Spotify Stops Playing Music Over Spotify Connect / Google Home

[kyotodesertfox]

Plan

Premium

Country

US / N. America

Device

Pixel 4XL / Samsung Galaxy / Google Home Suite of Devices

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

During regular playback in my car or other BT devices; playback is 100% fine.

When I am home, and playing music (over WiFi) through my Google Home devices; a song will play, and then near the end stop playing. If I hit the Play / Pause button; nothing happens. It acts as if it lost the stream / buffer, and I have to disconnect from Spotify Connect; and then restart it. Music will resume; but then on the next song the same thing will happen.

This behavior is not indicative of a network related issue; as it loads and plays fine for awhile; and no other devices on the network are affected. But this consistently happens near the end of the song playback - this is NOT network related if it is happening near the end of the song.

It does not seem to matter WHICH phone / device initiates music playback (or if I start using my voice); as my account is linked and uses that as intended.

I have tried completely removing the app from my devices; un-linking and re-linking my Spotify account; clearing cache; etc. 

I do believe that there is something funky happening with Spotify Connect in this; as this only seems to happen when I am using this method of music playback. Is there a way to access logs or something so that when this happens; I can see what triggered / failed?

[Ivan]

Hey @kyotodesertfox, 

Thanks for reaching out to us about this - we'll be glad to help you out here.
 

Make sure you log out and back in to your Spotify account to check if you still experience the same. If you do, run a clean reinstall of Spotify on your Android device. This will get you the latest app version with all necessary updates. 

If this persists, try restarting the network device (router or modem). It's also a good idea to test if you observe the same under a different network. If it works with another connection, it's best to contact the service provider of the original network for more information. 

Hope this helps. Keep us posted. 

[NatSparky]

This happens to me, too! Spotify just stops playing after a few songs. This only started happening over the last week or so. When I go to check which speakers are playing it only shows my phone. It doesn't show any of my other speakers which are usually connected. I have to restart the app before I can find any of these speakers again.

[Novy]

Hey @NatSparky, 

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community. 

Just to confirm, have you already tried the clean reinstall that @Ivan previously suggested? Keep in mind that this will help clearing any cache that might be causing trouble.

You can also log into your account using a different device to see if you can replicate this issue. 

Let us know how it goes. 

[mtran1516]

Hey all,

I've been having similar issues. Devices just don't seem to work with any interface onto Google Home devices well anymore. This all happened within the last week or so.

Any leads on a solution?

[Mihail]

Hey @mtran1516,

Thanks for searching for the answer you need here.

Did you try out the troubleshooting steps, posted by @Ivan and @Novy? A clean reinstall usually solves connectivity issues by removing any possible damaged files. Restarting your router/ modem and trying with a different internet connection helps us check if the root cause of the problem lies with your network. It's also a good idea to log in with another account and see if everything works fine there in order to check for account problems.

Let us know if any of these steps helped. We'll be here if you have any questions. 

[kyotodesertfox]

Thank you for the response!

My issue actually appears to be extremely similar to this well known issue here:

https://9to5google.com/2021/02/16/chromecast-google-speaker-groups-bug-issue/

I didn't realize that it was affecting so many users.

[Alex]

Hey @kyotodesertfox,

Can you let us know if you've tried creating Groups like suggested in the article you've liked to?

Another thing to try is to log in and connect with a different Spotify account and see if that makes a difference.

Keep us posted on how you get on with this.

[kyotodesertfox]

So far this only seems to occur when I am playing music at home over my Google Home devices. If I listen to music over ear buds; or over Bluetooth in my car; everything is 100% great; zero problems with music stopping. With Google Home; I have also tried to unlink and re-link my Spotify acount; but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

I have checked my battery saver settings; and battery optimization settings; as it has been suggested on other forums that this could be the culprit. However, my settings are such that Spotify is NOT being background restricted nor battery optimized (each disabled).

It is a little difficult to pinpoint if this relates to Google Home specifically; or not. As far as groups; I have Broadcast groups within my Google Home account; and playback has the same effect if I play on a single device; or a broadcast group of multiple speakers.

I have a Denon Network AV Receiver that I can still broadcast to; I have not tried using that yet to see if the issue is the same.

Are there any logs or anything like that that I can monitor / look for when the music stops playing so I can see if there is an error thrown anywhere?

I have a Spotify Developer account but this doesn't give me any useful information regarding this particular concern.

[Alex]

Hey @kyotodesertfox,

Thanks for looking for answers in the Community!

Can you let us know if you have a Chromecast in the Google Home group? Based on the article you've shared a response back, it sounds like this is a Chromecast issue which might be the case.

What happens If you make a group without the Chromecast, can you reproduce the issue?

Keep us posted on how you get on with this, and if you encounter any issues with the Denon device as well.

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[eaczsdc]

Hi there,

Unfortunately i have the same issue: songs just stop playing. I have to hit next for the next song to start playing again. I'm listening on a Como audio Musica which has Spotify connect build in. 

I have tried all of the above (reinstall the app, restart modem/router, using another account, using another phone, etc., etc.). I have also consulted with como audio very extensively but i am sure it is not related to their hard- nor software. Also sure it isn't network related. So I'm sure it is related to Spotify connect. 

Any other things I can try? 

[MafeG]

Hi @eaczsdc,

Thank you for reaching out in this post!

Could you confirm if you only have this issue on your Como device, or have you tried with other Connect enabled devices? 

Also, can you try connecting to a different internet/mobile network to check how it behaves?

Let us know how this goes.