Apple Confirms Music Deletion Glitch, Says Fix Incoming in Future iTunes Update

Apple today confirmed reports of an issue that causes music from personal collections to be deleted, telling The Loop it only affects a small number of users and that a fix is incoming in an iTunes update next week.

itunes_match_2015

“In an extremely small number of cases users have reported that music files saved on their computer were removed without their permission,” Apple said. “We’re taking these reports seriously as we know how important music is to our customers and our teams are focused on identifying the cause. We have not been able to reproduce this issue, however, we’re releasing an update to iTunes early next week which includes additional safeguards. If a user experiences this issue they should contact AppleCare.”

Last week, debate raged over the supposed glitch after Vellum's Jake Pinkstone wrote a blogpost complaining that Apple Music had deleted 122 GB of his personal music collection without his permission after he joined the service. The deletion occurred after Pinkstone had his music library scanned by Apple to make his collection available across his devices.

Confusion ensued after Pinkstone was told by an Apple Support Representative named Amber that Apple Music's matching system was "functioning as intended." When asked whether Apple Music was supposed to delete his personal music without his permission, Amber responded "yes." Amber's statement, however, was inaccurate according to Apple's own support document.

While the causation of the bug is still unknown, as Apple has failed to reproduce the issue, the company's statement suggests Apple has narrowed down the issue to iTunes rather than the Apple Music service. It's unclear whether the fix will arrive with a minor or major iTunes update. However, one possibility is iTunes 12.4, which will include a minor redesign and arrive in the next couple of weeks, according to a MacRumors source.

Related Forum: Mac Apps

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

dlkolegaev Avatar
119 months ago
Bugs, bugs, bugs, never ending story of today's Apple...
Score: 87 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AlexJaye Avatar
119 months ago
Apple, regularly putting out crap work since 2013. Awesome.
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mactendo Avatar
119 months ago
Something truly magical.
We can't reproduce it but we'll fix it.
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chromite Avatar
119 months ago
This would never have happened under Steve Jobs. Not being funny.
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
japanime Avatar
119 months ago
Apple giveth (U2), Apple taketh away.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lars666 Avatar
119 months ago
“In an extremely small number of cases users have reported that music files saved on their computer were removed without their permission,” Apple said.

Is this the same extremely small number like the <1% iCloud dropouts which mysteriously somehow ALWAYS affect me?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)