Liked Songs playlist doesn't play songs

[Loose]

Spotify will not play songs from my Liked songs playlist. It’s only the Liked songs playlist that doesn't play songs - others are fine. When I try to click on a song it stops anything else that is playing but does not start playing any new track. There are no error messages.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Android 14. I have no SD card.

Spotify 9.0.14.561. Premium subscription.

Other devices are fine.

Clean reinstall does not work (including checking for co.spotify.music files etc.).

Other users have the same problem and have been for a number of years. The issue comes and goes but always comes back.

I have tried to get Spotify Support to fix this many times and they have never been able to. I always get passed from one person to the next over many days, each one starting again asking me the same questions. Whenever I raise this, the support person abandons me, cutting me off without saying anything, then I get passed to yet another person who starts again asking the same questions. There is clearly no accountability or tracking resolutions with Spotify Support staff. So far, every one of the following support staff has done this: 

< snip - moderator edit >

[Eni]

Hey there @Loose, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this here in the Community. 

Could you let us know if this started happening after a specific event such as an update either of Spotify or the OS of your phone? We'd also recommend double-checking if your phone's OS has any pending updates. 

On another note, is your Liked songs playlist large? Keep in mind that large playlists can affect the app's performance so if that's the case, could you split that playlist into smaller ones to see if that does the trick? 

If the issue persists, would you mind sending us a short screen recording of the issue happening so we can take a closer look? You can attach it 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).

We'll be waiting for your reply.

[#3]

when I click on the app, it won’t play my music and it’s gray

[AlejaR]

Hey there,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome.

If you haven't yet, we'd suggest you perform a clean reinstall by following these steps, to be sure the app is up-to-date, and the stored cache isn't leading to this behavior. Additionally, make sure the app has permissions to run with both WiFi and mobile data.

If issues should persist, then we'd like to gather some additional info. Please send us:

• The make/model and OS of the affected device.
• The exact Spotify version you're running there.
• Does this happen over WiFi? 3G/4G? Both?
• Did you notice if this started to happen after a specific event such as an OS update?

Keep us in the loop!

[Shipwreck115]

Plan

Free

Country

United States

Device

Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite

Operating System

Android 14

I have my liked songs organized alphabetically but for some reason, some songs will play just fine while others won't play at all no matter what I do. I tap on the name of the song, it refuses to play. It'll just go to a grey "Nothing playing" screen. Even stranger is that for the first line of songs up to a certain letter will play fine but then afterwards it'll stop working. There will be a large gap of songs that are unplayable but then it'll end towards the very bottom of the list near a lower letter and the rest of the songs will play normally. I deleted the app and reinstalled it, cleared the cache and every other fix possible but nothing works. This has been going on since last week and it's very frustrating. What do I do?

My Question or Issue

[Shauntdd30]

I am experiencing the same issue. I have uninstalled the app and reinstalled it, deleted the cache, refreshed the app, and I’ve also unliked the songs then liked them again. None of these things worked. Most of my songs have been restored, but my oldest liked songs will still not play. 

[Loose]

Hi, thanks for the note. There are no pending updates and it seems to happen randomly. 

I have a total of 7000 Liked songs. Don't know of that's big or not. Does. Spotify not like people liking that much music?

I'm trying to put them into other playlists but I can't because I can't play them! The alternative is to open each artist separately, go into their liked songs, play those and assign them to other playlists. That's just not possible with so many tracks.

[Dessi]

Hey @Shauntdd30,

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the Spotify Community!

I'd recommend logging in your account on another device to double-check if you can play the songs there. This way we can determine if this is account- or device-related. Are you by any chance using a VPN? In case you are, try turning it off to see if that makes a difference. 

Can you also confirm if this is only affecting your Liked Songs or other playlists as well? It's worth checking the artist pages connected to the songs that aren't playing to see if they are blocked - click on the three dots and if you have the option Don't play this artist, then all's good and they aren't.

Let us know how it goes.

[Maria]

Hey @Loose,

Thanks for the additional details!

