Local Files can't be played via Spotify Connect on my Sonos Speakers (or even TV)

[Sanizzle]

My Question or Issue

I've been making Playists of Music by year, and for some songs that are not available on Spotify that I own I've decided to rip the CDs and then to add them to a folder as Local Files.

Then I add them to a Playlist, let's say: "2002"

Everything is working fine when I play the Local Files of the "2002" Playlist  on my computer.

Then I decide to Download the Playlist on my Phone Spotify App.

Still no problem as Im able to play all the Local Files when downloaded.

But as soon as I try to play those songs via Spotify Connect (either from the computer or my Phone) to my Sonos Speakers (TV or other devices), it says:

Unable to play for the moment (and the device is grayed out).

Also when I launch Spotify on the Android TV app, all the Local Files that are supposed to be on the "2002" playlist just don't appear...

What is funny is that it is still possible to Play those local files from my Phone via Bluetooth in my car, but it's impossible to play them via Spotify Connect on other devices.

If you have a trick for this I'll be more than happy to try it.
Thanks

Plan

Premium

Country

France

Device

(Computer, One Plus 7 Pro)

Operating System

(Android, Windows 10,etc.)

[dinomight]

Hey there @Sanizzle, thanks for your post! Unfortunately, there isn't currently a way to play local files via Spotify Connect. As you've already discovered, your local files can be synced to your phone when you download a playlist while connected to the same WiFi as your desktop as long as Spotify is open on that device as well, and to play those tracks on other devices you would need to connect to them through Bluetooth or a directly wired solution.

I do believe Sonos offers some other solutions for playing local tracks, but not from within Spotify. For Sonos and your TV (as well as other devices), you'd need to check with the manufacturers to see what kind of alternative options they may offer. Personally, I tend to use Bluetooth if I need to play a local track or utilize a Spotify function that isn't available on Connect, but I know that's not always optimal since it also plays other audio from your device. Anyway, I hope that clears things up a bit at least!

[Sanizzle]

Hi @dinomight !!

Thx for your quick answer!

It's a shame that Spotify Connect don't allow us to play those Local Files... Does it have something to do with rights or something like this ?

Yes of course I can easily play my Local Files via Sonos app, but it won't allow me to play my "2002" Playlist, as it is a mix of Spotify Songs + Local Files (aka the best of both worlds for me 🙂 ), so it is not really helping me @home.

---

@dinomight wrote:

Personally, I tend to use Bluetooth if I need to play a local track or utilize a Spotify function that isn't available on Connect

Can you let me know about this "Spotify function that isn't available on Connect" ? Maybe it can help me in some way.

Thanks a lot for your precious advices!

[dinomight]

No problem! I'm guessing that the local file issue is more of a technical limitation than a rights issue, because the only way Spotify can play local tracks is when they've actually been downloaded to a device. Connect fully relies on streaming and accessing Spotify's database, so I would imagine allowing users to play local tracks over WiFi would require a decent amount of under the hood changes on Spotify's part.

As far as functions that aren't available on Connect are concerned, one of the main ones I can think of offhand would be the "autoplay" feature that automatically continues playing similar music when you've reached the end of an album or playlist. In my own experiences I've found that Connect devices aren't able to continuously update the play queue in the same way the desktop and mobile apps do, so the music ends up just stopping once it reaches the end of whatever is currently in its queue unless repeat is on.

[Sanizzle]

Thanks a lot for your answer @dinomight , you're right the autoplay with Connect is not working for me either.

I guess I'll have to find a way to play my "2002" spotify Playlist, mixed with 2002 Local Songs that are not on Spotify, not easy, but heyy I'll try to find something, and if you guys have any proposition to make, don't hesitate 🙂

Thx

[CarterBurke]

Plan

Premium

Spotify Version

8.9.52.552

Device

Pixel 8

My Question or Issue

Any files that I have downloaded locally to my phone I can't play from Spotify to any devices except my phone or desktop computer. For example, I have several smart speakers, receiver that are Spotify compatible that I can stream any music to with the exception of files that are 'local files'. Those files will indicate 'can't this track' if I try to select that track an any external audio player, playing music from Spotify's library to these devices works without issue. Also if I try to download a local file it shows as 'downloaded' but if I check the Storage menu, the MB counter does not increase. I have also tried reinstalling the spotify app on my mobile device.