Listening to our favourite tunes has never been easier since the introduction of music streaming. With the click of a button, we can immerse ourselves in vast libraries of songs, albums, and playlists that span all genres and eras. However, there's a frustrating phenomenon that many of us encounter: greyed-out tracks that are unavailable for playback.
In this guide, I'll delve into the reasons behind this issue and detail ways that you can fix it (albeit at an additional cost) so it no longer plagues your music-listening experiences.
Reasons Why Music Becomes Unavailable On Streaming Platforms
Licensing Restrictions
One of the primary reasons for unavailable tracks, on streaming platforms, is licensing restrictions. Music licensing is a complex web of agreements between artists, record labels, publishers, and streaming services. Unfortunately, whenever there’s a disagreement between any of the aforementioned parties, music lovers will likely find themselves unable to stream certain music for an undisclosed period of time. We often find ourselves directing the blame and frustration towards the service provider, such as Apple Music, yet in the majority of cases they only showcase, and make available, the music that license holders have permitted them to stream. While network and service outages can occur, they’re usually resolved rather quickly, hence, most of the time if a song is unavailable, it will be because of legalities behind the scenes.
Depending on how you prefer to listen to Apple Music, you’ll either come across missing tracks from your playlists or albums. In fact, if a song has been greyed out in a playlist, you can guarantee that it has also been removed from the associated album. In some instances, another album, such as a Greatest Hits compilation may still have the song available, as each release is subject to different agreements, but it isn’t a guarantee and does little to resolve the problem without user intervention.
While it may seem strange that a single song is missing, while other songs remain readily available, it could be an issue relating to a guest artist’s contribution, to a particular song, or a copyright infringement claim; one that results in the offending tune being removed while the legal process takes its course. For instance, Prince’s masterpiece “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World”, from his 1995 studio album The Gold Experience was notably missing from streaming services, and digital download stores, due to a long-running plagiarism case that has, thankfully, since been resolved.
As it pertains to a guest artist’s contribution, they would have been permitted by their record label to contribute to a recording and its subsequent releases. For instance, the lending out of an artist by a record label may have allowed for the music to be released on formats such as Vinyl, CD, or Cassette, but perhaps the agreement predated the streaming era, hence, no such permission was given for other delivery methods. Should an artist, or their label, reissue a collaborative effort, without getting every rights holder to sign off on it, they’d be liable for damages if there wasn’t an updated agreement.
An example of this can be seen with Kenny Rogers’ exceptional duet, Islands In The Stream, with Dolly Parton on his magnificent Eyes That See In The Dark album. While Islands In The Stream is still available on Dolly Parton releases, via Sony Music, Eyes That See In The Dark is distributed by the competing Universal Music Group (Capitol Records) and as Sony owns the copyright to the song, an agreement has yet to be made relating to ensuring it is available on Rogers’ album.
Copyright licensing is such a convoluted topic that you can’t even buy a copy of Rogers’ album, with the song included, on either the iTunes or Qobuz stores. While we’ll discuss the digital download options, later in this article, this is one example whereby the physical release of the product ensures the availability of the music, as legacy releases are unaffected by these issues post-sale.
If you think that’s bad, music lovers who appreciate Original Motion Picture Soundtracks will quickly inform you of the pitfalls relating to streaming albums comprised of music from various artists as they, more often than not, have several songs missing. It’s another case of licensing agreements not extending beyond initial releases. While this can be incredibly challenging, for the modern music lover, one can respect the need to ensure that all artists are adequately compensated for their creative works.
A core example of this can be seen with the 1977 soundtrack release for Saturday Night Fever whereby the Tavares version of More Than A Woman and MFSB’s K-Jee are absent from the album’s stream on Apple Music; despite the album still being readily available and in print on traditional music formats such as the vinyl record. Incidentally, those aforementioned tracks are most certainly present on the vinyl reissues.
It isn’t, however, just the collaborative releases for some artists or labels may choose to restrict certain tracks or albums from streaming platforms for various reasons. These restrictions could be temporary or permanent and are most notable with greatest hits compilation releases. One example is Aerosmith’s Tough Love: Best Of The Ballads which was initially released in 2011 by Geffen Records. Despite Aerosmith’s back catalogue amalgamation in 2022, music released during their Geffen years (1985-1993) remains segregated, in publishing rights, on streaming services, from that released during their Sony Music / Columbia years (1973-1982, 1997-2012). It would be nice for Universal Music (Aerodisc Partnership) to fix the streaming edition to represent this new unified approach. Unfortunately, I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing, Pink, Sweet Emotion, and Dream On are still absent from the Tough Love compilation on Apple Music at the time of publication.
Additionally, while they appear absent here in Australia, they may be visible where you live, for licensing agreements often have geographical limitations; a by-product of traditional music distribution models. As mentioned earlier, it’s a complex web to navigate and while we will get to a solution for this issue, other factors can also contribute to music being unavailable.
