Albums or playlist switch to radio automatically upon restart

[MarcMP]

When I have to interrupt listening to an album or playlist — such as when I’m in the car and get to where I’m going, then return and intend to continue where I left off — Spotify instead starts playing a radio based on the album or playlist I was listening to. This is distinct from going to radio AFTER the respective album/playlist is complete, it’s when it is square in the middle.
This is a fairly recent phenomenon, maybe a couple of months. It used to always pick up from where it left off, or on the fairly rare occasion it lost its place it would start at the Home Screen and just not play anything. Hopefully there is a way to cancel this ‘feature’.

[MarkEdward]

mine switches in the middle of the day all by itself, playlist is playing fine and for no reason goes rogue and starts playing a "Playlist Radio Based On..." whatever the current playlist was playing, and yes, this is a fairly recent problem, I'm using in a store, I cannot have random NON-SCREENED songs start playing, not to mention different versions and/or repeats

[Alex]

Hey folks,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

We'll do our best to help. Since this behavior is quite odd it would be best to perform a clean reinstall of the app as a primary troubleshooting step.

Please follow this guide and remove all Spotify app data and cache before installing the latest release of the app. This way we'll know that the issue is not caused by corrupted cache or an outdated app.

If the issue continues after this let us know the following:

• Device model and OS version
• Spotify version

Keep us posted on how this goes.

[MarcMP]

Thank you.  I have done the clean reinstall and will check back in a few days after I’ve seen if this continues. 

[MarkEdward]

I also have done a clean install and will check back in.

[MarcMP]

I was hopeful, but alas…

I had the same playlist all day. It repeated a segment of the playlist that had played on the drive in to work, though it stayed on the playlist. However, about an hour and a half after my drive home, when I got back in the car and started Spotify it went to radio based on the playlist. 

I have Spotify version 8.7.21.1728. 

I’m using an iPhone 8, iOS 15.4.1

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Thank you for getting back to us and for the troubleshooting you've done so far 🙂

@MarkEdward - please do let us know how it goes so that we can continue to assist you if you need us to.

@MarcMP - can you try with a different internet connection to see how it works? If the issue persists it would be great if you can have someone log in with their account on your device and see if they get the same behavior? Maybe you can ask a friend or a family member if it's possible.

We'll be on the lookout for your replies,

Have a great continued day 🙂

Cheers!

[MarcMP]

The thing with the internet connection is, since my listening is between the car and at work, primarily, it’s never just one connection — a combination of home, work, and cell network (I use TMobile, if that matters).

[Jeremy]

Hi again @MarcMP,

Thank you for getting back in touch with us and for the information you've provided 🙂

Is it possible for you to have someone log in with their account on your device - such as a friend or a family member to see if the issue persists? This will help us understand if it's account related or not.

Keep us posted.

Cheers!

[MarcMP]

Not likely. All the other users I know have free versions. 

[OscarDC]

Hey @MarcMP,

Thank you for keeping in contact.

Since we've to check if this issue could be account-related, if you don’t have the option to check with a different account, we’ll need other users to report this issue too to keep investigating.

In the meantime, we'll need you to test it again but this time stopping when playing music, and taking a screenshot of what the queue looks like (before it autoplays). Then, try to replicate the issue, but this time we'll need you to record a quick video where we can see how it plays the current song and then jumps to the playlist radio. 
 

You can attach the video to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. You can also upload it to Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to see it)

With this, we could take a better look at the issue. Hopefully, with the reports of other users, we'll be able investigate further.

We'll be on the lookout.

[MarcMP]

I think I may not have explained the issue well enough…

This is not an issue of the playlist switching to radio in the middle of playing. This is an issue when I return to Spotify after interrupting the play — such as when I’m listening in the car and get where I’m going; when I later get back in the car and turn Spotify on, it goes to a radio based on the album or playlist I was previously listening to. So, as a for instance (these examples are solely for illustrative purposes):

Say I am listening to Queen’s Night at the Opera while driving to meet a friend for dinner. It is 3:46 into Bohemian Rhapsody when I get to the restaurant. I’m there for 2 hours, return to my car and instead of being at 3:46 into Bohemian Rhapsody when the app starts up again, it’s starting Under Pressure and says Radio Station Based On Night at the Opera. 

Just wanted to clarify as the last message sounded like it was understood that this issue manifested *during* live listen. 

[Yordan]

Hi @MarcMP,

Thanks for the clarification.

This occurs when the app reconnects to an external device after a longer break and is currently expected behavior. However, we've passed your feedback to the right team so they can look into it in the foreseeable future. While we cannot provide a specific timeline as of yet, rest assured we'll keep you posted on our Newsroom website as soon as there's new info to share about this.

The Community is always here if there's anything else you need assistance with.

[MarkEdward]

I've been waiting to see if things stay stable, and (so far) I think the clean install seems to have done the trick... we continue to be "Playing From Playlist" and hasn't switched over to "Radio based on..." so far so good, I've had a couple of days when it would just STOP playing, bust most days it plays straight thru...

if it DOES ever switch to "Radio based on..." again I will report back! Thank you for your help!

[OscarDC]

Hey @MarkEdward,

Thank you for keeping in contact.

We're glad to know that the app is working well so far. We appreciate the time you took following the troubleshooting steps and sharing your solution.

In case you need anything else, remember that the Community is just a post away.

Cheers!

[tashas]

For the past few months I’ve been getting really annoyed by this ‘feature’. I’ll be listening to a playlist in the car, get out to do something, get back in and it will have switched itself to auto playing random music that I don’t like. The worst part is that the first song is usually one from my playlist so I think it’s ok, then the second song comes on and I’m yelling. 

This isn’t the same as the ‘continue auto play at the end of the playlist’ because it didn’t continue from any playlist.

I have a premium plan, have an iPhone 13 and am connecting through simple Bluetooth to my Mazda. 

Thanks for any help