Recent iTunes Store Connection Issues

October 21, 2006

iTunes Connection ProblemsFor the past few days the iTunes Store hasn’t been accessible for many (including myself) across the States and around the globe. Users experiencing this connectivity issue are making their voice be heard on several threads on the Apple Discussion forums. The threads haven’t reached any form of conclusion on why this is happening and when or if Apple will fix the problem. So far no specific determination on what could be causing the problem.

When attempting to connect to the Store, the connection times out when the message “Accessing iTunes Store” appears. Sometimes iTunes will display its cache and display a Store as it appeared last time you successfully connected. But once you click on a broken link or image, iTunes will recognize it can’t connect and display an error message (similar to image above).

Apple has yet to release a statement and come out with an appropriate excuse (or an appropriate error message) on what’s causing the problem. Many angry iTunes users make the point that Apple should at least have an error message explaining to the user that the Store is currently down and to try again later. As this has caused major confusion and inconvenience for all of us, some in the middle of purchasing a song were also effected and they were not able to finish their downloads. Hopefully Apple is close to correcting the issue and refund incomplete purchases made during the downtime.

I’m curious, can you connect to the iTunes Store? If so, maybe you can help us determine why some cannot connect to the iTunes Store.

242 Responses

  1. Nikki says:

    Itunes won’t even load. I can’t listen to my songs on the computer…It is really annoying! Forget about accesing the store it is even worse when you Itunes won’t even load at all when you plug in your Ipod to be charged or something…uhhh…I hate this! D:)

    October 15th, 2009 at 4:16 pm

  2. jackii says:

    i went on itunes today and all my songs werent there! im logged onto my account and everything! everytime i tryed to buy a song today it said connection can not be made please try again later and im freacking out because i dont want all my songs to get erased! ughhhhhh! pleasee helpp!

    October 19th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

  3. Curtis says:

    Its been several months and I have not been able to connect to the I-tunes store. I followed all of the protocals for updating I-tunes which tend to come much too often. Can we get some stability with this platform? Apple needs to establish a help desk and hot line to help its customers. I’m upset. Should I transfer my music files and go to another platform for support.? Very disheartening.

    October 21st, 2009 at 7:12 pm

  4. carroll g says:

    I can’t connect either. It’s been at least a month and it’s infuriating. I am getting the -3212 error as well.

    November 1st, 2009 at 6:35 pm

  5. Heather says:

    This is B.S. I cannot access my acount from mu p.c. but my fiance can access his from his p.c. when he is sitting right next to me My oldest daughter has recieved gift card for her B-day and Christmas but cannot use them. I really wish I could find another site that is not infected to download our music from because this is rediculous!!!!!

    December 18th, 2009 at 1:14 pm

  6. Fran says:

    Tried to access the itunes store but with the same message as everyone else. I thought it might be my AVG. Do not know now if this is the problem now or not. Anyway it will not let me download any music or access the store. As my granddaughters say “This sucks” When can this be fixed, since this has been going on for at least a couple of years?

    December 19th, 2009 at 10:15 am

  7. Casey says:

    i have only like 40 songs on my itunes account and it took a lon time to get to the store but it worked. Then i tried redeeming a card but it didnt work and the error message came up

    December 21st, 2009 at 1:12 am

  8. Shea says:

    I cant get it to work. I have been trying all morning. it just keeps saying itunes could not connect to itunes store. Make sure yout network connection is active and try again. but my interwork works fun. i need some help. i have two ipod touchs. and i dont know how to get tehm to work. We already had two other ipod and we already ahve the latest itunes download. Please PLease PLease help me

    December 26th, 2009 at 12:01 am

  9. Rich says:

    I had the problem and found that it was an issue with my Norton Firewall. Under the Programs tab the setting for iTunes was set to BLOCK ALL. I changed it to PERMIT ALL and everything worked fine. Check your firewall settings..

    December 26th, 2009 at 8:26 pm

  10. Paige says:

    I’ve been having major trouble lately i recently got an ipod touch for christmas i already transfered everything. but when i purchassed movies and tv shows it wont let me watch them and any videos i have on my ipod. so i was fixing the issue like it told me to but itunes needs to work so i can succesfully do that.
    PLEASE HELP

    December 30th, 2009 at 7:49 am

  11. gianna says: says:

    like yesterday i cudnt like log in cuz i typed in my apple ID and my password and it said “this username or password does not exist” and im like WTF?!?!? so PLEASE HELP o and the day before tht i waznt havin any probs it waz just workin regularly.

    January 3rd, 2010 at 9:09 am

  12. HEY FIXED IT! says:

    Ok i was having the same annoying problem and just fixed it after god knows how long…

    all i did was this: went to Itunes preferences, and then to the PARENTAL tab, and unclicked (unchecked) the under ‘DISABLE” the Shared Libraries box…

    THIS SOLVED MY PROBLEM and i was able to update my music and that pesky error message went to hell…

    HALELUIA!! Hope this helps some of you out there!

    peace and good healthy in the new decade music lovers!

