iTunes Match no longer working in Apple TV 3?

Question

iTunes Match no longer working in Apple TV 3?

Does iTunes Match not work on Apple TV 3 any more?

I noticed that all of a sudden the Apple TV, under My Music, was only displaying purchased music and not music uploaded to iTunes Match. It's been working fine for years, until last week.

I though maybe I'd fix it by turning iTunes Match off on the Apple TV, and then turning it on again. But having done that, none of my music at all shows up - instead, I briefly see the 'connecting to iTunes Match' screen just for a split second before that's replaced by the message "iTunes Match - There was a problem connecting to iCloud. Please try later". Trying again later didn't help (same issue). There clearly isn't actually a problem connecting to iCloud, because all the other iCloud and iTunes Store content is still available on that same Apple TV.

So then I've tried some other troubleshooting steps:

Signed out of iTunes Store (on the Apple TV) and back in again; issue persists.
Signed out of iCloud (on the Apple TV) and back in again; issue persists.
Signed out of both and signed back in again; issue persists.
All of the above, but appending a 2FA security code (generated on my iPhone) to my password when signing back in to iTunes Store (signing back in to iCloud generates a 2FA code, and a request for it, automatically).
All of the above signs me back in successfully, to the extent that I can view and purchase all iTunes/Apple content successfully, but still can't access the "My Music" tab, ie iTunes Match still doesn't work.
Then I've tried a restart followed by all of the above; issue persists.
Then I've tried a reset of the Apple TV followed by all of the above; issue persists.
Then I've tried a restore of the Apple TV using the microUSB service port and iTunes on a MacBook, followed by all of the above; issue persists.

I don't think it can be a network issue because all the other Apple services work fine; as does Netflix, etc. It's just iTunes Match that doesn't work. For that reason I don't think there can be anything wrong with the Apple TV.

But - equally - I don't think there's anything wrong with iTunes Match per se because it continues to work just fine on my Mac, my iPhone, and two other (more recent) Apple TVs. So I'm really stuck, but reluctant to just go and buy another new Apple TV (they're expensive, for one thing!).

Finally, having spent hours on it, I spent some more hours on the phone with Apple. I got escalated through different tiers of advisor and I asked the senior advisor directly if something has changed that means iTunes Match no longer works on the Apple TV 3 (which of course is quite old now) but he insisted that wasn't the case and that Apple TV 3 should still work OK with iTunes Match.

So - and a bit of a long shot - does anyone have any idea what to try next?

Thanks!

Apple TV (3rd generation)

Posted on Apr 30, 2023 2:06 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

mariong37

Level 1

13 points

May 18, 2023 4:31 AM in response to Greg Cheasman

I have the exact same problem. I just called Apple support, after checking the version of my Apple TV the diagnose was that from the beginning of May Apple discontinued the iTunes Match service on Apple TV 3.

I guess you all already understood so, but now formaly confirmed

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Answer 2

May 12, 2023 1:33 AM in response to roonz

Yep, I must admit that despite Gena_D's note above, I have not gone back to Apple Support again - for the simple reason that I have zero confidence it'll get anywhere. I already committed too much time on the phone with advisors, and senior advisors, etc.

It seems pretty evident at this point that Apple has changed how something works at their end meaning that the AppleTV 3 (listed as obsolete) is no longer able to reconnect to iTunes Match. Either the advisors don't know that, or they don't want to deliver that negative message to the customer. If anyone at Apple knows any different and can present a solution, I'm all ears. But I don't want to spend more hours on the phone getting nowhere!

If it weren't for the fact that the AppleTV 3 fits inside the recess in my B&O TV (that was expensive, is still good, and I don't want to change) and the later models don't, I'd have just bent to Apple's will and bought a new one... but it does seem obnoxious to deliberately stop a perfectly serviceable bit of hardware working, via a remote software change, so people are forced to junk it and buy more shiny new Apple stuff!

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Answer 3

May 13, 2023 2:04 AM in response to roonz

Sorry you had a wasted journey; it's exactly why I haven't taken it any further, I just don't think we'll get anywhere.

Apple, despite what they say, have clearly made a change that prevents ATV3 from using iTunes Match any longer... but for whatever reason they won't confirm that to customers.

Which is frustrating and seems a bit dishonest (though I guess the advisors and Geniuses aren't being given that information either, so not meaning to imply any dishonesty on their part, I suspect they'd genuinely like to help).

Really poor of Apple though to do this and then refuse to own up to it - I think customers might accept that older products can't be supported forever, if they felt Apple were at least being straight with them; which they are not right now.

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Answer 4

roonz

Level 1

47 points

May 11, 2023 10:20 AM in response to Gena_D

I have five Apple TV boxes and this has happened to two of them but not the other three. I have done exactly the same as you with restarting as well as resetting the atv boxes themselves I phoned apple and they were not able to get anywhere I may have to take the boxes in to the Apple Store and physically get them to work it out as it’s obviously beyond the scope of telephone support.

if anyone finds a solution please post !

thanks

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Answer 5

Gena_D

Community Specialist

May 2, 2023 6:56 AM in response to Greg Cheasman

Hello Greg Cheasman,

You've done some great troubleshooting on this issue already, including working with a Senior Advisor. We want to make sure you reach the right team for help with your device, so we recommend that you contact Apple Support directly again to re-open the current case you have. Depending on your region, you may be able to reach them here: Get Support - Apple.

Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities and have a wonderful day.

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Answer 6

roonz

Level 1

47 points

May 12, 2023 8:12 AM in response to Greg Cheasman

Just spent the afternoon at the mac store with no progress. They all assured me that the atv could update we even plugged it in to their machine and watched it download the update only to find on restarting that it was still set to 7.9. Which seems to be the best it can do but none of the staff could tell me why last month this same atv was accessing iTunes match without any problems and this month there is a ‘problem’ connecting to the cloud. Love apple but do wish they just told the truth and said we are going to update the software and for reasons that only we know we have decided to prevent some of our long time customers from connecting so that they give us more money

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iTunes Match no longer working in Apple TV 3?

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