How to Fix Cannot Sign-In Into Music or TV App on macOS Catalina

Tried to sign-in into Apple Music, TV+ app, iTunes Store, or Podcasts on your Mac (running macOS Catalina), but for some reason, you’re not able to get in?

You’re not alone. Multiple users over at the Apple Support Communities and Reddit, as well as our readers, have reported the issue has been persistent on the macOS Catalina 10.15.1 version after updating from their previous macOS versions.

You might also see errors such as “Unknown error (1001)” and  “Unknown error (11556) make sure your connection is active”.

The solutions that are shared below are a result of tried and tested methods that we have found to have worked for our own Mac machines (tested on Macbook Pro and iMac).

We will guide you step-by-step on how to carry out each method so that you can fix the whole “Cannot sign-in into Music or TV app on macOS Catalina”-issue once and for all.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Sign-In Using a Different Apple ID and Then Sign Back In Using The Other Account
2. Signing Out Of iCloud and Then Back In
3. The New Account Method
4. Fixing The “Cannot Sign-In Into Music or TV App” Bug Using Your Mac’s Terminal
5. Update Your Mac
6. Reach Out To Apple

 

Cannot Sign-In Into Music or TV app on macOS Catalina? Here’s The Fix.

 

1. Sign-In Using a Different Apple ID and Then Sign Back In Using The Other Account.

This solution was initially shared on the Reddit thread on this topic. The steps involve first opening the Apple Music app, logging out of your account, and then restarting the App Store on your Mac before proceeding to log back in using your account in the App Store.

The exact steps are as follows:

1. Go ahead, hop onto your Mac and then open the Apple Music app. For a quick search, you may use Spotlight and then search for “Music”.
2. Next, once you’re in the Apple Music app, from the menu, choose Account and then select Sign In. If you’re already signed in to Apple Music, then sign out and then sign back in. 
3. Now go ahead, open your Mac’s App Store, and then click on the Sign In button and then log in using your Apple ID credentials. 

This should get you signed back and provide you the access for all the Apple Music, TV+ app, iTunes Store, or Podcasts services that were previously unavailable.

 

 

2. Signing Out Of iCloud and Then Back In.

This solution is similar to the first one where you need to log out of your iCloud account from your Mac’s System Preferences and then the same way as the first solution — you sign back in through the App Store. This has also shown to have worked for multiple users who having been stuck on this issue. 

Now when signing it out your iCloud account, it may take a couple of attempts, but eventually, you will be signed out. 

Here are the steps to sign out of iCloud:

If you’re on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch

1. Jump into your Settings app and then tap on your Apple profile (at the top).
2. Next, scroll down and tap to Sign Out.

 

3. Now you will be prompted to enter your Apple ID password. Enter your Apple ID password and then tap Turn Off.
4. You have the option to turn on the data that you want to store for safekeeping on your device. Once you’ve chosen, tap Sign Out.
5. Lastly, tap Sign Out again to confirm that you want to sign out of iCloud.

 

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If you’re on your Mac

1. Firstly, click on the Apple menu and then from the dropdown menu, select System Preferences.
2. Next, click on Apple ID, then select Overview.
3. Now click to Sign Out.

 

4. You have the option to keep a copy of all your iCloud data on your Mac. If you would like that, then before you sign out, make sure to select the necessary checkboxes for the items you want to keep a copy. Then click on Keep a Copy.
5. Additionally, you have the option to keep a copy of your auto-saved passwords for Safari on your Mac. If you would like to keep them, then make sure to click Keep on This Mac. Ignoring these steps will remove all the passwords from Safari, and you will have to re-enter them the next time manually.

Try it and see if logging out of iCloud and then logging back in via the App Store works for you. Also, if you have and missteps along the way doing this method, please comment down below, and we will try our best to help you out. 🙂

 

 

3. The New Account Method.

This is another effective method that we found to help fix the issue. It’s quite a lengthy process (twelve steps), but it is one that does get the job done. 

Here are the exact steps: 

1. From your Apple menu, select to open System Preferences.
2. Next, click on Users & Groups.

 

3. Now click on the padlock sign     in the bottom-left corner and enter your current Mac password.
4. Great! Next, click on the + icon. This will add a new user account to your Mac. We will want to use this account to sign in and then log back out and use your old account to then sign in, which will fix the issue. Bear with us. 🙂

 

5. Now from under the New Account, select the drop-down box and click on Administrator. You will need to enter the corresponding information such as the Account Name and Password. 

 

 

6. Once you’re done, hit the Create User button below. Now that you have created the new Administrator account, what you will want to do now is to log out of your current Mac user account and then log back in using your newly created Administrator account. You can log out of your current Mac user account by going to the Apple Menu > Log Out.

