Unable to play most podcasts

[Chooseausername]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA 

Device

iOS and MacOS

Operating System

Latest iOS and MacOS

My Question or Issue

One of the accounts on our family plan lost the ability to play podcasts, and the problem follows the account across devices. 

pressing play changes the play icon to a pause icon but the stream doesn’t start. Interestingly enough a specific podcast (99pi) DOES play. 

tried:

uninstall/reinstall

logout/back in

clear cache

parental controls off

different ISPs+cellular

basically all steps mentioned at: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/spotify-not-playing/

if I log into the device with the problem with a different account, problem goes away; if I log in with the problem account on another device, problem follows the account. This is across iOS and MacOS. 

There seems to be something wrong with the account itself. 

playing music works as normal, it’s only podcasts that are broken. 

any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help. 

[MihailY]

Hey @Chooseausername,

Thanks for reaching out and kudos for the troubleshooting you've tried so far.

How many podcasts have you tested this with? Can you please try a few more (to make sure this isn't limited to specific ones) and send us a few examples so we can test on our end?

Also, check if using the same audio settings as those from the working account makes any difference.

Let us know how it goes.

[Chooseausername]

Thanks for responding. We just tested a bunch, here are some that don’t work:

Gastropod

20k hertz

Brains on

Forever ago

Smash boom best

These DO work:

99 percent invisible

TED Ed

Lex Fridman show 

Overall most podcasts don’t work, it’s been tough finding a few that do. 

Changing audio settings made no difference. 

[Vasil]

Hello @Chooseausername,

Thank you for all the provided details!
From the looks of it this seems to be an account-related issue.

Albeit this not being the most convenient situation, it can be resolved.
To start, we'll only need one new account 🙂

1. Follow this guide to see how to transfer your music data over to the new account.
2. After this is done, remove the original account from the Family plan.
   Tip: You can change your email on the original account with a new one, freeing up your the email for the new account!
3. When ready, add the new account to the Family plan.

We're here for you should any questions arise.
Cheers!