Older iTunes and current Apple Music accessibility issues.

While I completely agree with you about the new Music app, Rudegar is correct in saying that we are not Apple and it is unlikely that the people at Apple who do moderate this forum can pass on your displeasure to the programmers. Click on this link for Apple products feedback links --> Product Feedback - Apple

Apple may not respond but your comment will be read. Bear in mind though that the change was made many years ago. Some are happy with the new interface and some not.

You can investigate alternative media players. I have yet to try it but Swinsian appears to most closely mimic the old iTunes interface. You could review these but they will not offer syncing support to Apple i-devices or connectivity to iCloud/iTunes Store.

aTunes* - http://www.atunes.org/?page_id=6 Check about additional components required for full features.

Songbird (no longer updated, see Nightingale) - http://sourceforge.net/projects/songbird.mirror/

FooBar - free, powerful, but somewhat primitive appearance and has a steep learning curve

Nightingale - http://getnightingale.com

Jajuk* - http://jajuk.info/index.php/Mac_OS_installation_guide

*Runs under Java 6 which may be slower.

2014 topic on iTunes alternatives - alternatives to iTunes on Mac? - Apple Community

ThatDeafGuy wrote:

Oh Apple what have you gone and done to iTunes? I recently upgraded from High Sierra, where iTunes worked perfectly to Tahoe where Apple Music is a steaming pile of doodah via a new Apple computer system.

I'm profoundly deaf with a cochlear implant and use an iPod Touch for accessible music content. Before it was a simple drag and drop MP4 to iTunes, change the category to Music Video, update the file's details and that was it, job done.

This no longer works with Apple Music, all of the MP4s now go to the Apple TV app instead, and you can't shuffle those files either on the computer or on my iPod and the 'Music Video' category no longer exists. Ergo, I can no longer add new accessible music to my iPod and this has made me incredibly upset.

I bought a cheap MacBook Air that still ran High Sierra, used migration assistant from my old iMac, it worked at first but now most tracks need admin access updates and there's still no guarantee that it will sync correctly with my iPod.

My iPod is no longer playing the videos, it states 'This video is not currently available in your country or region', despite these videos having run perfectly prior. These are videos that have come from purchased physical content such as DVD and Blu Ray disks.

I'm at a loss of what to do, in a nutshell I no longer have portable access to my old music and can't add new accessible music performance MP4s to Apple Music.

I explored a little bit online with your original query because it seemed wrong to me that you are boxed into a corner like this with those file formats. I have done file type conversions myself manually many times but not for the exact situation you described. Here is what I found, which I have to warn you comes from a series on online questions I posed, so treat this as an "AI type of response" which I find can be accurate for simple things but sometimes AI gets more complex things incorrect in some details.

AI Mode Conversation: how can i import mp4 to apple music app

To convert your MP4 video into an audio-only file using your Mac, you can use the built-in QuickTime Player or Apple Music app.

Method 1: The Quickest Way (Using QuickTime Player)

This is the fastest method because it extracts the audio stream natively without needing to alter your Apple Music settings.

1. 1. Open your MP4 file with QuickTime Player (installed on every Mac by default).
   2. In the top menu bar, click File > Export As.
   3. Select Audio Only... from the dropdown menu.
   4. Name your file, choose where to save it (it will save as an .m4a file, which is Apple's standard high-quality AAC audio format), and click Save.
   5. Drag and drop this new .m4a file directly into your Apple Music app. It will now live in your library as a regular audio track.

Method 2: Convert Using the Apple Music App

If you already imported the MP4 into Apple Music as a video and want the app to handle the conversion, follow these steps:

1. 1. Open the Apple Music app on your Mac.
   2. In the top menu bar, go to Music > Settings... (or Preferences on older macOS versions).
   3. Click on the Files tab at the top of the settings window.
   4. Click the Import Settings... button.
   5. In the "Import Using" dropdown, select AAC Encoder or MP3 Encoder depending on your preference. Click OK to save and close the settings.
   6. Go to your Library and find your imported MP4 video.
   7. Click the track once to highlight it, then go to the top menu bar and select File > Convert > Create [AAC/MP3] Version.

Apple Music will instantly duplicate the track as an audio-only file in your library, leaving your original video intact.

ThatDeafGuy wrote:

Thank you Steve however my MP4 music content is hard-captioned so I can follow what is being sung/said. I can't do it by sound alone.

Ok, I did not understand that you need these to be videos.

In my Music app, under Tahoe, there is a category under Library called "Music Videos." This is a category like the others, which are Recently Added, Artists, Albums, Songs, and Music Videos. There are several music videos there, purchased M4V files, which apparently are like MP4 files but may have DR restrictions added. If I click on them inside Music they do play inside Music in a new window. If I click on the file in the Finder, it sometimes plays in Quicktime or Apple TV. I can right click on the file and instruct it to open inside Music, and then it does. In all cases however it plays as a video, with visual and music content both. I also have some .MP4 files which are videos of various events we have made and if just clicked on they open in Quicktime but I can again instruct it by right clicking to open and play in Music, and they do play there as videos (including visual content).

That said, my iPhone syncs with my Mac and shows all the music songs but does not show the dozen or so "Music Video" items that show in my Music Library.

So I suspect this does not solve your problem with the iPod Touch?

apple is not here

these forums are user helping other users like yourself, it's sort of going to a physical apple store and asking other customers their advice

This is a user helping users with tech questions forum, we are not apple and apple do not read your posts here

personally I'm content with apple music on windows 11 and various apple products

You can provide them with feedback using Product Feedback - Apple

Or reach out to their official support channels

Get Support (apple.com)

And or

Contact - Official Apple Support

And or

Contact - How to Contact Us - Apple

Or

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Thank you, your information helps a lot and I will check the links out in a few moments. I feel some folk are being thrown by the first sentence of my initial post, it was merely a frustration and not directed to Apple themselves.

ThatDeafGuy wrote:

Thank you, your information helps a lot and I will check the links out in a few moments. I feel some folk are being thrown by the first sentence of my initial post, it was merely a frustration and not directed to Apple themselves.

Your post is what's commonly referred to as a "rant", which is prohibited by the Apple Support Community Terms of Use.

The only posts in this thread that are "rude" are yours.

Gosh, what a rude and patronising response.

'personally I'm content with apple music on windows 11' - well jolly good for you and yet nobody asked.

Thank you Steve however my MP4 music content is hard-captioned so I can follow what is being sung/said. I can't do it by sound alone.