Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning we get a small commission if you make a purchase through our links, at no cost to you. For more information, please visit our Disclaimer Page.
Apple has become synonymous with listening to music as a digital file when one is out and about for the day. While there are many other streaming choices for music these days, iTunes is one of the major outlets that started much of this after technology moved away from tape or CD players and toward MP3 files.
While Apple Music and iTunes remain great and convenient choices for listening to music, some users report that they sometimes get random songs appearing on their playlists from time to time.
This can prove problematic if the music isn’t to your taste, so we’ll explain why that may happen and what you can do about it in our article below.
Table of Contents
Why Do Random Songs Appear on My Apple Music or iTunes?
Suppose you’re a frequent listener of Apple Music or iTunes. In that case, you may notice that some songs you’re not familiar with or are not particularly interested in could pop up in the middle of your favorite playlists.
There are a couple of reasons this might happen, so we’ll go through each.
Recognized and Unrecognized Devices
You could be signed into another device that you don’t recognize. If you want to listen to your playlists from multiple devices, having several of them remember your Apple ID at once can be handy.
This can make it easier to transition to a new device without any kind of prompts or pairing, and it allows you to keep your files with you via cloud access through multiple devices. However, the same feature that makes this so convenient could be causing some issues for you.
If your Apple ID is paired with any unrecognized devices, or if you’ve allowed someone else’s device to access your library, certain additions or changes could mess up your usual music roster.
This is one way in which songs you don’t recognize or wouldn’t play yourself could be getting onto your Apple Music or iTunes.
While features can create mixes for you that might include music you could listen to, we assume here that you’re getting recommendations for songs that aren’t even within the typical genres or tastes that are to your liking.
To check which devices are associated with your Apple ID, you can:
- Go to the ‘Settings’ area of whichever Apple device you like.
- From there, click on your name or Apple ID.
- Once you’re in the new menu, scroll down to see a list of which devices are connected to your account currently.
- If you’re on your Mac, you can go to the Apple Menu icon that is shaped like the fruit and click on ‘System Preferences’ to get information about signed-in devices.
- Check each device to ensure you recognize it and disconnect any that you do not.
It is important to remember that it may not be a problem if you find one or two unrecognized devices in your lists.
It is possible that there are some older devices that you don’t use, or perhaps you paired up the device of someone else temporarily, which is now causing problems with random songs getting added to your account.
Shazam and Personal Mixes
There are two other ways that Apple Music or iTunes might be causing issues with different songs on your account. They are somewhat related in how they function, so we’ll talk about both in detail in this section. Shazam can create personal mixes for you to listen to.
These will usually be under very broad headings that may include the names of various genres, or they will be centered around themes. For example, you may see mixes for chilling or workout to give you an idea of what you might find there.
With mixes, the programs from Apple Music or Shazam might create playlists that are centered around these themes. Some of the songs might be to your taste, but it is possible that many of them fit the theme or genre but won’t really have the musical sounds that you typically like to hear.
Personal mixes can also be set manually, like a favorites list of songs you listen to a lot of new music you’ve decided to try. However, these sorts of mixes are separate from your actual playlists in most cases.
What might be happening here is that Shazam is set to add some of these playlists or songs to your music library automatically. There are ways to turn this feature off and try to eliminate the problem, though.
We will discuss how to get Apple to stop adding them and how to stop random songs from playing once a playlist ends in the following sections.
How Do I Stop Apple Music From Adding Random Songs? (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
If Apple Music is adding random songs you don’t listen to or don’t care for to your playlists, it could be because you are a Shazam user. Using Shazam in conjunction with Apple Music can be great, but some of its settings may make things harder for you at first.
For one, Shazam has a feature that allows it to do an auto-add of certain songs. Go into the ‘Settings’ for Shazam and look for an option about ‘Auto-adding Shazams to Apple Music.’ If this option is checked, it could be what is causing this issue for you. Uncheck it to see if the problem persists.
How Do I Stop iTunes From Automatically Adding Songs to My Music Library? (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
There could be a syncing issue that is adding songs to your music library unnecessarily. While Shazam or a particular option within your app’s settings could also be to blame, we’ll list one other thing that could be putting your songs out of sorts.
1. From whatever preferred device you are on, go to the ‘Settings’ section.
2. Once there, find the ‘Music’ pane and click on it.
3. In this section, check to see if the ‘Sync Music’ option is selected. If so, unselect it to see if there might have been a problem with some unrecognized device syncing up music that you don’t like to listen to or want in your library.
How To Stop Apple Music From Automatically Playing on iPhone?
The final problem you may encounter occurs when Apple Music just keeps playing even after the end of your preferred playlist. In this case, the app might play random songs when you’d prefer the music to stop.
Apple is likely trying to play random music similar to what you previously listened to.
- To check for this, click on a playing song or go to one from your playlist.
- Look for three lines that resemble a ‘Menu.’ Click on this icon.
- From there, check to see if an infinity loop symbol is selected. If it is, the program is trying to play random songs for you.
- Uncheck this option to resolve the problem.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, Apple Music and iTunes have set the stage for music streaming in a big way. Most of the newer apps you’ll find use features similar to what Apple began many years ago.
Additionally, the app has continued to grow and innovate as needed. With these changes can come a few unwanted features or difficulties. While it is nice to have the option, there are a few ways we can prevent unwanted songs from showing up in your library or playing.
