Amazon Echo Loses Spotify Connection

[aumfc]

Not sure where else to post but I have a premium family account so posting here.

Yesterday while playing a Spotify playlist through an Echo Dot 3, the Echo would lose its connection to Spotify on my phone. I'd go into the phone (Android) and the device would be gone. I'd tell Alexa to "Spotify connect", the device would show back up in my phone, and music would start again. After 20 minutes or so, it'd stop playing again.

Repeat this for a few hours. Super annoying. Any ideas why this kept happening and how to fix it?

[Xenia]

Hello there @aumfc,

Thanks for posting your question in the Community!

Since you mention that you're on the Premium Family plan, the reason why your playback keeps getting interrupted might be because the account linked with the Alexa device is accidentally used by another family member. Have any of your family members experienced the same issue?

In any case, we'd suggest you start off by relinking your accounts, following the steps here, to see if that makes a difference.

It'd also be a good thing to check out the requirements to use Spotify Connect in this support article and make sure to cover the troubleshooting steps listed here.

Let us know how you get on. We'll be here to answer any further questions you may have 🙂

[ShapeTheSky]

I have exactly the same issue. You'll be happily streaming several songs then it stops and the Echo disappears from the list of devices in the Spotify app. 

You then ask Alexa to "Spotify Connect" the device appears but won't connect. Rebooting the Echo sorts the problem.

Hope can this be due to another device using the account? 

I thought it might be WiFi issues but Amazon music connects ok.

So is this a Spotify or Amazon problem?

[Ver]

Hey there @ShapeTheSky,

Thanks for getting in touch with us 🙂

It's a good idea to try relinking your accounts with the steps @Xenia mentioned. Before connecting them again, you can also give these steps a go and run a clean reinstall. That way you can make sure the app is up-to-date and the cache is not causing any issues.

If that doesn't help, you can check if this happens with another account. That way we can see if it's an account-related issue.

Let us know how it goes. If you have questions, you know where to find us.

[ShapeTheSky]

How does relinking the account help? The issue is when using Spotify Connect not the Alexa skill.

Restarting the Echo resolves the issue for a time but that's not a fix for the problem. Same goes for the suggestion to reboot the router that shouldn't be an acceptable fix. 

I will try using Spotify Connect from a different device to rule out issues with the Android App but my suspicion is that this is a problem with Echo and/or WiFi and not app or account related.

[ShapeTheSky]

Update. I tried using the Spotify App on a Windows PC as opposed to the phone and it had exactly the same issue. After about 15-20 mins the Echo dropped off the available devices for Spotify to play to.

Without rebooting anything I switched to playing through a Sky Q box from the laptop and it started playing straight away.

So I'm pretty sure the issue does not lie with the Apps and is something to do with the Echo.

I disabled and re-enabled the the Spotify skill in Alexa as this un-links and re-links the account and the device then showed up without rebooting. I think this further points to a problem with the Spotify integration on the Echo/Alexa rather than a router or network issue. Rebooting the speaker means it potentially gets a new IP addresses but re-enabling the skill should not have changed anything on the network.

It's a pretty poor show if this is how it is and you have to periodically reset or reboot the Echo so I'm still looking for a more permanent fix and this includes swapping to a Google or Sonos speaker!

[Loewi]

I have the exact same problem. I have to reboot Echo every time to solve the problem when it automatically stops playing. Hope they can fix the problem ASAP, or I might change to use other speakers.

[ShapeTheSky]

Have you tried disabling and re-enabling the skill? It seems to have been
ok since I did that but I can't say that it has fixed it permanently as
I've only used Spotify Connect a couple of times since then so I may not
have allowed enough time for the issue to come back.

Before I did that I had a run of having to reboot everytime I used it. So
at the moment it appears to be better...

[bb3w_x3-dlp]

The problem here is through use of "connect to spotify" feature, which means the user dorsn't need to have an alexa app, or alexa account. So disabling the skill should have no impact here.

We get the same problems in our house when my wife tries to "connect to spotify". It holds for 15-30 mins then stops. She has to "connect to spotify" to start the music again

[Alex]

Hey there @

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

It's a good idea to reboot the speaker. Then try unlinking your Spotify account and signing in again. 

To unlink Spotify, open the Amazon Alexa app and go to Settings > Music > Spotify. Tap Disable Skill and confirm by tapping Disable. Next, tap Enable to use and follow the instructions to log in to your account again.

You can also check if your router offers a 5Ghz connection option and switch your network to that channel. This will minimize the chance for interference.

Hope this info helps. Don't hesitate to reach out again if you have questions.

[bogdan_minut]

This is a frequent and very annoying problem. Interestingly there have been versions of Spotify that seemed to fix the issue temporarily or at least delay the time until the music stops, but the issue always comes back somehow.

I have a funny feeling the problem is with the Echo devices. Not to mention that I had to set my location to the US for the skill to work, which is ridiculous. 

The thing that works best for me is to switch from playing on the device group to playing on a single device, then going back to the group (I got 3 Echos across my apartment). Hope this helps someone!