iTunes cutting off songs on iPhone

[Randy Gerdes]

Songs play fine on my MacBook, but cut off at about 3:42 into a song. If the song has cut off once, it cuts off again when played the next time, but not all songs cut off. Have worked with Apple by phone and at the store, performed an iCloud back up, restored and re-imported music...still happens. Have upgraded to iOS 10.0.2, still happens. Did a full wipe and restore, reimported music, still happens. Everyone seems baffled and no one seems to know what to do next. If play is fine on MacBook, seems like a phone problem. Open to any users' experience or suggestions. Been going on for over a year but increasing infrequency. Same result when hooked up to CarPlay or just through phone speakers alone.

[kirkmc]

All songs that cut off cut off at the same time?

[Randy Gerdes]

Within a few seconds. Sometimes the sound stops and the clock on the song continues to the end. Other times the sound stops and it shifts immediately to the next track, although the album art and track name don't change, and when the original song time ends and the title for the next track appears, the clock shows it 40 seconds in. The newest glitch is it shifts to the next track but stops playing and I have to start it manually.

[kirkmc]

That sounds more like a problem with the audio hardware or software than the Music app. What if you play music streamed through a different app (though that might still use the same audio framework).

[Randy Gerdes]

That sounds more like a problem with the audio hardware or software than the Music app. What if you play music streamed through a different app (though that might still use the same audio framework).

Not sure how I would do that, but I can try. I was given a new phone (iPhone 6) last night at the Apple Store, mainly because they can't think of anything else. I haven't played enough tunes through it to see if it's doing the same thing still, but the CSR said he expected it would continue as he didn't think it was the hardware. Thanks for your idea, I"ll try it.

[kirkmc]

Do post if the new phone resolves the problem. If not, the only thing I can think of is to create a new iTunes library, add a few songs to it, sync it (after deleting the music on the device), and see what happens.

[Randy Gerdes]

Thanks Kirk, I appreciate your advice!

[Alyssa Peterson]

I have this same problem. I have reloaded my library and reset my iPod Touch to factory settings and the songs still get cut off. Not all of them but enough that it is becoming and issue. I wrote to Apple about this but they weren't any help so I'm reaching out here since you seem to know what you're talking about.

 

Thanks in advance.

[kirkmc]

Do the same ones get cut off each time you play them, or is it different songs each time?

[Randy Gerdes]

I have this same problem. I have reloaded my library and reset my iPod Touch to factory settings and the songs still get cut off. Not all of them but enough that it is becoming and issue. I wrote to Apple about this but they weren't any help so I'm reaching out here since you seem to know what you're talking about.

 

Thanks in advance.

I ended up at the Apple Store after several phone techs tried valiantly to suggest a working fix. Nothing fixed it including completely resetting my phone, which caused me to lose a bunch of stuff even though I backed it up. Apple ended up giving me a new phone (5s) and said "we don't think this is going to fix it, but we cannot think of anything else to do." It didn't fix it either, although it happens less now for some reason. I also notice that it will, at times, finish a song, forward to the next song (on shuffle) but that song won't start until I push the start triangle. I completed flushed my music and manually loaded every song back one at a time. Maybe the 8 will be better? I'm not holding my breath.

[kirkmc]

Hmm, interesting that a new phone changed things. That suggests that it's a hardware issue. You're the first person I've heard from who actually got a new device.

[Alyssa Peterson]

Do the same ones get cut off each time you play them, or is it different songs each time?

Same songs - they play fine through my computer and Sonos system (when it accesses the computer music), it's only on the Touch that I have this problem. It used to be one or two songs but now it's almost a dozen.

 

I have a 5th Gen iPod Touch

[kirkmc]

Can you send me a file that skips, through Dropbox or something like that? I'd like to see if the same thing happens here.

[Randy Gerdes]

Same songs - they play fine through my computer and Sonos system (when it accesses the computer music), it's only on the Touch that I have this problem. It used to be one or two songs but now it's almost a dozen.

 

I have a 5th Gen iPod Touch

Same for me. When a song started cutting off early, it continued to do that, and always at the same time in the song, around 3:42 in. I'm still mystified as to what's causing it. The songs play fine in iTunes on my laptop. And, some were songs I've had through many upgrades and different machines, but some were purchased through iTunes store...so I assume the origin wasn't the issue.

