Songs don’t play unless they have been liked

[Masonp12704]

Plan

Premium

Country

US

Device

IPhone 11

Operating System

iOS 13.6

Question or Issue

When I go to an album to play a song that has not been downloaded it won’t play. It gets stuck in a screen like the first picture I attached. However I can like and then immediately unlike the song and it will play. Saving it doesn’t immediately download it either so I don’t think it’s a connection issue. 

[Paulmorgan64]

I have same experience, but does not happen when track is downloaded. and I concur, this is really affecting my enjoyment of the Macbook app.

[Paulmorgan64]

I have same issue. It will randomly not play songs I click to play, and will then only play if I like or download the song. Is there a better place to put the Spotify files/cache on my Mac that may make this work better. I think my issue may be placement of these Spotify files. Please advise. 

[Ver]

Hey @Paulmorgan64,

Thanks for getting in touch with us 🙂

It's a good idea to give these steps a go and run a clean reinstall. By doing that you can make sure the app is up-to-date and the cache is not causing any issues.

We'd suggest you also try on another device to see if there any changes.

You can also check these steps on how to change the location of the cache.

Let us know how it goes. If you have questions, you know where to find us.

[jferrari]

I’ve followed all of your suggestions multiple times to no avail. This is making it extremely difficult to use Spotify. What can you do? Seems that everyone else is having the same issue. 

[Novy]

Hi @jferrari, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Have you already tried to log into your account using a different device to see if the issue persists? 

We'd also suggest making sure that your phone has no pending system updates. 

Let us know how it goes. 

[evan-3]

It's not the device-- Having the same problem on all formats (Spotify Mac, Spotify Windows, Spotify IOS) Once you like a song it plays immediately. but It won't stream unless you do that. Only happens sometimes, but definitely annoying when running AUX.

[CarlosE]

Hey @evan-3,

Thanks for posting on this thread and for the info.

Could you let us know which troubleshooting steps mentioned in this thread you've tried so far? This is so we don't repeat anything and know where to start.

We'll be looking out for your reply.

[Nickyfla]

Happens all the time and have to keep reinstalling on my iPhone. I’m considering leaving Spotify as it’s so annoying

[Paulmorgan64]

My issue is prevalent on my Mac. I thought I’d fixed it, but not the case.

[Mihail]

Hey @Nickyfla and @Paulmorgan64,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

If a clean reinstall solved the issue, albeit temporarily, this would indicate that something is interfering with the app's cache. To that end, could you make sure that that the app has all permissions enabled and is excluded from any storage or battery optimization settings?

@Paulmorgan64 on another note - did you change the location of the cache? Also, have you tried disabling Hardware acceleration from the setting menu? On some devices that option can also lead to issues like the one you're experiencing. 

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

[Octavision]

• I'm having the same exact problem.

Tye app behaves like it runs silent ads at the beginning of songs, although I'm on a premium plan.

It's really annoying to not be allowed to play the song I'm searching for.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @Octavision,

Thank you for your post in this thread.

Can you let us know what troubleshooting steps you've taken so far so that we can help you in the best way we can?

We'll keep an eye out for your replies.

Take care!

[Octavision]

I have done nothing about it.
It's happening on the phone and the desktop as well.
So it might be a system thing, on your end.

[Ver]

Hey @Octavision,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop 🙂

It's a good idea to try the troubleshooting steps mentioned in this thread to see if anything changes.

Could you try with another account on the same devices? Are there any changes?

Keep us posted! We'll be right here if you have any questions.

[terrybvt]

Same problem here across multiple devices and platforms. Since this has been reported for weeks with the same advice (uninstall, clear cache, update, reinstall, etc) and it's still pretty pervasive, I'd suggest the mods here keep documenting, but it's the developers who need to get on a fix ASAP.

[Ver]

Hey folks,

Thanks for posting here 🙂

In order to narrow this issue down, we'll need more info about it. Could you provide us with the following info:

• On which device do you experience this issue? (model, OS version)
• Exact Spotify version that is running on your device.
• Steps to reproduce, including the URI of the specific track/album.
• When did you start noticing this?
• If cleaning up the hosts file changes anything?
• Are there any changes when you try switching the Canvas setting on mobile?
• Are you using an SD card? If so, are there any changes, when you try removing it, reinstall Spotify and then try running the app without the SD?
• Additional troubleshooting steps you've tried so far.

Keep us in the loop! We'll be right here if you have any questions.

[kadirkorkut]

I'm having this problem for a while. But it is not about my account i guess because on spotify web player and my phone i can play the what song i want but on the spotify pc i cant play some songs without liking or downloading it. i tried to clean re-install, changing cache, closing hardware thing and i checked the permissions. i don't know what to do. i just wanna listen my music with the way i want. my account is premium btw. i would be glad if u help!

[Eni]

Hey there @kadirkorkut, 

Thanks for reaching out about this and welcome to the Community. 

First up, we suggest that you log out and then log back in again twice in a row. This will trigger a sync between your account and your PC.

If the issue still 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?

If this doesn't do the trick either, we suggest that you head over to settings > toggle on Show Local Files > toggle off all the sources that appear there > toggle off Show Local Files. Afterwards, restart the app. 

Lastly, we suggest that you check your firewall and make sure Spotify is set as an exception.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[willydiggs]

I had the same issues and turned off the canvas and it fixed the issue. Is this a known bug? If it is, is there a timeframe when this is expected to be fixed? I enjoy seeing the canvas but I enjoy finding new music more, just curious if there is action to fix this if it is a known bug.

I had this issue on a Samsung a71 5g and my Lenovo yoga laptop un-enabling canvas allowed me to listen to unliked songs again. I did try using other wifis that didn't work. I did not however reset my app if this temporary fix works I'm fine with it. Just thought I would put my experience here. 

[Espinator]

In case it helps, I just experienced this on PC and found my VPN was stopping playback of anything that wasn't downloaded, i.e. my 'Liked' songs. Turned it off and it started working again.