Exclusive Deals And Windowing
While not as common as it was some years ago, exclusive deals between artists/labels and streaming platforms can lead to certain albums, or tracks, being made available exclusively on one platform for a specific period.
For instance, one of the most successful Country music legends, Garth Brooks, has only allowed Amazon Music the rights to sell and stream his catalogue. While Brooks’ approach and decision are beyond the scope of this article, it’s a clear example that showcases that the music you love may simply not be available on your preferred streaming service. Disappointingly, for those of us who live within Apple’s ecosystem, Brooks’ music isn’t even available to purchase on iTunes; an incredible omission for an artist that has sold over 170 million albums.
It isn’t only Brooks that has tested the waters of what can be done via streaming and what fans will tolerate for the once majority artist-own TIDAL music streaming service was, for a while, the exclusive platform for Jay-Z’s entire catalogue. It also played host to exclusive windowing for releases that included Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and Beyonce’s Lemonade. Prior to his passing, Prince had also declared his vision was best suited to TIDAL, arranging an exclusive deal with the streaming service, thereby preventing his vast catalogue from being available on competing platforms.
There are, of course, numerous other examples but sometimes music may be missing simply because an artist, or their record label, has made a business decision based on idealistic principles. Kanye West tried with the Stem Player; a device that allows the listener to remix the music. Interesting, certainly, however, while his 2021 Donda record was available widely, the follow-up 2022 Donda 2 remains exclusive to the Stem Player. While I’m a proponent of artistic intent, moves such as this have the potential to send music lovers to disreputable methods of attaining music; a counterintuitive position for not only the artist in question but for the entire music industry.
Neil Young has similarly been divisive at times, raising concerns over the quality of digital music, be it streamed or purchased from the iTunes Store. It resulted in the intriguing, but failed Pono Music Player and associated digital music store. Of course, things were different in 2012 when Young founded the project. Lossless, and particularly, Hi-Res Lossless streaming was largely a pipe dream.
Following Pono, Young would go on to work on his streaming archive service; a repository of just about every recording Neil Young has ever made. It’s a treasure trove for fans with a plethora of exclusive content that simply isn’t available on mainstream streaming platforms or digital download stores.
All of this is interesting because while Young was vilifying the quality of music streaming, and mainstream digital download stores, his music remained on the associated services, in lossy quality, and it took Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, and Rogan’s polarising views on the COVID-19 situation, for Young to remove his music from Spotify (the then exclusive platform for Rogan’s podcast) in protest on January 26, 2022.
Interestingly, Young didn’t remove his music from Spotify in protest of their legendarily poor artist payouts. Nor did he remove it because they have failed to embrace higher quality streams; a core point of contention for Young throughout the years. He removed it because the podcaster offended his perspective. Right or wrong, it goes to show just how fickle artists can be and how their actions can impact the availability of their music.
Note: As of the time of writing, Young’s core catalogue is once again on Spotify as Rogan’s podcast, while still contracted to Spotify, is no longer exclusive to the platform and Young making a stance against all platforms would likely result in a fundamental disruption to his ability to be financially stable in the modern era.
Of course, it isn’t just established artists that make decisions as to how, and where, their music can be listened to as independent artists may opt for exclusive distribution deals, with platforms such as Bandcamp, or choose to sell their music directly through their websites, rather than relying on streaming services and digital download stores. While I applaud this approach, I also feel it is short-sighted and will only get noticed by the most dedicated of fans, thereby limiting an artist’s reach.
Changes In Catalogue Availability
Back catalogue availability can change over time due to renegotiations of licensing agreements, label disputes, or other factors such as an artist’s body of work being acquired by a new record label. You may have noticed that a track or album that was once available on a streaming platform may become unavailable due to these changes. Most of the time it’s temporary and the music returns within a few days. Sometimes it can be due to a reissue and remaster being released. Any of these aspects can cause a disruption and sometimes when a song is greyed out, it’s due to a reissue or re-release that has been given a new unique link.
This aspect is further complicated with playlists as link changes are not automatically updated. As such, you may find that the song is still available, but needs to be re-added to your playlist.
Technical Issues
How many of us truly understand how the Internet works? We often take it for granted, don’t we? It suddenly becomes a first-world problem if our favourite music streaming service is inaccessible the moment we wish to listen to music, but the truth is that it’s a miracle that it works at all. While I would strongly recommend that you download music from your preferred streaming service, that isn’t a solution to the greyed-out music issue as any change made to an artist’s catalogue will be applied to any downloaded music the moment your smartphone connects to the server.
Frustrating, yes, but we must remind ourselves that we’re paying for a service, that has terms and conditions that very few of us read, so we have to be somewhat pragmatic when dealing with such issues as ensuring the music never stops is beyond our control when we succumb to the allure of music streaming.
