Most Apple Music users may have received the error “cannot open, this media format is not supported” when they tried to access a music file using Apple Music over a Wi-Fi network. In fact, this is a recurring problem that every Apple user encounters. And this could be due to many reasons. Don't worry if you experience this inconvenience. Just follow the guide below to learn the two easy solutions to quickly fix Apple Music “unsupported format” issue.
Solution 1. Adjust your mobile device settings
As we mentioned above, there are various reasons why Apple Music is not working. It could be a Wi-Fi connection error or simply a system incompatibility issue on your device. Regardless, it is strongly advised to change your mobile device settings first.
Activate airplane mode
The first thing to do is put your device into airplane mode. Once done, your phone's wireless connection will be cut off immediately. The same goes for incoming and outgoing notifications. To switch to airplane mode, simply go to Settings , and activate the airplane mode using the toggle button.
Restart the device
As your phone is now temporarily “off”, you must then restart your device directly. Then open your Apple Music app again to check whether the “Cannot open” issue is resolved or not.
Wi-Fi Reset
If you receive the Apple Music “file format not supported” error when you are connected to a Wi-Fi network, we suggest you restart the Wi-Fi connection and the router. To do this, first close the Apple Music app on your phone. Then go to Settings > General > Reset > Resetting network settings . Reactivate your Wi-Fi and router.
Force restart your mobile
Sometimes force restarting your device can also work. To do this, press and hold the Sleep button and the Home button at the same time until you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.
iOS update
If unfortunately the above methods fail to fix this problem, you should check if your iOS is the latest version because sometimes the Apple Music file format is no longer supported by older versions of iOS. In this case, just go to Settings > General > Software update and update your iOS device.
Solution 2. How to Convert Apple Music File Format (Recommended)
Have you tried all the suggestions but still can't listen to Apple Music properly? Don't worry. Before you turn to Apple Support for help, there is still hope for you to resolve this issue with one last try. This is to convert your Apple Music files to a more commonly used format supported by your device.
How ? It is very simple. All you need is a conversion software that can convert Apple Music songs to other formats. To know which conversion tool to choose, you need to know what Apple Music format is. Unlike other common audio files, Apple Music is encoded in AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) format with a .m4p file extension which is encrypted by DRM (Digital Rights Management). Therefore, only authorized devices can play protected songs correctly. To convert the special file format to others, you will need a dedicated Apple Music DRM converter such as Apple Music Converter .
As a professional Apple Music DRM removal solution, Apple Music Converter can help you convert DRM-protected M4P songs to MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC, M4A, etc. while preserving the original ID3 tags and quality. You can download the trial version and follow the steps below.
Step 1. Add Apple Music tracks to Apple Music Converter. You can do this by clicking the “Add” button or by dragging and dropping.
2nd step. Select the output format you want and adjust settings such as bit rate and sample rate according to your needs.
Step 3. Click "Convert" button to start converting Apple Music M4P songs to MP3 or other formats.
Once the songs are converted to DRM-free format, you can freely copy and play them on any device without encountering the “unsupported file format” error.