Situation 1: iTunes Songs Greyed Out
“Tunes songs greyed out and I can’t play any of those songs, how to fix it?” – from AppleToolBox forum

Situation 2: A lot of songs grayed out
“In the last few days many songs are grayed out with a status of waiting. I’ve logged in and synced the music library, what happened? How do I fix greyed out songs on iTunes?” – from Apple Community

Situation 3: Grayed out songs on Music app
“Old songs all grayed out and unable to play or sync” – from Apple Community

Situation 4: My Apple Music songs are greyed out on iPhone
“Yesterday, the songs on my iPhone Apple Music grayed out? Why are the songs on my iPhone Apple Music grayed out? How do I get greyed out songs back?” – from Quora

Recently, we’ve seen users in the Apple support community and some forums reporting that some songs are greyed out in Apple Music or iTunes library. Therefore, we wrote this article to help Apple users to solve this issue once for all. Why are your Apple Music/ iTunes songs greyed out? How do you fix greyed out Apple Music/iTunes songs on your devices? In this article, we’ve collected some common causes and discussed some effective solutions to help you fix songs greyed out on Apple Music and iTunes.

Part 1. Why Are Some Songs Greyed Out in Apple Music?

Here are some possible reasons why some songs are grayed out on iTunes/Apple Music.

– Apple Music subscription service expired. Music from the Apple Music subscription is only available to you while you are subscribed.

– Network connection issue. Most problems are caused by a poor internet connection.

– Original Files Are Missing. If songs are missing from your music library but you’ve sync them to your iPhone, those songs are grayed out in Apple Music.

– Songs Are Corrupted. If the file is damaged or modified, it cannot be opened from the iPhone. In this case, you should move it to the Trash.

– Sync issues. Generally, iTunes songs are grayed out due to sync issues between different devices. This issue also occurs when Apple Music playlists are synced to other devices.

– Copyright issue. The copyright owner has removed the song or album. Therefore, you can no longer listen to the song.

– Format compatibility issues or DRM protection. Some of your songs are in an unsupported format or DRM protected, which may also be the reason why iTunes songs/Apple Music are grayed out.

– Country or region restrictions. Certain music tracks are only available for streaming in certain countries.

Part 2. Common Ways to Fix Grayed Out Apple Music/iTunes Songs

Now you can follow these solutions to fix Apple Music/iTunes music greyed out issue.

► Works for all iPhone models, iTunes and Music app (MacOS 10.15 Catalina):
including: iPhone 14/14 Pro (Max), iPhone 13/13 Pro (Max)/13 mini, iPhone 12/12 Pro (Max)/12 mini, iPhone 11/11 Pro (Max), iPhone X/XR/XS (Max), iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus, iPhone 6/6s Plus.

1. Log Out and Log in Apple Music/iTunes
Try to sign out in Apple Music or iTunes app, and sign in your account again. This is the easiest way to fix Apple Music songs greyed out is to resign your account.

2. Check Your Subscription Status on Apple Music

· Go to Settings on your iOS device, click iTunes & App Store.
· Then tap on Apple ID at top of screen, click View Apple ID.
· Tap on desired app, and view subscription status.

If your Apple Music subscription has expired, please renew it.

3. Check Internet Connection of Your Device

To listen to Apple Music or iTunes music, you are required a stable network unless you’ve downloaded the songs from Apple Music or iTunes app. Therefore, when your songs from Apple Music are grayed out, please check your network connection first or reset the network.

– You can change another WiFi to get the better connection.
– Or you can stream Apple Music songs online with your mobile data.

4. Re-sync Music Library

1) Re-Sync Greyed Out iTunes Songs from iTunes

Step 1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC, delete the grayed out songs from iTunes library.

Step 2. Next, refresh your iTunes library and playlists.

Step 3. Now, connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to iTunes using USB cable and Re-sync your iDevice with iTunes.

2) Re-sync Apple Music Library on iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch

Step 1. Go to Settings on your iOS device.

Step 2. Scroll down and tap on Music.

Step 3. Turn on the “Sync Library” option.

3) Re-sync Apple Music Library on Mac

Step 1. Open iTunes or Apple Music app (MacOS 10.15 Catalina).

Step 2. Click “Music” on the menu bar and choose “Preferences”.

Step 3. In the General tab, tick the “Sync Library” checkbox and click “OK”.

4) Re-sync Apple Music Library on Windows

Step 1. Open iTunes on your Windows.

Step 2. Go to the menu bar, click “Edit” > “Preferences”.

Step 3. In the General tab, click the “iCloud Music Library” checkbox and then click “OK”.

5. Re-download the Songs Greyed Out in iTunes/Apple Music

In addition, you can also try to delete greyed songs and then re-downloaded them on your mobile device or computer.

For iTunes Songs:
Open iTunes app on your Mac or PC. Move to “iTunes Store”, and tap on your account. Then check the “Purchased” option. Select the grayed-out songs and download them again from iTunes.

For Apple Music:

Go to Settings app on your iOS device. Tap “Music” > “Downloaded Music.” Click the “Edit” option in the upper right corner. Click the red minus sign (-) next to “All Songs” Then, click “Delete” to delete all downloaded music.

