Spotify stops playing after a few songs

[andischatz]

Description

When I play a playlist on my Android, usually a few songs will play normally and then suddenly the music will stop (usually when starting a new song, but rarely also in the middle of a song). This happens no matter if I'm in offline mode or not, but I'm only playing playlists that I have downloaded to the phone, not streaming ones (haven't tried it with streaming ones over WiFi).

Sometimes the app will still be open, showing the play button but no song selected, the time bar displaying 0.01 at the far right, sometimes the app will crash altogether, sometimes I get an error message ("Ungültiger Pfad" which is German for "invalid path" or "path not found").

Especially annoying when driving, by the way.

What are the steps you took to get to the error/issue?

1. I open Spotify on Android

2. I select a downloaded playlist

3. I click "Shuffle & Play"

4. I wait. 🙂

What I expected to happen

The playlist plays through

Did you restart your device when troubleshooting in section B?

Yes

Did you read the connection troubleshooting tips?

Yes, also cleared data, deleted path, re-installed and re-downloaded playlist in different quality already.

Your device

HTC One (32 GB)

Device’s Operating System

4.3 with Sense 5.5 (also happened on 4.2.2)

What type of account do you have?

Premium

Space left on your device

14 GB

Space left on your SD card (if applicable)

n/a (internal memory only)

Space left on your External SD card (if applicable)

n/a

Is your device rooted?

yes

Are you using a custom ROM, if so which one, exactly?

no

Did you set your external SD card as storage location?

no

Did you manually install an older version before installing the latest version from the Play Store?

no

Do you have the same issue when switching between WiFi/Mobile Data (If applicable)?

n/a

If you said "No", when does the issue not occur?

n/a

My mobile Spotify version

0.7.2.402-g40e8dcb4

My desktop Spotify version (if applicable)

n/a

My mobile provider and country

T-Mobile Germany

My username

andischatz

Do you have a Spotify (non-Facebook) login?

no

Are you logging in with Facebook or with your Spotify login details?

Facebook login

Do you have any screenshots you can attach to more clearly explain your issue?

no

[Joe]

Hi. A quick question - are you playing synched local files or downloaded spotify content?

[andischatz]

I play both synched local files and downloaded Spotify content. Not sure if playback stops when trying to play one of those types of files, I would need to keep the list open and the screen on (and watching it) to find out. Might try doing that if necessary.

[Joe]

Do you ever get the error that your SD card can't be found? Samsungs do seem to have problems with some external SD cards which might cause this but, as a first step, could you try deleting the cache from the spotify settings. You will have to resynch/download your music so start with just a couple of playlists to see if the problem goes away before resynching everything else.

Please let me know how it goes.

[andischatz]

I have already done all these things. Cleared cache, deleted all the folders, re-installed, re-synched.

There is no SD card in my phone (the HTC One has internal memory only), so the path should be the same for all files. 

Just happened again by the way, clearing the waiting list in the process. The app is still on, but I need to go back to the playlist and restart playback.

[Joe]

I'm sorry, I misread your post. Are you using any app which might be causing the cache to become corrupted - an antivirus or memory optimisation app? If so, could you try disabling these temporarily to see if it helps.

[andischatz]

I'm using Lookout Antivirus. I'll try disabling this and see how it goes. Thanks for the tip. I'll post the result later! 🙂

[Joe]

Thanks 🙂

[andischatz]

Well, it's been playing continuously for an hour now, something it has never done before. So I suppose disabling the Antivirus has done it. THANKS SO MUCH!! 😄

I'll uninstall the Antivirus right away, 4.3 already has most of the protection built-in anyway. You've made me very happy indeed. Thanks, jwylot! 

[Joe]

That's awesome 🙂

[andischatz]

Well... the issue is back. 😞

I have not reinstalled Antivirus (or installed any other App for that matter) but in the past few days the error has returned. After playing a few songs of a downloaded playlist, the App will stop playback and an error message will show. I have switched my phone's language from German to English now, so I can tell you the English error message and it is "Unknown Track". 

Other than before, this error message now consistently shows when the problem occurs, so that's at least something. I have a feeling that what I experienced before were multiple bugs, the source of one of which we have now eliminated, with a different one remaining.

To reiterate: This happens both when offline mode is switched on or off, both at home (on WiFi) and at the office (on 4G). I only play playlists with downloaded songs.

Any ideas?

[Joe]

I'm sorry to hear that the issue is back. "Unkown track" occurs when spotify can't open a specific track because it is corrupted or missing, as far as I know. If this is happening with more than one playlist, then I'm out of ideas and recommend you get in touch with support.

Please use the online contact form and someone at Spotify can help get this sorted. If you get an automated response directing you back to the community or to the help pages, make sure to reply to it directly to speed things along.

If it only happens with one playlist, try popping the tracks into a new playlist on your desktop client and see if that plays correctly.

Please let me know how you get on 🙂

[andischatz]

Hm, ok, thanks for the info. I'll try purging everything from the phone and re-downloading it again first and then see if the problem still occurs and if so, I'll try creating new playlists.

Interesting error in translation for that error message though. "Unknown Track" translates to "Unbekannter Pfad" when using the phone in German. "track" can be translated as "Pfad", but only when you mean e.g. a track/path through the woods, never a piece of music. "Pfad" literally translated as "path", so the German error message is quite misleading.

[kcmartz]

I'm having a similar issue on my nexus 7 2013. After 3-4 songs or so it stops.
I am rooted running CyanogenMod 11 rom. No Facebook app installed but it is connected.

[kcmartz]

Won't let me edit not on the tablet at least. I usually run it with the notification menu item and using Chrome in foreground.

EDIT (pc): This is the only thing preventing me from becoming a Premium subscriber.

[OddJobb]

I have this very same issue also. It did NOT happen when I signed up for the 48-hour free premium trial back in December, but ever since then it has happened. Here's my details:

HTC One V (unlocked European version; I'm in the USA)

AT&T is carrier

App installed on internal memory

32GB SD card in phone

No antivirus software installed

I've removed and re-installed versions of Spotify; the error occurs with all

Does not happen with any other music app installed

I think this is a bug in the app.

[Joe]

Hi @OddJobb There's an open bug topic here. Could you add your details please.

[dehnstrom]

I have been so frustrated about the crummy playback the last several months...I use Lookout, too! I'm going to try this solution and I will let you know how it goes.

[dehnstrom]

YES! Working better than it has in months. Thanks!!!

[Joe]

That's great. I never had any issues and used Lookout for a long time but I ditched it in the end because it was causing other issues on both my devices. Enjoy your music 🙂