Apple Music doesn't work with Theatrium — what's wrong?

Theatrium's Apple Music source only sees music playing in the Apple Music app on this Apple TV itself — not your Mac, iPhone, iPad or a HomePod, which reach Theatrium through Last.fm instead. Check Settings › Now Playing › Now Playing Source is set to Apple Music, that this Apple TV is signed in with an active Apple Music subscription, and that something is actually playing in the Apple TV's own Music app. On tvOS 27, Apple's own hand-off of the currently-playing track to other apps is intermittent for music started that way — that part is outside Theatrium's control.

How do I set up Apple Music on Theatrium?

Open Settings › Now Playing › Now Playing Source in Theatrium and choose Apple Music. Start something in the Apple TV's own Apple Music app, then switch back to Theatrium. For Apple Music playing on a Mac, iPhone or iPad instead, choose Last.fm and install a scrobbler app on that device so it reports what is playing to your Last.fm profile.

Now Playing isn't working with Apple Music — why does it say "Select to open Apple Music"?

That message means Apple Music is chosen as the source but Theatrium currently sees nothing playing. Open the Apple TV's own Apple Music app and start a track, then return to Theatrium. If something is genuinely playing and the card still shows this, it should resolve within a few seconds; a longer gap is the tvOS 27 hand-off issue, not a Theatrium setting.

Guide · Music Easy

When Now Playing doesn’t show your music

Theatrium doesn’t play music — it follows whatever you’re already playing, on the Apple TV itself or somewhere else in the house. When the Now Playing card sits empty, or shows the wrong thing, it’s almost always one of a handful of causes. Find what you’re seeing below and work through the checks in order.

Before anything else

Open Settings › Now Playing › Now Playing Source in Theatrium and confirm which source is actually chosen — Home Assistant, Apple Music, Spotify, Last.fm, Plex or Sonos. Most of what looks like a broken card is really the wrong source picked, or nothing entered underneath it yet. First decide where the music is playing: in the Music app on this Apple TV (the next section), or on a Mac, iPhone or iPad (the section after). The setup differs. See Where your music comes from for what each one needs.

Nothing shows while Apple Music plays on this Apple TV

This is the source that plays through the Apple TV’s own Apple Music app.

Check the source is set to Apple Music

Settings › Now Playing › Now Playing Source — the Apple Music pill should be selected. If it isn’t, nothing you do in the Music app will show, because Theatrium is watching a different source entirely.

Play it in the Apple TV’s own Music app

Apple Music here only sees music playing in the Apple Music app on this Apple TV itself. Playing something on your iPhone, iPad or a HomePod won’t appear, even with this source chosen — that’s the next section below, not this one. Open Apple Music on the Apple TV, start a track, then switch back to Theatrium.

Confirm the subscription and sign-in

The signed-in Apple ID on this Apple TV needs an active Apple Music subscription. On a shared Apple TV with more than one profile, check you’re on the profile that actually has one — a profile without a subscription can still look like it’s browsing normally right up until playback fails.

Read what the card is telling you

“Select to open Apple Music” means the source is set correctly but nothing is currently detected as playing — press it, start a track, and come back. “Loading track details…” means Theatrium can see that something is genuinely playing but hasn’t been handed the track’s title and art yet; give it a few seconds before assuming it’s stuck.

The part that’s Apple’s, not Theatrium’s

On tvOS 27, Apple’s own hand-off of what’s currently playing in the Music app to other apps is intermittent — it can report that music is playing without saying which track, for anywhere from a moment to noticeably longer. Theatrium 1.8.7 changed how it handles that gap: it holds the last track briefly rather than blanking on a one-second blip, then says plainly that a track is loading rather than showing an empty card. That makes the gap easier to live with; it doesn’t make it go away, because the missing information never reaches Theatrium in the first place. If it happens often, leaving the Music app running in the background rather than force-quitting it, or restarting the track, is worth trying — neither is guaranteed.

Apple Music on your Mac, iPhone or iPad doesn’t show

This is a different setup from the one above. The Apple Music source only sees the Music app on this Apple TV, so music from any other device reaches Theatrium through Last.fm instead.