6. Re-authorize Your Computer

To fix iTunes songs greyed out issue, you can also try to de-authorize and re-authorize your computer.

Step 1. Open iTunes on computer. Go to the menu bar and click “Store”.

Step 2. Select “Deauthorize This Computer…” option and log out of your iTunes account.

Step 3. Then restart your computer, open iTunes and login to your account with Apple ID.

Step 4. Click “Store” again and select “Authorize This Computer…”.

Tips: For MacOS 10.15 Catalina, to show the iTunes Store on the Apple Music app, please go to then menu bar, click “Music” > “Preferences….”. Then select “iTunes Store” in the General tab and click “OK”. After that, you’ll see iTunes Store in the left panel.

7. Check Songs Format
Generally, iTunes songs greyed out because of the DRM protection. If you purchased songs from the iTunes Store before 2009, they are copy-protected by Apple’s FairPlay DRM system. And all music tracks from Apple Music are DRM-locked.

● Select the greyed-out song in iTunes or Music app.
● Right-click it and choose “Get Info”. check out “Kind” under File tab.
● If it shows “Protected AAC audio file” in Kind, this means the song is DRM-protected or not supported.

In this case, to fix grayed-out songs in iTunes, you need to Apple Music or iTunes Match.

If, unfortunately, all the above solutions can’t help you solve the Apple Music/iTunes songs greyed out issue, don’t worry, in the next part, we will introduce you the best and ultimate way to fix Apple Music/iTunes songs greyed out issue. Let’s go!

Part 3. Best Way to Fix Grayed Out Apple Music/iTunes Songs (100% Work)

As we mentioned above, if you are unable to play the songs in Apple Music or iTunes, it may be because they are in an unsupported format or protected by DRM (digital rights management). In fact, some songs you purchased from the iTunes Store prior to 2009 was protected by digital rights management (DRM). And all songs offered by Apple Music are DRM protected. Both of them are encrypted in Protected AAC (.m4p) audio format. After April 2009, songs purchased from the iTunes Store no longer use DRM. They are Unprotected AAC (.m4a) audio files.

As a result, users can’t play any Apple Music or iTunes purchased songs without the Apple Music/iTunes app. They are only compatible with certain authorized devices. These can all cause iTunes songs or Apple Music to be grayed out. In such case, you can ask help from a third-party tool – TunesBank Apple Music Converter.

Best Apple Music Converter for Mac and Windows

TunesBank Apple Music Converter is an all-in-one DRM Removal tool, Apple Music Converter, iTunes Music Converter for music lovers. As a powerful DRM Removal tool, it assists users to remove DRM protection from Apple Music, iTunes music, audiobooks, etc. More importantly, it can convert all audio in the iTunes library, including the Apple Music songs, iTunes purchased music (DRM-protected or non-DRM), iTunes M4B/M4A audiobooks, AA/AAX audiobooks, podcasts, music videos, etc.

With it, you can easily convert Apple Music and iTunes songs to DRM-free MP3, M4A, FLAC, etc. Another advantage is that it will keep the original audio quality (up to 320kbps bitrate, 48,000Hz sample rate), ID3 tags and metadata of the music tracks.

After conversion, you will be able to actually own these songs, they will all be permanently saved to your local drive. Besides, you can also transfer them to any portable device for offline listening, such as MP3 player, iPod Nano/Shuffle/Classic, iPhone, iPad, Android phone and tablet, smartwatches, Headphones, USB disk, PSP, Xbox, etc. This also means that no matter which country and region you go to, you can still listen to Apple Music and iTunes song anytime!

Guide: Fix Apple Music/iTunes Songs Greyed Out Issue with TunesBank

Step 1. Download and install TunesBank Apple Music Converter on your Mac or PC. When you launch the TunesBank program, you need to login to your Apple ID to load music library.

Step 2. Click “My Songs” or “Playlist” or any album in the left side, and select the songs by ticking the checkbox.

Step 3. Move to the bottom of the interface, where you can choose output format, output quality, output folder, codec, bit rate, output folder, etc. to meet your needs. MP3 or M4A format is recommended.

Step 4. Simply press on “Convert” button to start removing DRM from iTunes or Apple Music songs while converting to MP3/M4A audio files.

Final Words

That’s all on how to fix iTunes songs/Apple Music greyed out the issue. Here, we present some possible approaches to the solution. All in all, the best and most effective way to fix songs greyed out on Apple Music or iTunes library is to use TunesBank Apple Music Converter. Either Apple Music grayed out or iTunes songs greyed out issue, it is a good choice. It can helps users get rid of the DRM lock and convert Apple Music songs, iTunes purchased music to plain MP3, M4A, FLAC and more popular formats. This way, users can keep Apple Music forever and enjoy them offline on any device anytime, anywhere! You can have a try. If you have any other good methods, please leave your comments.

Quick navigation

• Part 1. Why Are Some Songs Greyed Out in Apple Music?
• Part 2. Common Ways to Fix Grayed Out Apple Music/iTunes Songs
• Part 3. Best Way to Fix Grayed Out Apple Music/iTunes Songs (100% Work)

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All-in-one Apple Music converter and downloader, built-in Apple Music web player. Download music without Apple Music app or iTunes application. Convert Apple Music tracks, playlists, and albums to MP3, M4A, and more.

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