How to Fix Apple Music Family Sharing Not Working

With the family sharing option enabled and an Apple Music subscription, you can let your entire family enjoy all of the music tracks that the service has for you. Apple has been kind enough to allow you to share your Apple Music subscription with your family members so they don’t feel left out. For some users, though, the sharing feature doesn’t seem to be working well and they are unable to let their family members access their subscription.

If the family sharing feature is not working for Apple Music on your account, the following guide will be of great use to you. It offers multiple ways of fixing the issue so you are able to share your music tracks with your family members.

Let’s check it out:

Common Fixes for the Apple Music Family Sharing Not Working Issue

All the fixes mentioned below are common ones and they do not require you to purchase or install anything on your devices. These fixes just tweak a few options here and there on your devices so you can share your subscription with your members.

Fix 1. Verify the Apple ID on Your Devices

The first thing you will want to do is ensure the Apple ID used on your device is the one that was used to purchase the subscription. It must also be the same ID that you use to connect to your family members on your devices. The following is how you verify the Apple ID on your Apple devices.

On an iOS-based device such as an iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app and tap on your name. The following screen will display the Apple ID that you use on that particular device.

If you are a Mac user, click on the Apple logo at the top-left corner of your screen and select System Preferences. On the following screen, click on iCloud and you should be able to view your Apple ID.

Ensure the ID is the same as your Apple Music subscription. If it is not, log out of that account and log back in using the correct ID.

Fix 2. Check the Features You Share with Family

Apple allows you to selectively share content with your family members and it could be the case that Apple Music sharing is disabled in your account. In that case, all you need to do is enable the music sharing option and your family members will have access to your Apple Music subscription.

On your iOS-based device, launch the Settings app and tap on your name. Tap on Family Sharing on the following screen and ensure the Apple Music option is turned on. If it is not, turn it on to allow your family members access to your music subscription.

Fix 3. Sign Out of and Back into Your Account

Sometimes there could be a minor glitch in the software of your device and simply logging out of your account and then immediately logging back in should resolve the issue for you. The following is how you do it.

On your iPhone or iPad, launch the Settings app and tap on your name to open the iCloud settings panel. Scroll down and tap on Sign Out to sign out of your account. Wait for a minute and then sign back in using your login credentials.

On your Mac, launch the iTunes app and click on the Account menu and choose Sign Out. Once you are signed out of your account, sign back in using the same account.

See if you can now access your Apple Music subscription on your family members’ devices.

Fix 4. Remove and then Re-add Your Family Members

If there was an issue when you added a family member to your Apple Family, you can remove them and add them back in to fix the Apple Music not working on the family sharing issue. It’s easy and the following is how you do it.

On your iOS device, open the Settings app and tap on your name. Choose Family Sharing on the following screen and select the member you want to remove. Tap on the Remove option on the following screen and the member will be removed from your family sharing account.

Fix 5. Wait Until Apple Music Trial Expires

There’s a catch when it comes to using Apple Music in family sharing. If your family member has already subscribed to Apple Music on a trial basis, they will not be able to access your Apple Music subscription until their trial period has expired

Wait until the period expires and then you should be able to share your Apple Music subscription with them.

Bonus Tip: How to Share Music Between iPhones with AnyTrans

If you find sharing music between the iPhones of your family members to be a bit too much of a task, you have a great alternate method available that lets you share music between your devices easily and effortlessly.

What makes the task so easy is an app called AnyTrans that allows users like you to easily transfer content including music from one iPhone to another. There are many other reasons as well as why you should choose this app over any other for your music transfer tasks.

• User-friendly interface – the app provides you with an extremely easy-to-use interface for you to perform your transfer tasks.
• Unlike the traditional iOS backup and restore methods, the app does not delete any of your data on your devices while or after transferring your music files.
• It transfers your music files at a faster rate than anything else.

If you think it is worth giving AnyTrans a try to share your music files between iPhones, the following is how you do it.

Step 1: Download and launch the AnyTrans app on your computer. Plug in both of your iPhones to your computer at the same time. Click on the Music icon in the app to view available files.

Step 2: On the categories screen, click on the option that says Songs and then choose the music that you want to transfer > Click on To Device button > It is for sharing music files between your iPhones.

AnyTrans will start sharing your music files from one iPhone to another and you will soon find all of your music tracks on your target iPhone.

The Bottom Line

If the family sharing feature ever gets stuck and prevents you from sharing your Apple Music subscription, the above guide will provide you with the methods to fix the issue and share your music tracks.