Switch the source to Last.fm

Settings › Now Playing › Now Playing Source › choose Last.fm, then enter your Last.fm username. A Last.fm account is free. Theatrium shows whatever your Last.fm profile says you are listening to right now.

Have the playing device report to Last.fm

Last.fm has no Apple Music connection of its own, unlike Spotify. The device doing the playing needs a small scrobbler app that tells Last.fm what is playing:

On a Mac (the Music app, formerly iTunes): we recommend FastScrobbler. Install it, sign it in to Last.fm, and it reports each Apple Music or iTunes track as it plays. This is the most dependable route.
On an iPhone or iPad: iOS lets these apps run only for short periods in the background, so reporting is less immediate. Choose a scrobbler that sends live “now playing” updates rather than one that catches up on recently played tracks later, and keep it allowed to run in the background.

Check your Last.fm profile first

Play a track, then open your profile on last.fm. If it shows the song as Scrobbling now, Theatrium will show it within a few seconds. If it only appears later in your history, the scrobbler is catching up afterwards, and Theatrium has nothing live to show. That is the scrobbler’s setting, not Theatrium’s.

Expect a mirror, not a remote

Last.fm reports what you play rather than controlling it, so a short lag is normal and there are no play, pause or skip buttons on the TV for this source.

Playing to a HomePod or AirPlay speaker

The Last.fm route above still works, because the scrobbler runs on the Mac or iPhone that started the music. If Home Assistant already knows the speaker, choosing Home Assistant as the source is another way to show it, with no scrobbler needed.

Spotify, or another speaker or app, doesn’t show

Spotify

Spotify doesn’t let a TV app sign in to it directly, so choosing Spotify as the source doesn’t open a Spotify sign-in in Theatrium — it asks you to connect Last.fm instead, and follows your Spotify listening through that. Make sure scrobbling to Last.fm is switched on in the Spotify app you actually use. See Show your Spotify on the TV for the full setup.

Sonos

Choose Sonos and press Find My Speakers. If none appear, check the Apple TV and the speakers are on the same Wi-Fi or wired network — a guest or IoT network hides them from each other. If a speaker is found but won’t connect, open the Sonos app on your phone: Settings › Account › Legal and Privacy › Privacy and Security › Connection Security and turn UPnP on, and check Guest Access is on there too, then search again.

Plex

Choose Plex and sign in; a code appears that you approve from the Plex app on your phone or at plex.tv/link. If it still doesn’t show, check the server address is correct and reachable from the same network — Theatrium mirrors whatever Plexamp or another Plex player on your account is playing, so the audio itself keeps coming from that device, not the Apple TV.

Home Assistant

Choose Home Assistant, then either pick a specific media player under Media Player, or leave it on Automatic to follow whichever one happens to be playing. If nothing shows, confirm that player actually reports as playing in Home Assistant itself first — Theatrium is reading its state, not a separate feed.

Album art or song is out of date

Check it’s not just the source’s own lag

Last.fm mirrors what you play rather than reading it live, so a few seconds behind the actual track is normal for that source. If it’s minutes behind, or stuck on a song that finished a while ago, something else is wrong — keep reading.

Home Assistant on Automatic, following the wrong player

With the source left on Automatic, Theatrium follows whichever media player is currently active in Home Assistant — if two things are playing at once, or one is stuck reporting a stale state, the card can pick up the wrong one. Go to Settings › Now Playing › Now Playing Source and pin the exact Media Player entity instead of Automatic.

Sonos room renamed or regrouped

If the Sonos room shown was renamed, or moved into or out of a stereo pair or group in the Sonos app, Theatrium can lose track of it. Go back to Settings › Now Playing › Now Playing Source and pick the room again.

Good to know

Every music source is free — nothing in this section needs Theatrium Pro.
Only one source is followed at a time. If you listen through more than one app or speaker, the Now Playing card shows whichever one is currently chosen in Settings, not all of them at once.
Last.fm and Plex are display-only — there are no play, pause or skip buttons on the card for those sources, because Theatrium is watching, not driving, the playback.

This guide is general information, provided “as is” with no warranty of any kind. It describes independent third-party software that Theatrium does not control, and the steps involve installing software and changing settings on your own equipment — back up first and proceed at your own risk. Read the full disclaimer.