Spotify keeps pausing

[Jcarreno]

Plan

Premium family

Country

Australia

Device

Huawei P10 Plus / iPhone 8 / Dell

Operating System

Android 9 / iOS 12.1.4 / Windows 10 Pro - 64 bit

My Question or Issue

Spotify keeps pausing randomly in the middle of songs, sometimes multiple times during the same song. The issue happens across all my devices, and it always seems to happen when connected to bluetooth. I have already tried uninstalling, resetting, and also went to my account page and signed out from everywhere. Nothing has helped, and the problem just seems to be getting worse. This happens across all playlists, radio, podcast. The issue also happens when using chromecast at home. I have checked settings on my mobiles and the battery saving mode is not on, so this is not an issue. I also have an issue of the mobile apps saying there is no internet connection even though I am clearly connected, and have to close the app and restart. On the desktop client I get a blue message at the top saying "we can't play this song right now" and then continues playing (you can see the song timer continues to go down) but there is no sound, and if I skip to the next song it plays fine for a few minutes but then get the same message again. 

There's clearly a whole host of problems with the service right now, and I'd like to know if they will be resolved at some point or if I should look into paying for a different service that won't be as unreliable as this. 

[Ivan]

Hey there @Jcarreno, 

Thanks for reaching out - we’re here to help!
 

Just to confirm, have you tried a clean reinstall instead of the regular one? We recommend this step as it'll remove the old drivers first and then install the new ones. It'll also get you the latest version of Spotify. This tends to solve issues like the one you're experiencing.

It's also a good idea to restart the Internet connection device and try again. If possible try also under a different network. If it works with another connection, it's best to contact the service provider of the original network for more information. For example, some shared or public networks (e.g. schools/work/office) might restrict access to certain services, which would explain what happened here.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted. 

[Jcarreno]

Hey @Ivan

Thanks for your reply. 

I did do a clean reinstall on my Android device which I've had for a long time. The iphone and PC are both brand new devices so the app had never been installed before, therefore I assume was also a 'clean' install. 

As I said, the issue happens when I'm playing music over bluetooth speaker; right now I have my laptop connected to the speaker via a 3.5mm audio cable and have not had the problem happen at all. 

[xjnm]

I have this issue too, it happens for me even when I am not using Bluetooth.  Spotify will randomly pause songs, sometimes every 30 seconds, sometimes only once every hour.  It makes the app basically impossible to use.  I have done a clean reinstall, cleared cache, updated android and spotify, turned of battery saver, and messed with all the settings.  If this is not fixed by the end of my trial period, I am going to cancel my subscription.  

[maaaattjcl]

I'm also having this problem. Specifically when I'm connected to Bluetooth, music will randomly pause, and if I press play again the music will play for a fraction of a second before pausing again. It also seems that Spotify will jump to a different volume level than what I had set, just before pausing. Changing internet connection, force quitting and reopening Spotify, turning the Bluetooth speaker off and on again all don't work. Reinstalling Spotify fixes it temporarily but the problem comes back after some time. Spotify is definitely the issue, I have no problems playing audio from other apps to my Bluetooth speaker even when Spotify isn't working.

[smaries]

I was also having this issue over Bluetooth only. Uninstalled and then reinstalled, tried a different internet connection, nothing is working. My phone is brand new (iPhone 11 pro). Just wanted to say I turned off WiFi and tried using cellular data and it fixed the issue for me. It leads me to believe the issue (for me anyways) is connectivity based although I definitely didn’t think it was that before since I’ve been using this WiFi for over 2 years.

[rolosolo11]

Issue is ongoing. I've tried every fix reccomended in this thread and on the internet: turn off battery opt., uninstall, clean install, reinstall, log out everywhere, restart internet, change internet, turned battery saver off, etc. The app is useless if this continues. This is the first time it has happened and it's not going away.. I never thought I'd look to a different music service 😞

[Mario]

Hey there @rolosolo11 ,

Thank you for contacting us. We're sorry to hear about this. We'd be happy to help you further.

In this case it would be great if you can log in to someone else's account on the device/devices this occurs on. If it's possible - borrow a friend or a family members account.

Could you also confirm if this occurs when you're connected to bluetooth or all the time?

Keep us posted. We're always one reply away 🙂

Cheers!

[mblaa]

I have this exact problem. When playing on the app via bluetooth on my stereo, the app randomly stops and the stereo loses the bt connection and has to be turned on again.

I have only noticed this problem happening when playing via bluetooth.

Did a clean re-install. No power saving issues. Iphone 11. I am a premium family user. If this problem persists the app is of lot less use to me. I need it to continue playing until I say stop.

[Jeremy]

Hey @mblaa,

Thank you for your post in this thread. We're happy to help.

Can you confirm if you followed the steps that @Mario provided in this thread?

Also - does this occur from one specific device or multiple devices?

It would also be great if you can:

1. Do a soft reset of the device
2. Ensure the operating system is up-to-date
3. Ensure device has enough storage space
4. Try restoring the device

Keep us posted 🙂

Cheers!

[krisceldianego]

This is still an ongoing issue for me. Not just on my iPhone but also on my iPad and Macbook. Tried everything they are suggesting but still keeps pausing every 30s or so. It is so frustrating. Not paying premium subscription to have a intermittent listening experience!

