Listening to Local Files on Spotify Mobile

[LohaiiSully]

Update: I figured out the issue, it was super simple, really. I just had to press the download button on the mobile app rather than the computer app in the playlist that holds the local files. 

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone 8

Operating System

iOS 14.4

My Question or Issue

Hello! I have downloaded a few songs that I would love to add to various Spotify playlists. These songs are downloaded as MP3 files to my computer, and I have transferred them to the Local Files playlist in Spotify where I can listen to them just fine. My main goal though is to be able to listen to the songs on the mobile Spotify app without my computer by my side. I have put the songs in an active playlist that I can also see on the mobile app, but they are shown as greyed out, and when I attempt to play the playlist a screen comes up stating "Song Not Downloaded, if you own the song, you can sync it from your computer." As I follow the steps to download the songs on the Computer Spotify app, it will not allow me to download the songs (the download arrow next to the songs never lights up green.) 

I'm at a bit of a loss at what to do. I understand that the songs will play from the device the files are located, so I have also placed a copy of all the MP3 files into my Apple Music and iPhone files yet I haven't found a way to connect those to the Mobile Spotify app. 

I have also read other posts mentioning disabling a firewall on my computer, but knowing I am not the most tech-savvy, I am not sure how I would do that correctly with my antivirus program. (I have allowed the folder that the MP3 files are in to be an exception for scans and shields from my antivirus program if that is important information to know.)

Thank you in advance for the help!

[Alex · Accepted solution]

Hi there @LohaiiSully,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

The way local files work is like this: 

1. On desktop, import your local files from Settings > Scroll to Local Files and switch Show Local Files on > Click ADD A SOURCE to select folder on your PC where your songs are at. 
2. Add the files to a new playlist.
3. Log in on your mobile or tablet using the same WiFi as your desktop.
4. Go to Settings  (On your phone) > Local Files and switch on Local audio files.
   Note: You need to allow Spotify to find devices in the prompt that shows.
5. Click Download o the playlist with your local files.

This will download the songs from your computer directly on your phone.

Let us know how you get on with this and if you need more help 🙂

Cheers.

[GloryPink]

Hey @LohaiiSully

You mentioned that "the songs are downloaded as MP3 files to your computer". I'm curious, how did you download music from Spotify to MP3? Because my Spotify doesn't support downloading in MP3 format.

[usafaboy]

Hi, Having the same issue, but when I click download on the phone after following all your steps, the songs stay greyed out and never download. Ideas? 

Chris. 

[Eni]

Hey @usafaboy,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

The way local files work has changed not a long time ago. Basically, the synchronization between files from PC and your mobile devices over the network isn't supported at the moment.  Your own audio files, that you want to play within the app on mobile, need to be physically present on the particular device's storage. So you'd need to copy them to your mobile. Check also that the setting for discovering Local files on that particular device is toggled on in your Spotify app. For more info, we suggest that you take a look at this article.

Let us know how it goes.

[usafaboy]

So I got on my home wifi and it downloaded the songs in the background, so
they are on my phone now. Guess the type of network matters.

[Eni]

Hi there @usafaboy, 

Thanks for getting back to us and letting us know.

We're glad to know that now it's working as expected. Give us a shout if it starts misbehaving again, we'll be happy to help. 

Have a nice day 🙂