Random Apple Music playlists are showing up in people's libraries and nobody knows why

Apple Music app on iPhone, across multiple devices
(Image credit: Apple)

Some people are finding that they have random people's playlists in their Apple Music libraries and nobody seems to know why or how to fix it for good.

A number of people have taken to social media to complain that they found playlists in their libraries that they didn't create, suggesting that they are in fact someone else's playlists and shouldn't be appearing at all.

While some people have managed to come up with a workaround for the issue, it hasn't worked for everyone. And those who have reached out to Apple for help haven't been able to correct the issue.

Playful playlists

Reports have been popping up on Reddit for some time now, certainly weeks. MacRumors reports that some people also report that they have lost playlists as part of the problem although it isn't clear yet whether those playlists have appeared on someone else's account.

Perhaps even more confusing, some report that their playlists have been merged with data from other people's playlists.

Some people have reached out to Apple for help and have so far received limited assistance, but there might be a workaround that will get things up and running in the short term. Unsyncing and then re-syncing iCloud for Music in the Settings app seems to have gone well for some, but it hasn't worked for everyone. The option can be found by tapping your Apple ID followed by iCloud and Show All.

This would definitely suggest that there is some sort of iCloud sync bug but we don't know whether that's something Apple can fix entirely on the server side or if a fix will need to be implemented on a per-device basis.

If you're going to be listening to someone else's music for a while, at least treat yourself to the best sound quality available and check out our collection of the best wired headphones for lossless Apple Music. Beyond that, just hope that Apple fixes this sooner rather than later.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

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