[kirkmc]

Don't think that iTunes Store downloads are any more reliable than your own rips:

 

http://www.mcelhearn.com/whats-going-on-with-truncated-itunes-downloads/

[Dave G1498576223]

I also have the same problem.

Songs play fine in iTunes on Windows 10, but some cut short on iPhone 5S.

Just to add to the bizarreness, my PC recently crashed and I ended up transferring all the music back from the iPhone to PC using iFunbox.

(I had recently done a lot of ID3 editing in iTunes that was not backed up)

All songs transferred from the iPhone play fine on the PC, so the problem is not that the files get truncated between iTunes and the iPhone, just that the iPhone software cuts off the songs.

Just for info, I used the MP3Tag program to restore intelligible filenames from the ID3 tags.

 

I nearly forgot,

Windows 10 Version 1607 64-bit always the latest update

iPhone 5S, iOS 10.2.1

iTunes 12.5.5.5, always the latest

[Randy Gerdes]

I also have the same problem.

Songs play fine in iTunes on Windows 10, but some cut short on iPhone 5S.

Just to add to the bizarreness, my PC recently crashed and I ended up transferring all the music back from the iPhone to PC using iFunbox.

(I had recently done a lot of ID3 editing in iTunes that was not backed up)

All songs transferred from the iPhone play fine on the PC, so the problem is not that the files get truncated between iTunes and the iPhone, just that the iPhone software cuts off the songs.

Just for info, I used the MP3Tag program to restore intelligible filenames from the ID3 tags.

 

I nearly forgot,

Windows 10 Version 1607 64-bit always the latest update

iPhone 5S, iOS 10.2.1

iTunes 12.5.5.5, always the latest

 

That is so strange. At least we can eliminate iTunes on our Macs and Windows boxes and focus on the iPhone.

[kirkmc]

Yes, I haven't heard of this happening on the desktop. At least not for anything other than the files I mentioned in the article I link to above, where iTunes Store downloads are truncated.

[Randy Gerdes]

Thanks, Kirk. So it seems reasonable to believe it's in the iPhone software, since songs from iTunes store, and other sources (direct rips, transfers from older computers) all seem to work on desktop units and the iPhone/iPod seem to be the common element in these issues. I wonder if anyone with the newest iPhone is having the problem. Mine is a 5s.

[Martan]

I just transferred my iTunes library from my old xp laptop to a new windows 10 laptop. I did this directly. Both iTunes purchased and converted from cd music. I also reset and synced my music library with my iPod touch. I am now having the same issues as above. I have not checked song times, but it happens with many songs, not all. The iPod touch worked great before. I should add that this happens while songs are playing in shuffle mode.

[Martan]

I just transferred my iTunes library from my old xp laptop to a new windows 10 laptop. I did this directly. Both iTunes purchased and converted from cd music. I also reset and synced my music library with my iPod touch. I am now having the same issues as above. I have not checked song times, but it happens with many songs, not all. The iPod touch worked great before. I should add that this happens while songs are playing in shuffle mode.

 

Here is an update: Aparently (as some of you have said) the song keeps playing but no sound. I checked it on iTunes on the new laptop, whole song plays fine.

[Fredhead]

I am having the same issue with songs cutting off before they are finished, but only when streaming from iTunes match. If I play the song in my iTunes library on my mac, if plays fine. If I stream it from my library to Apple TV, it plays fine. It is an issue when streaming down from the cloud. I have tried deleting at the songs (it is happening with many that were recently added), closing and reopening iTunes, adding them again, sync them up to the cloud, and same problem. I have over 65,000 tracks in my match library (most of it is live concerts so not actually matched)... can I create a new library, turn match on it, and add tunes? What happens with my current Match library? Can I have match turned on in 2 libraries? Any other suggestions? Thanks Kirk!

[kirkmc]

You can have Match active on up to five computers. It sounds like it's a streaming issue.

[Fredhead]

Thanks. I created a second match/cloud library, added the tracks to it and they are streaming fine. Must be some corruption with the other library. No big deal since it was a match only library for me. Thanks!

[Guest Redondo]

Still no solution to this, eh? iPhone 7+ having same issue... songs play until close to the end, jump to next song, next song is already going (missed first part)