Apple Music snippets/purchase on Catalina iMac

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Level 1

18 points

Apple Music snippets/purchase on Catalina iMac

I have a number of Apple devices associated with my Apple Music account. I usually play via my Apple TV and iPhone and sometime on my M1 iMac running Tahoe. So far so good.

However, I've just discovered that there has been some degree of update on iTunes which I previously used on my, admittedly old, iMac which runs Catalina.

On my other devices, I can search and play pretty much anything for free. However on my old iMac, I can only play a short portion of any song and Music displays prices for the purchase of these. I'm signed into my Apple Music account on all my devices and the Catalina iMac is authorised on my Apple Music account.

Is this just a limitation associated with the degree to which Apple Music has been integrated with iTunes or am I missing something...? TIA

Posted on Dec 2, 2025 10:15 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

D.I. Johnson

Level 7

32,153 points

Dec 2, 2025 10:50 AM in response to MikeyToot

This sounds to me like you're actually in the iTunes Store within the Music app, so you're seeing the buy price and getting the preview snippet for the tunes you select.

Look in the side bar to the left and select any choice in the Apple Music section. You'll find Home, New and Radio there. Those should allow you to select the music you're looking for.

In fact, you can disable the display of the iTunes Store in the side bar by going to Music > Settings... > General and unchecking the box.

And, btw, in Catalina and newer macOS versions the iTunes app no longer exists. It was split into the Music, Podcasts, TV and Books apps.

Apple Music User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

MikeyToot Author

Level 1

18 points

Dec 2, 2025 12:17 PM in response to D.I. Johnson

I'm most definitely signed in on the old iMac. I just started playing Apple Music on my Apple TV and it paused it on the iMac and gave me the usual message about not being able to play on two devices at the same time.

Selecting Browse takes me into the iTunes store when I attempt to search.

However, I think I've just sussed it. You also need to select Apple Music from the bar on the top right of the page which also offers Your Library and iTunes store. It's all a bit clunky in comparison with the Tahoe version of the app. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction, D.I.

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Answer 3

Dec 2, 2025 11:37 AM in response to MikeyToot

You're welcome.

I, too, have a 2013 iMac still running Catalina and the Music app. That's about all it does these days.

I know the icon for the Catalina version of the Music app was very similar to, if not the same iTunes icon.

The side bar pic you posted is the same. If you select the Apple Music heading > Browse choice, then you should be able to browse, select and listen to any of the music in the Apple inventory.

Make sure that you are actually signed in to Apple Music on the old iMac.

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Answer 4

MikeyToot Author

Level 1

18 points

Dec 2, 2025 11:00 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

Thank you D.I. This is the display in the side bar. As I said, it seems that the version of Apple Music on this old, late 2013 iMac is something of a hybrid between the Apple Music and iTunes app. I rarely use this old machine and the previous time I booted it up it was still showing the iTunes app. It still displays the iTunes icon but now offers some of the Apple Music features.

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Answer 5

Dec 2, 2025 12:23 PM in response to MikeyToot

You're welcome.

Happy to know you've got it sorted. Good work. 👍🏽

And thanks for sharing your insight.

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