songs unavailable

[rst_ack]

EDIT: Really? Not even a single acknowledgement that this is an issue? 

A few months ago I started noticing that a select few songs I had added to playlists on my premium account were no longer playing (I remember thinking that I hadn't heard x song in a while).

When I tried to play some songs, I got this well-known error:

"Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it."

I understand the usual explanation is that those greyed out songs "aren't available in my country", or that the content owner has made it globally unavailable for reasons x or y. However, this is clearly not the issue - I explain why further down.

To test the theory, I logged out of Spotify in Firefox, created a new free account, and succesffuly played some of the songs that were greyed out in my premium account.

To test further, I logged out of my premium account on the Spotify desktop app and logged back in with the new account, and the same songs all play. 

If the songs were blocked in my country, why can I play them with a free account but not a premium account?

Answers to some questions that are asked often for these kinds of threads:

• What country are you in?
  • I'm in Australia

• What is your OS ? and What version of Spotify Desktop are you using?

  • I'm on Windows 10 Pro, using version 1.1.2.285.ga97985ef of Spotify (and using Spotify on Firefox in this case too)

• What are the devices where you get the same problem?

  • I get the problem on all devices (Desktop, laptop running Linux, and my Android phone)

I'm also guessing you're going to ask me for examples of some of the songs I'm having trouble playing, so here are some examples:

• "Dis Generation" - A Tribe Called Quest
• "By Myself" - FIDLAR (along with most - but not all - of FIDLAR's music. Screenshot attached)
• "The Nosebleed Section" - Hilltop Hoods (along with 90% of the rest of their music - screenshot of one such album attached)
• ANY Brockhampton songs (literally all of them are greyed out)
• 90% or more of Eminem's songs
• I could go on (but I won't)

[rst_ack]

bump 🙂