While there isn't a specific track limit for Liked Songs, bigger playlists may affect playback on some setups & devices. If possible, as you mention that the list works fine on other devices, could you try copying the tracks from your Liked Songs to smaller playlists from there? The easiest way to do this is by using the computer app. Feel free to give it a try if you have a PC close by, just to see if you notice any difference.

It also seems like a new version of the Android app is available. Could you try updating Spotify by following the steps here?

Shouldn't this do the trick, it would be great if you could send a video showing how things look from your end, as requested by @Eni. This will help us get a better view of the issue you're experiencing. Also, just to check, if you download the Liked Songs playlist, are you encountering the same issue?

Keep us posted!

[Loose]

Thanks
I'll try splitting my liked songs from the desktop (e.g. Liked A-H, I-P, Q-Z)

The problem has been recurring for a number of years (never been fixed) but sometimes it works for a while (like now) and then stops again. Which means I can't record the screen or test the solution until it stops working again.

[Eni]

Hey there @Shipwreck115, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this here in the Community. 

Kudos for the troubleshooting steps you've tried! Just to confirm, is this only happening on your phone or on other devices as well? We'd also like to know if this happens only on your Liked songs playlist or on your other playlists too. 

On another note, we'd recommend giving a different internet connection a go to see if the same happens. If you've been using WiFi, you can try with mobile data to test this. 

If the issue persists, you mentioned that you've already reinstalled the app, but would you mind going through the steps of a clean reinstall, as it's more thorough than a normal one?

We'll be waiting for your reply. 

[Shauntdd30]

I have logged into my account through my computer, which I was initially having problems playing the songs at first but then they gradually started working again. I am also not using a VPN or have seen that any playlist is affected by this issue. I’ve checked the artist pages and they are not blocked. 

[OscarDC]

Hey @Shauntdd30,

Thank you for keeping in contact and for the info shared. 

We're glad to know that the songs started to work again on your computer. In case the issue persists on a different device, it's also worth checking if the explicit content is allowed to play or not by following the steps mentioned here, just in case.

We also appreciate the time you expend following the troubleshooting process and recommendations.

If you need any additional help, don't hesitate to ask.

[Shauntdd30]

The songs are still not working on my phone though, I will try to update my phone and see if that somehow fixes the problem. 

[Shipwreck115]

The glitch still persists even with a clean install. What's stranger is that those songs work find when my likes are set in the default setting of recently added but the glitch only happens when I sort the songs alphabetically.

[Eni]

Hi @Shipwreck115, 

Thanks for your reply. 

That's odd. We tried to replicate this on our end, but we weren't able to. In this case, would you mind checking if the same happens on a different device? This will help us determine if the issue is device-related. 

On another note, sending us a short screen recording of the issue happening would come in handy. You can attach it 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).

We'll be on the lookout for your reply. 

[OscarDC]

Hey @Shauntdd30,

Thank you for keeping in contact and for the clarification.

In that case, if the issue persists after the update, we'd recommend performing a clean reinstall once more as it helps to get rid of any remaining cache that might be causing trouble. Hopefully, this will do the trick, but if it doesn't, include in your next response the make, model, and OS version of your mobile device, along with the Spotify version you're currently running there to continue investigating the case.

We'll be waiting for your response.

[Shauntdd30]

Reinstalling or updating my phone did not work still.  My device details are:

Make - Apple

Model - iPhone 12 Pro Max

OS Version - 18.3

Spotify Version - 9.0.16.583

[Dessi]

Hey @Shauntdd30,

Thanks for the info you've provided!

Since you mentioned that the playback works on your computer again, could you start playing some of your liked songs that were greyed out on it and then switching the playback to your phone using Spotify Connect to see if they play there as well? If that doesn't do the trick, can you send us a screenshot or a screen recording of how these songs look like on your phone, so that we can have a closer look?

We'll be waiting for your response.

[Shauntdd30]

I have done that before, which does work, but I am hoping to fix it on my actual phone. The last 20 or so songs of my liked songs are the ones that won’t play when I click on them. But whenever I’m on shuffle, the songs will play without me having to click on them.