[Mario]

Hi @krisceldianego! 

Welcome to the Community 🙂  

Could you let us know which troubleshooting steps you've already tried?

First up, we suggest that you run a clean reinstall of the app could be helpful too to get rid of any cached files that might be causing trouble. Additionally, it's well worth trying it with a different internet connection. 

If you've already tried these steps, could you let us know if the issue persists logging in with a friend's account in your devices?

Also, sending us the exact make/model, operating system and Spotify version of your devices would come in handy.

Cheers - We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[krisceldianego]

Hi Mario,

Yes, I have tried the clean reinstall.

I used my friend’s account and it works fine. But when I logged in to my account the problem seems to be back.

I’m using 8.5.86 Spotify version on a 14.2 OS iPhone 11 Pro and iPad Pro 10.5in.

Hope to hear from you soon. As it’s really affecting my daily listening experience. 😞

[mseyed]

Hi,

Just wanted to echo the frustration with this. I've been dealing with this for months now and it's probably one of the most annoying parts of my day-to-day life and seriously makes me reconsider using Spotify. Why should I use a music service that can't even perform the most basic task expected of it: playing music? 

For specs: I'm running iOS 14.2.1 and Spotify 8.5.86.739. This happened on my old iPhone 7 Plus and now on my new iPhone 12 Pro. My speaker is a JBL Flip 4.

I've performed a clean reset, I've switched between WiFi and cell service more times than I can count, I've tried closing all other apps, restarting Bluetooth, restarting Spotify, and restarting my speaker. I will not be asking to log in to anyone else's Spotify account from my device, because I don't feel comfortable asking and I really do not think many people would feel comfortable being asked that. Any help would really be appreciated, and it's extremely disappointing to see the same unhelpful fixes being suggested 10 months after this thread was started. I would appreciate some acknowledgment that developers are aware of this issue and are working to fix the bug, because it is really ruining the entire user experience and rendering the service completely useless. 

[Mihail]

Hey @krisceldianego,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Could you share the make and model of the Bluetooth device you're experiencing this issue with? Also - is it only one or have you tried with multiple? It's also a good idea to check if there are any firmware updates for them, it's possible they are running old drivers that are interfering with the Bluetooth connectivity of your iOS devices. Keep in mind that if everything works as expected with your friends account, a possible workaround would be for you to create a new one. You can transfer your music collection using these steps so nothing gets lost 🙂 

@mseyed we're sorry to hear you're still having trouble with the Bluetooth devices and understand how this might cause some frustration. It would help us troubleshoot these issues a lot if you could try and replicate them with another account - you can create a free one with a different mail here. That would help us narrow down the root cause of the problem either to your specific setup or your account. Also - did the issues start after a certain event, or have they always been present with your JBL speaker? Do they come up with other Bluetooth devices as well? 

We'd love to investigate this further! We'll be here if you have any other questions.

[krisceldianego]

Hi Mihail, 

I actually listen using different methods (direct phone speakers, bluetooth speakers/earphones and headsets) All have the same problem. But I managed to fix it by changing the email address and password. I think I got hacked. Cause my account suddenly have random playlists which links to this user. Please look into this user [snip - Community Moderator edit]

- https://open.spotify.com/user/8ebstoz3iec8tavhiymhbm52o?si=cZ76iK0yRyWSwXDW0Uns5g

- https://open.spotify.com/user/599uaf2argciuwr3xckwn8ldd?si=7lnoup6WSh6lQcQG8Y49CQ

@mseyed

You can try to update your profile with another email address and see if it helps you. 

[Jeremy]

Hey there @krisceldianego,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

It's really good to hear that everything works as it should for you again, and thank you for sharing the info.

If you have any questions we're always one reply away.

Cheers 🙂

[Olando]

I had a similar problem, and thought I would share in case that solves someone else problem. 

So playing from my Android phone (oneplus nord) to my bluetooth HK Onyx 4. Done that many times! And suddenly it will not play? Sometimes a bit is played, but usually pauses after 1 or 2s. 

At the same time my laptop is ALSO connected to the bluetooth Onyx with Spotify running. Either of these three things "fixed the problem":

- Turning Spotify on the PC off

- Turning bluetooth on the PC off

- Disconnecting the PC from my WiFi

So some interaction between Spotify on the phone, Spotify on the PC as-slave-application, and whatever status the Onyx broadcasts is messing things up? 

Note that selcting PC as device on the phone and playing that way works fine. But when I play from the PC and opens Spotify on the phone I sometimes get the pause effect, but much more randomly, and only when Spotify is active app.   

[etibarH]

When my two devices are connected to the speaker spotify pauses music on the phone. So I disconnect the speaker from the phone, and continue playing from computer.

[Courteney_ds]

I am also having a similar issue. My android phone will just randomly stop playing music. It does continue to work via blue tooth with zero interruption. I pay for Premium service. I have done a clean reinstall, log out and back in, disconnected  from the internet and restarted my modem. I have cleaned the Cache. Like I said, it works great via Bluetooth but it does not work from my android phone. any advice before I cancel my service and move on? I don't want to do that since i have had Spotify for years and my playlists are my life..  but but I also wont pay for something that doesn't work.