    January 13th, 2010 at 7:45 pm

  13. ONE MOMENT PLEASE says:

    Okay so i think i know the exact moment that my itunes got messed up, i was on a page on apple that had lots of the small circular flags on it and accidentaly clicked one that wasnt the uk and this was then the loading sign first apeard and has not got away, It now displayes ONE MOMENT PLEASE , connecting to itunes store… LOADING………………………………. when i try to connect to the store. Iv been trying everything from firewall settings anti virus host files you name it even hunting down the little uk flag in hopes that that could solve things and re direct it or something!! but to no avail!! iv even uninstalled i tunes and still the dreaded sign which will never load! This has been going on for a while now, and i can see lots of other people on forums having similar problems, can anyone who has some insight to mine and many other problems help! or someone from apple whos job it is get off their buts!! or i most certainly will form a boycott for apple products and downloads, theres no way im buying an i pad just for i tunes or something else to muck up like this has and have apple hide away from it. sorry everyone for sounding uber grumpy! only when iv pumped so much money into apple over the years it would be nice for things to run properly!!! dosent that seem fair?!

    February 2nd, 2010 at 7:32 pm

  14. ONE MOMENT PLEASE says:

    okay sorry for that rant two seonds ago (above) but wayhey must have dun me sum good cos iv done it!!!!!
    right firstly i downloaded the fire fox as i thought internet explora mite have been the problem not just the itunes.
    I dont know if that bit helped but this defo did.
    I uninstalled itunes..
    then installed 7.7 of itunes…:D
    then i got a message pop p saying it couldnt read the library because it was created by a newer version….so
    i went to my computer..went to c drive
    went to users and selected mine….then selected the music…then there were two files one called music samples and the other was itunes i think… i simply deleded them both!!
    and hey presto at trying to open itunes and click on the store ita ll works…i am now about to start the re uploading of all my music but it needed a good clear out i think anyway (i awlays keep a few backups of my music so its just a case of drag and drop…. 😀
    I realy do hope this helps some of you but defo if you can use the older version of itunes if you want to access the store and are having that much stress at fixing it
    xxxxx

    February 2nd, 2010 at 10:03 pm

  15. ONE MOMENT PLEASE says:

    i have also just been able to update to the lastest version of itunes and i can still get onto the store!!! so if you need the latest version for apps, etc this could work? it did for me 😀

    February 2nd, 2010 at 10:30 pm

  16. Damien says:

    Ugh, this really sucks it was working perfectly fine with my older version of itunes and when I upgraded to iT v.9.1 i believe, it stopped working and the error shown abovepopped up.. any solutions?

    February 5th, 2010 at 11:05 pm

  17. Grateful says:

    I have tried numerous solutions…disabling firewall and antivirus…then unistalling the programs reinstalling itunes but to no avail…I created another user but no matter what I did NOTHING WORKED…i even called apple who told me to either reinstall itunes or send them an email.
    but then I followed the instructions from ONE MOMENT PLEASE
    uninstalled itunes..
    then installed 7.7 of itunes…:D
    then i got a message pop p saying it couldnt read the library because it was created by a newer version….so
    i went to my computer..went to c drive
    went to users and selected mine….then selected my music…found itunes..copy it and placed it in another folder…then deleted the itunes under my music…open itunes and IT WORKED…then in itunes under file i clicked “add folder to library” found the folder where I copied itunes to and clicked it and all my music …was in my itunes again…Only thing is don’t have any playlist…but my songs are there…
    thank you thank you thank you ONE MOMENT PLEASE!

    February 6th, 2010 at 12:04 pm

  18. joth says:

    Itunes was working great, better then before. Then I had a notification to update itunes. After it was all done updating I went back to listening to my music but when i tried to go to the itunes store a pop-up said itunes cannot connect to the store, make sure connection is active. What the hell! I tried my firewall, i tried flushing my programs, nothing changed. Anyone have other suggestions?

    February 8th, 2010 at 10:41 am

  19. Roger Duncalf says:

    I am experiening same problem. I am trying to create an account and it comes up with the error message saying ‘Cannot connect to the store, and to check my connection’. yet there is no problem with my connection.

    Please advise on how to overcome this problem.

    Thankyou

    February 15th, 2010 at 1:28 am

  20. Mike says:

    Damn, that’s crazy…

    March 10th, 2010 at 5:40 am

  21. BB says:

    I was eventually able to connect to the itunes store by using an internet browser instead of my usual way (through my computer’s itunes executable that I set up when I first started using itunes).

    Go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

    Scroll down to the bottom and click on “Buy Music Now.” It should be in the last column on the right. Hopefully, it works for everyone else too. I guess I’ll just have to “bookmark” the link above and use that all the time now.

    March 13th, 2010 at 10:54 pm

  22. LoLo says:

    I have been trying to connect for weeks and can’t. I would really like a soultion. I tried the method suggested by BB and it doesn’t work for me. Can anyone help??

    March 15th, 2010 at 6:17 pm

  23. Adam says:

    I’m with you, LOLO. I have no idea what’s going on. I checked my preferences within iTunes. I checked my internet connection. I checked my firewall. I tried to connect through Firefox/ Apple site. Nothing works!