If greater control, and a sense of ownership, are important to you, then you’ll likely appreciate the following strategies to ensure uninterrupted music enjoyment.
Enjoy Nonstop Music: Simple Ways To Fix Greyed-Out Music
Explore Alternative Platforms
Depending on why certain songs have become unavailable, you may find it useful to consider competing streaming services. While there’s no guarantee that they will have the music you’re looking for, and they may be missing other releases that you consider essential, it is worth exploring as when Neil Young removed his music from Spotify, it remained readily available on all other platforms. Given some services, such as Qobuz and Spotify, allow you to search and sample their libraries without needing to be a paid subscriber, that will give you the opportunity to scope out their offerings and determine if switching platforms would offer a solution for your specific situation.
Of course, the thought of changing platforms can be a daunting prospect as we get used to the way our chosen streaming platform operates. Yes, software updates can alter the user experience, and interface, but they generally bring about minimal shifts, compared to moving from one platform to another.
Apps such as Soundiiz purport to transfer playlists and favourites between streaming services and can, therefore, provide vital assistance should you choose to consider that path. As I’ve never used one of these services, and most are plan-based, with free offerings being extremely limited, I can’t vouch for their functional accuracy. What I can say is that I would much prefer to take the time to manually migrate my music library. Yes, it’s a chore, but it allows me far greater control over my music library. It also, simultaneously, allows me to become more accustomed to the user interface of the new streaming service.
Additionally, some of you may also consider subscribing to multiple streaming services, in order to gain access to a broader variety of music. For instance, a local independent band may not be available on Apple Music, but their music may be readily available on Bandcamp. I’ve even come across independent artists who are only on Spotify as they believe that it is the place to be. Granted, Spotify’s user base is massive but it doesn’t help those of us who choose, or can only afford, a singular streaming platform; particularly if you’re not interested in Spotify’s free tier.
Purchasing Music On The iTunes Store
To avoid disruptions caused by unavailable tracks on Apple Music, consider purchasing albums or songs directly from the iTunes Store. Yes, dear reader, it still exists in 2024 and likely will for some time as some music is only available to purchase. A great example of this is Michael Jackson’s compilation The Ultimate Fan Extras Collection. This 159-track release isn’t even available on CD or listed on the Apple Music streaming service, nor is it available on Qobuz’s download store. Yet, if you purchase this particular release from the iTunes Store, it will automatically be added to your Apple Music library. As iTunes, since 2009, no longer has Digital Rights Management (DRM) applied, you can also play the purchased music everywhere, on any device, and you don’t even need to be an Apple Music subscriber to enjoy your purchases.
While that example is for an entire album/compilation, what happens if, for example, Air Supply’s compilation The Ultimate Collection is missing a few tracks that were previously available for streaming? Well, in this example, I’ve noticed a change happened about a month ago and it has not yet been corrected. When I go to the iTunes Store, the songs that are missing from the Apple Music stream are labelled as Album Only; indicating that to hear these songs again, I need to purchase the entire album. Incidentally, the aforementioned missing songs from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack can also be attained by purchasing the album on the iTunes Store.
No doubt, some music lovers will be perturbed by this, but again when we stream we are only renting our music library and we have no control over what happens behind the scenes. An iTunes Store purchase mitigates that problem and I’d prefer to pay an additional amount, every now and then, than never hear the songs again.
In the case of this Air Supply example I could, if I wanted to, take the songs from other albums and construct a Playlist to replicate this compilation’s linear structure at no additional cost to my monthly Apple Music subscription. I could also use Apple Music on the Mac to change the meta tags from other releases so it flows as if it were the complete album. That process, however, is cumbersome and is subject to change the next time an update is pushed through. In many respects, it is easier to make a small purchase if the music is that important.
It’s these instances that should remind us why owning music, even in 2024 and beyond, isn’t the worst idea in the world for it gives us far greater control over our music libraries, thereby ensuring uninterrupted access, regardless of licensing restrictions or technical issues on streaming platforms.
Speaking of ownership, you could also pick up a physical release of an album. Who knows, you might even find a love for collecting the tactile artefact once again, with the knowledge that no matter what decision is made by the artist, their estate, the record label, or the streaming service; the music will reside in perpetuity on the physical medium. You can also rip a CD into Apple Music and add it to your library as Apple Music supports matching your CD collection, or uploading the 256 kbps AAC files, thereby allowing you to listen to the music you add, wherever you go. Additionally, iTunes Match is still available for anyone who doesn’t wish to subscribe to Apple Music but wishes to have streaming access to their music collection, on all their devices; nifty!
There’s no doubt that encountering greyed-out tracks and unavailable music on Apple Music et al can be frustrating, but understanding the reasons behind this issue can help us navigate this bump in the road more efficiently. By exploring alternative platforms, and purchasing music via the iTunes Store, or physical releases, music lovers can better ensure uninterrupted access to their favourite tunes.