to read the iTunes Music Library.xml file. This could be due to some non-standard characters in a song name or playlist name. Sometimes non-alphabet characters can cause the Sonos system to be unable to import the file. Please check your playlist names and tracks to see if there are any non-alphabet or numeric characters. If you find some, try renaming them and see if you can then complete the music indexing.

    It's also possible that the iTunes Music Library.xml file itself has some corrupt formatting. You can try deleting the file and restarting iTunes. This will cause iTunes to recreate the file and may help your Sonos system read it.
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    Contributor I
    Jul 24, 2016 11:46 AM UTC
    In my case it seems the "non-standard" characters were Unicode in another language. Hello 21st century! Not everything is in ASCII English. In this case Arabic messed it up. I guess I'll have to write the Arabic titles in English because, you know, USA USA!
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    Lyricist I
    Feb 7, 2018 10:26 PM UTC
    same problem Your confirmation number is: 8465597.
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    Keith N
    Sonos Staff
    Feb 9, 2018 9:18 PM UTC
    Hello there, gnboston.Thanks for posting and welcome to the Community. Can you tell us a little more about these playlists you are trying to import? Where are they located? Perhaps you will find this article helpful that explains playlist importing and limitations.
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