    March 17th, 2010 at 9:43 pm

  24. Putang Ina says:

    Fuck Shit,

    Have same problem, Fuck You I Tunes

    March 27th, 2010 at 8:47 am

  25. Jack says:

    Its fucked up in Baltimore too apple better fix this problem or im gonna go apeshit

    May 6th, 2010 at 3:25 pm

  26. Jamie says:

    Have not been able to connect to the store for weeks. I’ve tried every fix anyone recommends. The problem is on the PC running OSX,. following an attempted upgrade to iTunes 9.1.1. The Mac laptop (running 9.1.0.79) still works.

    May 11th, 2010 at 12:49 pm

  27. miguel says:

    The solution for me was check the time and date. when updated itunes, for some reason, it changed the date on my laptop, and iphone as well. changed to the right date, and everything works fine now.

    May 14th, 2010 at 5:27 pm

  28. Robert says:

    Ok i had the SAME Problem but this fixed it for me. I uninstalled iTunes and installed iTunes 8.2 and it started working for me 🙂 Hope It Helps Someone Out!!!

    June 21st, 2010 at 5:04 pm

  29. KEITH says:

    I can’t access itunes with my macbook but I can with my windows pc through the same router and isp!

    July 24th, 2010 at 6:52 am

  30. Kev says:

    Keith
    Same issues here! Seems to be since last upgrade …to itunes 9.2.1 (4)

    Anyone sorted this out yet??

    July 25th, 2010 at 9:25 am

  31. sharon says:

    keith

    i’m having same problem downloaded something early then went to sync phone and it wont do it. Really get mad now been trying to sort it out for the past 4 hours.

    July 26th, 2010 at 4:46 pm

  32. Kathryn says:

    had the same problem too with itunes 9.2.1. searched some solutions online, just tried checked n unchecked the use a proxy server and allow itunes through firewall. it is downloading fine now.

    >control panel
    >internet option
    >connection tab
    >LAN setting
    >unchecked Use a proxy server

    >control panel
    >windows firewall
    >allow a program through firewall

    July 27th, 2010 at 8:48 am

  33. NinjaGuy says:

    Its not workin’ for me, and its been like that for a LONG TIME. I’m sick of it and Apple or whoever better step up to the plate.

    August 27th, 2010 at 9:47 pm

  34. Heelofkevin says:

    This is the EXACT problem I’ve been having, and I still cant get itunes to connect to the itunes store….LAME!!!!!!! APPLE FIX THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    September 1st, 2010 at 8:53 pm

  35. Heelofkevin says:

    BTW….2 seconds after I posted my last post I looked at what Kathryn said (like 2 posts above me) and I did it and it works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kathryn….you are my best friend ever!!!!!

    September 1st, 2010 at 8:56 pm

  36. racheal says:

    i have the weirdest problem,
    i can connect and downlaod apps and such,
    however i have a jailbroken 2g ipod touch thats now a 4.0
    i want to update, but im getting the message ‘could not contact update server..’
    HELP?

    September 5th, 2010 at 4:04 am

  37. fixed ipod says:

    Quote “Kathryn says:

    had the same problem too with itunes 9.2.1. searched some solutions online, just tried checked n unchecked the use a proxy server and allow itunes through firewall. it is downloading fine now.

    >control panel
    >internet option
    >connection tab
    >LAN setting
    >unchecked Use a proxy server”

    THIS WORKS

    September 23rd, 2010 at 8:08 pm

  38. Bill says:

    Ok, I don’t have a problem connecting to the store, but once I get there the redeem button will not work. I have tried all of the above options. I need help.

    Regards,
    Bill

    October 6th, 2010 at 3:01 pm

  39. Bart says:

    Fixed it as follows on my Mac:

    – Open network preferences
    – Edit locations
    – Create new location
    – Apply

    Note that switching location from Automatic to the fixed location I created previously did not help, but creating a new location did work.

    October 28th, 2010 at 9:24 am

  40. Natalie says:

    WTF. I bought iTunes cards and when I go to redeem it gives me an error. This is Bullsh*t. And I don’t understand why all the customers have to FIND ways around the errors they have been getting. This is Apple’s job to fix these problems that have been happening for a few years now. I don’t understand how they get so much profit and give crappy service. I’m livid about wasting so much money on iTunes cards.

    BIG BS!

    December 8th, 2010 at 2:19 am

  41. Selina says:

    Seriously i just tried what kathryn said and it does work so try this:

    had the same problem too with itunes 9.2.1. searched some solutions online, just tried checked n unchecked the use a proxy server and allow itunes through firewall. it is downloading fine now.

    >control panel
    >internet option
    >connection tab
    >LAN setting
    >unchecked Use a proxy server”

    THIS WORKS

    December 9th, 2010 at 11:01 am

  42. Diane Evans says:

    I Want My R Kelly CD I Paid For on 12/2/10. I can download It and I paid for it. please call me at 716-605-5457 for me to get help

    December 14th, 2010 at 7:07 pm

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