Apple Music Keeps Repeating Songs? 5 Common Issues (Solved)

Nothing is more annoying than having to listen to a song over and over again, so when Apple Music keeps repeating your songs, it can be a real nightmare.

Thankfully there are multiple ways to stop Apple Music from playing the same song on repeat, and all you have to do is read this article to discover how.

1. A Specific Playback Setting is causing Apple Music to Repeat Songs

When encountering playback issues, such as one of your songs being played on repeat, it’s worth checking out whether there is an unwanted setting switched on.

The Apple Music app has one feature, aptly named ‘Repeat’, that is most likely the cause of this common issue. If this feature is enabled, without the listener being aware of it, then they will experience songs playing again and again seemingly without an explanation.

However, this problem can be easily solved by turning off the repeat function. To turn off Repeat, simply follow these steps:

1. Open up the Apple Music app on your iOS or Android device.
2. Navigate to the ‘Now Playing’ screen.
3. Tap the ‘Up Next’ button located in the far right on the bottom of your screen.
4. Next, tap the ‘Repeat’ button to disable the feature.

It’s worth noting that there are two settings for the repeat feature; repeat all songs and repeat one song.

Distinguishing which setting is currently enabled is very straightforward – ‘repeat one song’ is indicated by a small ‘1’ in the top right of the button.

Therefore, when disabling the repeat feature, you will either have to tap once or twice depending on which setting is turned on.

Alternatively, if you are listening to Apple Music on an iPhone and you have Siri up and working, you can also ask it to ‘Turn off Repeat Songs’.

Keeping an eye on the settings mentioned above, and checking if they are active or not, will help you ensure that Apple Music does not keep repeating songs.

2. Apple Music Keeps Repeating Songs because there are No Queued Songs

Another reason why Apple Music listeners may experience songs playing on repeat is that there are no other songs queued up to play once the current song has finished.

You can discover what songs are queued up by tapping the ‘Up Next’ icon. If there is nothing coming up next then you can choose to add more songs by following the simple steps below.

Here’s How to Add Songs to the Queue:

1. Open up Apple Music.
2. Search for a song or album you want to listen to.
3. Press and hold on your selection and choose either ‘Play Next’ or ‘Play Last’ to add the song to the queue.
4. The song or album will now appear in the queue on the ‘Up Next’ screen.
   • You can easily reorder your songs by holding down and dragging them upwards or downwards to make them play sooner or later.

3. Apple Music App is Repeating Music because it Needs Updating

Ensuring Apple Music is up-to-date is highly important when it comes to getting the best out of the app. Updates are designed to improve the listener’s overall experience by fixing any bugs, glitches, or other software problems that they may encounter.

Songs being played on repeat could be a sign that your Apple Music app is in need of an update.

Updating Apple Music is an incredibly quick and straightforward process, all you have to do is follow the steps below.

Here’s how to Update the Apple Music App on your iOS Device:

1. Begin by opening up the App Store on your iOS device.
2. Locate and tap on your profile icon which can be found at the top of your screen.
3. To refresh the list of updates available simply swipe down on your screen and let go.
4. To finish, scroll through and find Apple Music. If an update is available tap ‘Update’

The update option will only be visible next to Apple Music’s icon if you aren’t running the latest version and an update is available for download.

Here’s How to Update the Apple Music App on your Android Device:

1. To start, open Google Play Store on your Android device.
2. Next, type ‘Apple Music’ into your search bar located at the top of your device’s screen.
3. Once you can see the Apple Music icon, you should also be able to see an ‘Update’ button adjacent to it.
4. Simply tap ‘Update’ to download the most recent updates available for Apple Music.

If you find that you cannot see an update button, then your app is fully up to date and there are no newer versions available to download.

4. You Have Duplicate Songs in your Library which is Causing Apple Music to Keep Repeating

Another less common reason why you keep hearing the same song being repeated when you are listening to Apple Music is that you actually have duplicate songs in your music library.

Having more than one copy of a track or album will increase the chances that your Apple Music will play it, which can result in seemingly repeated music.

There are 3 main reasons why you may have duplicate songs in your Apple Music library:

• You have both the radio edit and live versions of the song.
• You have accidentally imported the song more than once.
• The song has been copied into different folders creating duplicates.

Some iPhone users have even reported that their entire library has been duplicated by mistake, resulting in numerous copies of each song.

The best way to fix this uncommon error is outlined in the steps below:

1. Begin by opening ‘Settings’ on your iPhone or other iOS devices.
2. Navigate to ‘General’ then ‘iPhone Storage’
3. Tap ‘Music’ and choose to delete all synced songs.
4. Once all your music has been deleted, reconnect your device to your laptop or desktop computer.
5. Sync your device to re-download all of your music.

5. Your Device Needs an Update to Prevent Apple Music from Repeating Songs

If all of the troubleshooting tips above haven’t helped and you are still finding that Apple Music is repeating your songs when you don’t want it to, then it may be time to check if there are any updates available for your device.

Ensuring your device is updated will help fix any general software malfunctions and also improve any security features.

If your Android, iOS, or desktop is running an outdated operating system, then you may experience multiple problems, not just errors with the apps like Apple Music that you commonly use.

Manually updating your device’s OS is simple; just follow the steps below.

Here’s How to Manually Update your Windows PC:

1. Click on the Windows Logo located at the bottom of your screen in the taskbar.
2. Open up your computer’s ‘Control Panel’
3. Navigate to ‘Security Center’
4. Now you should be able to see either ‘Windows Update’ or ‘Check for Windows Update’ depending on what version of Windows you are running.
5. Any new updates can easily be installed from this menu by following the instructions on your screen.

Here’s How to Manually Update your MacOS:

1. Begin by opening the Apple menu by clicking the Apple icon located at the top of your Mac’s screen.
2. Next, navigate to ‘System Preferences’
3. Click on ‘Software Update’
4. This menu will display all available updates for your Mac, simply follow the on-screen instructions.

Mac desktops should be set to automatically update their operating system whenever a new update is available, but in rare circumstances, it sometimes does not happen.

To make sure that your Mac’s operating system is always up-to-date you can enable ‘Automatically keep my Mac up-to-date’ to save you from any hassle in the future.

Here’s How to Manually Update your Android Devices OS:

1. To begin, open the ‘Settings’ application on your Android device.
2. Next tap on ‘System’
3. Now select the option ‘System Update’
4. From this screen, you will be able to see which OS your device is currently running and whether or not there are any updates available for installation.

When the update has finished installing try opening up the Apple Music app once more. Hopefully, this was all you needed to do in order to stop your songs from playing over and over again.

Here’s How to Manually Update your iOS Device:

1. Before you begin, it’s worth backing up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod on iCloud or on a desktop computer.
2. Make sure your device is charging so that it doesn’t run out of battery mid-update.
3. You should also ensure that your device is connected to the internet.
4. Next, open up ‘Settings’
5. Scroll down and tap on ‘General’
6. Now tap ‘System Update’
7. Finally, choose ‘Install Now’

The update shouldn’t take any longer than 30 minutes, depending on the strength of your internet and the condition of your device.

Once the update has been completed, try listening to your music again on the Apple Music app to see whether the problem has been resolved and Apple Music stops repeating songs.

Sources

How to Stop a Song Repeating on iPhone
How to Fix iPhone Stuck on Repeat Songs in the Music App
How to remove duplicates in Apple Music