Artists blocked that I didn't block

[fillerbunny]

Plan - Premium

Country - UK

Today I went to a specific artist to play one of their albums and discovered that they were marked as a 'don't play this artist'. This is an artist I love and play regularly and would not have blocked. I then noticed another artist that I love had had the same thing happen. No-one else has access to my Spotify account. 

How can this have happened? And how can I find out if it's happened to any other artists that I do want to hear without manually trawling through every single one, given that you don't seem to be able to view a list of blocked artists?

[fillerbunny]

Hi there @fillerbunny,

Thanks for reaching out. 

The system cannot block artists without you requesting it, so this is quite strange. Is this the first time you have spotted anything like this? What device did you see this on?

To best check if this has happened on more artists, you can request your data as shown here and find a list of all blocked artists. By doing this you can also check if this happens again in future. If it keeps happening, then there must be something else going. Let us know if that's the case and send us some screenshots of your findings so we can take a closer look. Securing your account as shown here would also be a good idea. If the issue doesn't occur again however, then perhaps a simple misclick is to blame.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

[m0ther-of-p3arl]

Plan

Free

Country

USA

Device

Chromebook

Operating System

Chrome i think???

My Question or Issue

so on spotify (i use web browser) there's this new feature where you can block an artist from playing, which is pretty useful because there's some music i just can't stand. however i was scrolling through one of my playlists and i noticed that certain artists that i hadnt blocked from playing were blocked. i unblocked all the artists i listen to but i just went back on my spotify, and several artists had been re-blocked. why is this happening, and how can i fix it?

[sssssssssssssssssd]

same issue

[Joan]

Hi there @fillerbunny,

Thanks for reaching out. 

The system cannot block artists without you requesting it, so this is quite strange. Is this the first time you have spotted anything like this? What device did you see this on?

To best check if this has happened on more artists, you can request your data as shown here and find a list of all blocked artists. By doing this you can also check if this happens again in future. If it keeps happening, then there must be something else going. Let us know if that's the case and send us some screenshots of your findings so we can take a closer look. Securing your account as shown here would also be a good idea. If the issue doesn't occur again however, then perhaps a simple misclick is to blame.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

[Ecsia]

I’m encountering the same issue. Several artists I love have been marked as 'Don't Play This Artist,' despite having them on my playlists. It’s quite a hassle to track down which other artists might be affected. I’m unsure why this is happening, especially since it’s not related to explicit content, and I haven’t activated any filters

[Froad]

I'm experiencing the exact same issue. I found a playlist I had made with several artists blocked, that I would not have blocked, and proceeded to unblock them. I refreshed the playlist a few minutes later and different artists were blocked. Refreshing immediately after unblocking them, and some of the same, and some different, artists are now blocked. I can continuously unblock artists, refresh the page, and some will be blocked again.

[cowgirlrockstar]

I am also experiencing this. Was sifting through my playlists and have found at least 10 artists blocked that I never blocked. I noticed shortly after I blocked an artist purposefully. Not sure if this is related.

[tvxedobvnny]

this is happening to me too, but only in the web player, not in the mobile app.

[Vasil]

Hey folks!

This seems to be affecting more and more people.
In order for us to get to the bottom of things, let's gather the following details:

• Your affected device and its OS version
• Your Spotify app version
• A short video recording showcasing the issue in action

Many thanks! We'll be on the lookout for your replies 🙂

[TurkeySandwich57]

I'll go through my playlists and I'll see it says "You asked us to not play this artist" even though I never did? It also seems to change every day, artists I had blocked before become unblocked the next day, and now a new group of artists is blocked, and it seems to be entirely random, from artists I listen to regularly, to artists I rarely listen to. Has anyone else had this problem? Can I stop it?

[luciIle]

Mac OS Sonoma 14.5

same issue here. only happens on the web player, not the app. artists who appear as blocked on the web will play fine on the app. it seems that all of the blocked artists on the web become unblocked once i open the app, almost like it refreshes. artists that have been blocked artists included more frequently played artists from me, like adrianne lenker and father john misty, as well as artists who i haven't listened to in a long time, like mother mother and aaron tveit and members of the hamilton cast. 

[jadeinak]

This is happening to me as well. I'm just now noticing this. 

[Maria]

Hey there folks,

Thanks for joining the conversation!

We'd love to look further into this, but for that we'll need the exact info @Vasil asked for in the latest post. @TurkeySandwich57, @luciIle & @jadeinak - this behavior doesn't sound quite right, so feel free to send us the details requested.

Cheers!

[fillerbunny]

Hey, good to know it's not just me 😅

When I noticed this happening is was on the browser version as well (using Microsoft Edge Version 128.0.2739.54). I didn't check if it was the same on the app and I haven't noticed it happen again since that day, but if I do I'll check if it's the same in the app and provide a video. 

I have downloaded my personal data - can anyone tell me which file I need to look at to find the blocked list? I have read the 'understanding my data' info (at Understanding my data - Spotify) but can't see anything about blocked artists there. 

[violentend]

This is happening to me as well. The issue is on the web player on my PC (Windows 11), it does not happen on the app. I'm not sure what to post a video of? It would just be an artist page saying I've blocked them when I haven't. I've only ever blocked one artist from being played and I did it for the first time today, but now all of a sudden a TON of artists are blocked for me.

[Maria]

Hey there,

Thanks for the replies 🙂

@fillerbunny - Within the downloaded data Zip file you received, there should be a file called YourLibrary. Any artist that has been marked as 'Don't play this artist', should be listed there under bannedArtists.

@violentend - Thanks for adding your details in this thread as well! Just to check, do you notice any difference when using the Web Player in another browser or in an incognito window?

Keep us posted!

[Sylvanfeather]

The same issue is happening for me today as well; artists that are on my playlists are now being blocked.

Not sure if it's related, but I started the day by going through the curated Release Radar list and did actually block a singular artist there so they would no longer be recommended. Then when going to my own playlists I noticed many, many artists are now being randomly blocked. (It actually seems to be getting progressively worse as I go through various playlists)

Listening in the web browser app, 

Chrome Version 128.0.6613.120 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Windows 11 Business 23H2

[MihailY]

Hey @Sylvanfeather,

Thanks for posting here.

We've reported this issue to the relevant team and we'll keep you posted on any updates.

Cheers,

[fillerbunny]

So I just spotted this happening again. Again on the web browser version (Microsoft Edge), and I'm attaching a screen recording. 
I have checked and the artist doesn't appear blocked on my Android app - just on the web browser. 

[Eni]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for your patience. 

According to the team in charge this should be fixed. Would you mind checking if you're still experiencing it? If so, make sure to send us the updated info of what @Vasil asked above. 

We'll be on the lookout.