 

7. Since this is the first time logging into your new Administrator account, you will be asked to enter details such as your Apple ID, which you will need to use your current Apple ID. Do not create or add a new Apple ID account because that would defeat the purpose of this solution since we’re trying to fix the issues which are partially tied to your Apple ID account.
8. Once you’re done with the signing in process using your new Administrator user account, open up the Apple Music application and make sure that you’re signed in to your Apple ID. Also, make sure that all your music in the Library has completely loaded up. It will take anywhere 5-10 minutes for all your files to occupy your Library (depending on the number of files you have) if you do not see it right away. 

 

9. Done? Great. You’re almost done! Now from your Apple menu, select System Preferences and click on Users & Groups once again.
10. Now click on the padlock symbol    in the bottom-left corner and enter your current Mac password, which will be the new Administrator user account’s password.
11. Then click on the – icon to delete the old account. Before you remove the old account, make sure that your new Administrator account has been given the correct permissions. Now, why are we deleting the old account? Because we already fixed the issue back in Step 8, where we indirectly fixed the syncing issues for the user accounts on the Mac. This means you will not need the old account since this new Administrator user account is synced with all your content, and you can start signing into the services once again.
12. Lastly, the old user account will no longer be residing on your Mac, which was the cause of the sign-in problems. The new account will take over from the old account with the added benefit now that you can sign in to your Apple Music, TV+ app, iTunes Store, or Podcasts on macOS Catalina without any sign-in issues.

Voila! Once again, try to see if these steps have managed to fix the sign-in issues with Apple Music and TV+ app.

 

 

4. Fixing The “Cannot Sign-In Into Music or TV App” Bug Using Your Mac’s Terminal.

This method worked for us, and our thanks go to Serge Rosenthaler for his post on the Apple forums. Now just a head’s up, you will need to use the Terminal on your macOS Catalina to carry out the steps below. 

If you’re unsure or uncomfortable with using the Terminal, then you may try the above methods, although we’ve written the steps below in such a way a newbie can follow too. 🙂

Here is what you’ll need to do:

1. Go ahead and open the Terminal app on your Mac
2. Next, copy-paste the following command into your Terminal:

sudo -v

 

3. Now you will be asked to enter your Mac password. Once you’ve entered your password, hit the Enter key.
4. Next, copy-paste the following command into your Terminal then hit the Enter key: 

killall -9 accountsd com.apple.iCloudHelper

 

5. Now copy-paste the following command into your Terminal then hit the Enter key: 

defaults delete MobileMeAccounts

 

6. Next, copy-paste the following command into your Terminal then hit the Enter key:

rm -rf ~/Library/Accounts

 

7. The last command will be as shown below, copy-paste the following command into your Terminal then hit the Enter key: 

killall -9 accountsd com.apple.iCloudHelper

 

8. Now you will be shown a message in the Terminal, which says “no matching processes found”, simply restart your Mac.
9. Once you Mac restarts back, sign in to your Mac like you always do, and then one-by-one open the following apps and then proceed to sign in to your account. 

• Apple Music – Open the Music app and then sign in. 
• TV+ – Open TV+ app and then sign in. 
• Podcasts – Open Podcasts app and then sign in. 

10. Lastly, go to your Apple Menu, select System Preferences then click on Sign In (top-right corner). You will need to enter your Apple ID and password. If you have enabled two-factor authentication, then a secure verification code will be sent to your linked device. 

 

That’s pretty much it! Once you’ve logged in, you will no longer receive any errors that prevent you from signing into your Apple services apps.

 

 

5. Update Your Mac.

Since this bug has been widespread on the macOS Catalina version 10.15.1, then it may occur that Apple has since then released a fix for the bug since then. Hence it is essential to look out if there any impending macOS updates waiting to be downloaded.

Here’s a great video by Apple themselves on how you can check for updates on your Mac and then update:

https://youtu.be/QEM0Grapws8

 

If you prefer the step-by-step written instructions, here’s how:

1. From your Apple menu, select System Preferences and then click on Software Update to check for updates.
2. Now, if there are any macOS updates available, you can proceed to click on the Update Now button to install them. You can also get a more detailed look at what each update brings by clicking on the More info.
3. The updating process may take some time depending on your Mac and your internet speeds, so hang in there! 💪Your Mac may restart in the process, and you should be able to use it once it is completely done. 

 

 

6. Reach Out To Apple.

Now, this is not a solution per se to the problem, but if you find that none of the solutions above have managed to do the deed, then consider getting in touch via either phone or live chat with Apple via their Get Support page. 

You can choose the Apple ID & iCloud option and then select The topic is not listed and then list down the “Cannot Sign-In Into Music or TV app on macOS Catalina” issue. 

 

 

You can then either schedule a call with them, call Apple Support later, or use their live chat (wait times of 2 minutes or less). We also recommend that you try out by reaching to them via online or call before visiting them since this is mostly a software issue rather than a hardware issue. If you, however, prefer a visit over talking over the phone, then you may visit your nearest Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Center.

 

We hope that this guide has helped explain and fix the sign-in issues with Apple Music and TV+ app on macOS Catalina. If you have questions, please feel free to leave a comment below, and we will love to help you out. ❤

 

 

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