Apple Music songs

[troutstudio]

Hi Arlo. Thanks for the great app! Some years now and still going strong.

When I want to hear the audio of a tune, say at a rehearsal, I usually make a setlist in iTunes, download it to my phone; then import it into SetListMaker. I just tried this several times recently and only a few of the songs came up with audio. Is this because they came from Apple Music? Thanks.

[arlo]

Yes, Set List Maker can only play songs that are purchased, not DRM protected and have been downloaded to the device. I think Apple now offers the ability to play Apple Music songs from third-party apps, but I haven't had a chance to explore that yet. I'll update this thread if I can support that.

[arlo]

I just checked and while Apple does now provide some ability for apps to play Apple Music files, they can only use a primitive audio framework that I abandoned in 2013 because it has high latency and doesn't support volume or pan controls, pitch-shifting or multi-route audio. Maybe those features aren't needed when playing Apple Music, but supporting it would require implementing a separate audio framework in parallel to the current framework that does provide those capabilities.

I haven't had enough demand for Apple Music integration to justify that, so the best workaround is to get the URL of an Apple Music file and paste it into the Notes field or a custom field, then click that link to play the file in the Apple Music app. You can use this tool to get links to Apple Music songs:

https://linkmaker.itunes.apple.com/en-us/

Update -- that seems to have been replaced with this:

https://tools.applemediaservices.com/apple-music