Screen flickers when opening web player

[martino315]

Device

PC

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

I've never seen something like this. When I open open.spotify.com my screen goes crazy and starts flickering. I attached a video about the issue. No other website does this nor the Spotify app. I can make it stop when I unplug and reconnect my HDMI cable from the video card. It doesn't happen again, only after a computer restart. Any ideas?

[ihandfull]

I've also had this issue with both my old and new laptop, searched the issue & here I am. 

[martino315]

UPDATE:

So as it turns out (in my case) the issue was created by my VGA(F)-to-HDMI(M) adapter. It was a passive adapter so maybe with an active one this wouldn't be a problem. I changed my monitor to a HDMI one and the flickering went away.

[nordwolf]

Hi, i had the same issue on my PC at work. I'm Using 3 Screens with a Quadro T2000. I'm not allowed to change things that require an admin login. However, i tried some things and I have solved the problem for me. I Changed the refresh-rate on one of my screens from 60Hz to 50 Hz. It's kind of an eys sore, but i only need that screen for PDFs or Excel sheets, so that's no big problem. I don't know why that solved the problem, but.. yay? But come on Spotify, this has to be solved by you on the tecnical site, it's been almost 2 years....

[DragosOlar]

This is ridiculous...
I've been experiencing this issue since 2021, on a Windows 10 device, and now on a brand-new Windows 11 device, freshly updated, this stuff is not only still present, but even more annoying as instead of just a black screen, now I get static noise taking both my screens. 

And here is the community, giving you lazy bees the answer to your own ineptitude, leading to such a terrible paid-for experience. Do you care? As 10 months later, we are all still going through the same spiel, I would say not. 

Just to clarify, don't waste your time with me by asking me such silly questions such as "Did you update your drivers?" or "Did you try installing the app?". 

Eff your app, and eff your "customer support". Sort out your own mess out, Spotiffy people.

It's the year 2024, and you can't tweak a buggy line to stop messing with our screens. 

It's beyond words.

[JackInSights]

I can confirm in May 2024 this is still an issue. Across three different devices. On my old device it happened when I opened the webpage and resized it or moved it around. On my new device it does it every time a new song starts, even when the browser is minimised. 

[Talysen]

I had the same problem and I found my solution in my BIOS Settings.   I can't account for all the types of BIOS' out there but in my there was as "Video Out" setting.  Mine was set to SPDIF.  I changed it to HDMI, rebooted and the flickering stopped.  Hope this helps someone.

[Talysen]

I thought mine was the SPDIF / HDMI setting in the Bios but the problem returned after a reboot.  I looked at my display settings and found a refresh rate was set at 59HZ instead of 60HZ. I switched it to 60 and no flicker for the last 2 days.

[MikesMusicSpot]

English, please. After trying every "cure" I could find on the www (besides changing video boards in my new Mac Minis), I've given up and stopped using Spotify. That's too bad, because it was was my salvation as I fight stage 4 cancer. There's no way in LLLL I'm going to try a fourth monitor or 4th Mini just 'cause yet another site swears it will make my computer usable with Spotify. My life is too short to fight a company that refuses to even acknowledge, let alone fix problems they cause.

[Talysen]

In the end I just quit using an hdmi connection and went with a dvi
connector.  Problem solved.

[MikesMusicSpot]

The most complex port on my Mac mini m1 or my new Dell or HP monitors is HDMI. I see no way to use any type of DVI interface.

[ITguyAR]

This flickering **bleep** just started on my desktop PC (i7-8700T 32gb memory) and does it on both the desktop app and the browser so it's definitely on THEIR side.  I'm about to the point of dropping them as I don't see them ever going to Hi-Res anything.  **bleep**, the only reason I stayed this long is because of the interface because it for damn sure doesn't sound that great.  

[Wrey1726]

Been experiencing this for 2 years now. I have 2 monitors and it only happens to where my webplayer is opened. Tried using edge, chrome and mozilla. stays the same. I dont know but my instinct tells me I will jiggle the hdmi connector at the back and it somehow fix the problem and reduce the times my screen flicker. its still there but when couple of hours using my pc - it goes away when get used to it i think.

[ayurai]

Year later, same issue with the Windows APP of spotify.

[MikesMusicSpot]

There's no "getting used to it" for me. It not only obliterates the screen but also overlays/ghosts the screen when I'm doing something else entirely. However, out of the many fixes I've tried, only one helped at all: turning off hardware acceleration specifically with the Spotify app. A little research revealed that hardware acceleration is beneficial only for gaming or other very fast-paced activities such as some action flicks. I do neither, so I've seen nothing but benefit to turning it off. Go into your system or Spotify preferences, shop around until you find hardware acceleration, and turn it off ... specifically for Spotify, if that's an option.

[Yordan]

Hey folks,

Another user has shared more info on the topic in this other thread here, feel free to check it out if you're interested.

I'll be locking this thread now as to keep things in one place.

Cheers!