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Tuning In Together: How to Follow Friends on Apple Music and Amplify Your Listening Experience

So, you’re ready to tap into your friends’ musical minds and discover new tunes through Apple Music’s social features? Excellent choice! Sharing music is a cornerstone of the human experience, and Apple Music makes it surprisingly easy to see what your friends are vibing to.

Here’s the direct answer you’re looking for: To follow friends on Apple Music, you need to connect your Apple Music account to your contacts and then enable the “Follow Friends” feature in your profile settings. Let’s break that down into easy-to-follow steps:

Ensure you’re subscribed to Apple Music: This is crucial. You can’t use the social features without an active subscription.
Make sure your contacts are using Apple Music: Seems obvious, but they need to have an Apple Music subscription and their profile set up correctly.
Connect Apple Music to your Contacts: This happens automatically if Apple Music can identify Apple Music users in your contact list by matching their email addresses or phone numbers with the ones used on their Apple ID. If not, make sure their Apple ID email address or phone number is saved in your contact card.
Navigate to your Apple Music Profile: Open the Apple Music app. Tap on the “Listen Now” tab (the icon looks like a radio wave). Then, tap your profile icon in the upper right corner. If you haven’t created a profile yet, you may need to do so.
Enable “Find Friends”: On your profile page, you’ll see an option that says “Find Friends” or “Follow More Friends.” Tap this. Apple Music will scan your contacts for people using the service.
Follow Your Friends: A list of suggested friends will appear, showing anyone in your contacts who has a public Apple Music profile. Tap the “Follow” button next to their name.
Configure Profile Privacy (Crucial): Before you start following everyone, navigate back to your profile settings (tap your profile icon in the upper right corner of the “Listen Now” tab). Tap “Edit” (below your profile picture). This is the vital step many people miss. Ensure “Listening To” is turned on. This allows your followers to see what you’re listening to. You can also control whether to share your playlists.
Verify Your Follows: Go back to your profile page, and you should see a “Following” section, listing the friends you’ve started following.

That’s the core process. But let’s dive deeper and address some common questions to ensure you become a master of Apple Music’s social scene.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Following Friends on Apple Music

Here are twelve frequently asked questions, designed to cover every angle of following friends on Apple Music:

Q1: Why can’t I see the “Find Friends” or “Follow More Friends” option in my Apple Music profile?

This usually indicates one of a few issues:

You haven’t created a public profile yet: You need to set up a profile within Apple Music. This involves choosing a username and setting privacy preferences.
Your Apple Music subscription is inactive: Double-check your subscription status in your Apple ID settings. Social features are exclusive to subscribers.
A bug or glitch: Sometimes, simply restarting your device or the Apple Music app can resolve temporary glitches. Also, make sure your iOS, iPadOS, or macOS is up to date.

Q2: How do I make my Apple Music profile public so my friends can find me?

This is controlled in your Apple Music profile settings. Once you’ve created your profile (tap your profile icon in the upper right corner of the “Listen Now” tab, then tap “Edit”), ensure the “Listening To” toggle is turned on. This essentially makes your profile discoverable to your contacts who also use Apple Music. By default, your profile is only visible to people who follow you.

Q3: Can I follow someone on Apple Music even if they’re not in my Contacts?

Unfortunately, directly searching for users to follow isn’t a feature currently offered by Apple Music. The “Find Friends” feature relies on your contacts. The workaround is to add the user to your contacts using the email address or phone number associated with their Apple ID, then refresh the “Find Friends” list in Apple Music. They will then appear as a suggestion.

Q4: How do I stop someone from following me on Apple Music?

You can block users on Apple Music. Go to their profile, tap the “More” menu (three dots), and select “Block.” They will no longer be able to see your activity or follow you. You can also choose to make your profile private. This will stop new followers from being added.

Q5: What’s the difference between “following” and “friends” on Apple Music?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, “following” on Apple Music is more akin to subscribing to someone’s musical activity. You don’t need to be real-life friends with someone to follow them. You simply see what they’re listening to and the playlists they’re sharing. “Friends” in the context of Apple Music simply means users in your contact list who also have Apple Music accounts.

Q6: How do I see what my friends are listening to?

After you’ve followed friends and they’ve enabled sharing, their activity appears in the “Friends Are Listening To” section within the “Listen Now” tab. This section showcases recently played albums, playlists, and radio stations.

Q7: Can I share my own playlists with my followers on Apple Music?

Absolutely! When editing your profile (tap your profile icon in the upper right corner of the “Listen Now” tab, then tap “Edit”), you’ll see an option to choose which playlists you want to share. Toggle the switch next to each playlist to make it visible to your followers. Make sure the playlist is also set to “Public” within the playlist settings itself. Tap the three dots while in the playlist and tap “Edit.”

Q8: My friend is following me, but I can’t see them in my list of followers. Why?

This is likely because they haven’t made their profile public. Ask them to ensure the “Listening To” toggle is enabled in their Apple Music profile settings. If they blocked you, you would not see them in your “Following” list.

Q9: Is it possible to create a collaborative playlist with friends on Apple Music?

Unfortunately, Apple Music does not offer a direct collaborative playlist feature like Spotify’s. The workaround is to share your playlist with them, allowing them to add suggestions, then you can manually add the tracks to the playlist. There are many 3rd party apps designed to facilitate this.

Q10: Can I follow artists directly on Apple Music, or is it only for friends?

Yes, you can and should follow artists! When you’re on an artist’s page, there’s a “Follow” button. Following artists ensures you receive notifications about new releases, concerts, and other artist-related news. This functionality is separate from the “Follow Friends” feature.

Q11: How often does Apple Music update the “Friends Are Listening To” section?

The “Friends Are Listening To” section is typically updated in near real-time. There might be a slight delay, but you should generally see recent activity within a few minutes.

Q12: I added my friend to my Contacts, but they still aren’t showing up in “Find Friends” on Apple Music. What can I do?

First, double-check that you have the correct email address or phone number associated with their Apple ID. This is crucial. Next, try these troubleshooting steps:

Force quit and reopen the Apple Music app.
Restart your device.
Go to Settings > Music > iCloud Music Library and toggle it off and on again. This forces a refresh of your Apple Music library and social connections.
Ensure your friend has “Listening To” enabled in their profile.

If none of these steps work, there might be a temporary issue with Apple’s servers. Try again later.

By mastering these steps and understanding the nuances of Apple Music’s social features, you’ll unlock a new dimension of musical discovery and connection with your friends. Happy listening!