Some local mp3's play on Android (Pixel 3) and some don't

[rwhtx]

Plan

Unlimited

Country

US

Device

Pixel 3

Operating System

Android

My Question or Issue

Perhaps I was confused about how to play local files on my Android phone, but I gave up and manually copied files to my phone and played them with VLC. That worked fine, but then I noticed I could play all but one of those local files with Spotify. So i tried the same thing -- copy pasting files to my Android phone -- and none of those files will play. So I have these questions

1) Is manually copying files to my phone OK? Should it work?

2) If so, what can I do it some but not all the files play in Spotify.

3) If not, the troubleshooting for syncing and downloading did not work, and seem to be out of date. Are there some current troubleshooting steps?

[Ivan]

Hey @rwhtx, 

Help’s here!
 

In order to play your local files on an Android device you need to import them following the steps listed here. 

Also, make sure the files in use originate from legal sources and they correspond to the supported file types. 

Let us know how you get on! We'll be here in case you need any further help with this. 

[rwhtx]

Thanks Ivan. I have a legacy "Unlimited" subscription, so I initially skipped the Spotify path. Instead I copied mp3's to my phone manually and played with VLC, which works fine. I then noticed I could play all of those songs except one on my phone with Spotify, even though some of those songs are not in the Spotify catalogue. So my first question remains the same... should that have worked, and if so are there troubleshooting steps to get that one song to play?

FYI - Out of curiosity I did try the steps you linked to, but they should not have worked and did not work. I don't have time to look into it now, but after that attempt the local files that did play successfully no longer work.

[Eni]

Hey @rwhtx, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

We can confirm that the correct way to import your local files is the one @Ivan sent previously. We don't support other ways of doing so, so we can't guarantee they work. 

In this case, we suggest that you give it a try and let us know how it goes. Make sure that the files you want to import are supported. 

We'll be on the lookout.