Spotify Connect showing 'Premium users only'

[L2Learn]

Plan

Free

Device

(iPhone XR, Windows Desktop, Chrome Cast)

Operating System

(iOS 14.4, Windows 10,etc.)

My Question or Issue

As the title suggests, both the desktop app and the mobile app are showing a 'Premium users only' message when attempting to use Spotify Connect. Is this a bug, or was this feature moved back to be a Premium only feature.

[AyuTheHuman]

Hmm..

I think Spotify Connect's only usable from premium now, since I always get that message. 

[FaserF]

What a stupid move from Spotify...

i loved the service but then I will move away from Spotify to YouTube Music or SoundCloud 

[JanBlake]

Yes, sadly, it's not possible from any type of device / OS. I used to like Spotify, but this last update for the free accounts was the last drop. I'll just close my Spotify account and move on. The free account is not good for me anymore. I'm not happy about it, but I'd rather choose another service.

[garretk]

That's Sad. Spotify used to be my Go-to. And then I moved to pandora for my premium music for the better shuffles and stations. I work too much to organize all my music now, but I was a big fan of the JRE podcast and considering coming back since I can cast my podcasts for free like I used to be able to on youtube. I can't do that and I shouldn't have to pay just to cast. Name one other service that makes you pay to cast to a different device. They don't. They give you ads, you don't have skips. Whatever. But let me watch/listen**bleep** spotify. You being anti-consumer isn't going to make me want to buy your premium again. Sincerely someone that was using your software on PC before you even had a mobile app

[Mihail]

Hey folks,

Thanks for reaching out.

We recommend you log out everywhere and run a clean reinstall on all your devices, this involves deleting the cache files of the app and will force a account wide resynchronization of your info. You can have a look at this guide for the steps relevant to each device. It's also a good idea to reset your router or switch the internet connection the devices are using.

If that doesn't fix things, please leave a comment with the make, model, OS version and Spotify version on the devices you're experiencing this on. We'd also appreciate screenshots of the error message your receive at your end. 

Hope this helps. Keep us posted on your progress.

[gjano]

Facing the same problem even after logging out and reinstalling. Spotify on Windows appears as Premium only on iOS. If I start playing on PC I can control from iOS, but as soon as it is paused it cannot be controlled anymore without resuming from desktop. Also the Spotify interface on iOS stays in "limited mode" i.e. no way to play specific tracks of an album for example. This used to work just fine with a free account just a couple weeks ago. Also if I launch the web player on Windows it can be controlled from iOS without an issue, in full functionality mode.

I have tried both the MS Store version and the standalone installer.

[Jeremy]

Hey there @gjano,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

Can you do the following:

• Check if Spotify version and device firmware are up to date
• Restart your router

It would also be great if you can log in with another account - such as a friend's or a family member's to see if the issue persist.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Cheers!

[gjano]

When I opened Spotify on Windows today it has updated to version 1.1.54.592.gc0b20638 and then Spotify Connect from iOS was working again as it used to a few weeks ago. I have not been able to locate a changelog specifying the changes in that particular version so not sure if some change has been made to solve the issue but looks like so.

[Jeremy]

Hey again @gjano,

Thank you for your post and confirmation.

We're really glad to hear that everything works as it should for you again.

If anything comes up we're always one reply away.

Have a great Saturday and a wonderful continued weekend 🙂

Take care!

[mikeday-au]

spotify's reply is blatant nonsense.

connect used to work and now it doesn't.

spotify need to clarify - what chance?

[Kiril]

Hey there @mikeday-au,

Thanks for your post here.

Spotify Connect requires Premium for some device connections, but not all 🙂  Could you be a bit more specific and share with us what exactly isn't working with the Connect feature for you? We'll be happy to help out if possible, but we'd need more context info.

Keep us posted, we'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[Cbelloua]

Hello,

Do you know if premium is required for Yamaha receivers? It worked on my receiver at first but now saying premium only.

Thanks,

Christophe.

[adc5095]

Hi, this just began happening on my devices. My Alexa network no longer use "Spotify Connect." I receive the "premium subscription required" notice. Is this a change in policy, or am I having issues? I've tried resetting my wifi, devices and log out and back into my accounts.

Thanks

Andrew

[Eni]

Hey @adc5095,

Thanks for posting and welcome to the Community!

Great troubleshooting so far. What you can try next is to unlink and relink your Spotify and Alexa accounts by following these steps. 

Also, a clean reinstall of the app could be helpful too to get rid of any cached files that might be causing trouble.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

[jamjhjfnovm19m39knlh]

Hi,

Thanks for reply. Now I'm able to play full song from this code I used(

https://glitch.com/edit/#!/spotify-web-playback). Now problem is I can able to listen music when I logged in my account. But the problem is when I try to learn from other account and got this error (This functionality is restricted to premium users only).

[Kiril]

Hi there @jamjhjfnovm19m39knlh,

Thank you for your post. The link you sent seems to be related to the Spotify SDK. A lot of these got deprecated recently, so it's possible a lot of third party tools made with the SDK don't work anymore. You can find info about this here. For any other questions regarding this tool, please refer to the developers of it, as it is not made by Spotify.

Regarding any playback issues, make sure you are using the correct account and if you face any issues, refer to the steps provided by @Kiril and @Eni above. 

Hope this helps. Let us know if we can help with anything else.

[user-removed]

I am facing the same issue: Spotify Connect was working with my Denon X4700H until yesterday, but since today, it is listed with the remark "Premium users only" in both Android and PC/Windows apps despite the X4700H being explicitly advertised as supporting Spotify Connect even with free accounts (see https://manuals.denon.com/AVCX4700H/EU/EN/SXQWSYnpjwflgv.php). I can still stream on the Denon via HEOS from other services, such as TuneIn radio or SoundCloud.

[k_rob2]

I am having a similar issue when trying to use Spotify in my car. I was using a trial run of Spotify Premium account. It was connecting using bluetooth just fine for the entire trial period. Now that the trial is over, when it tries to connect to Spotify, it gives me a message that I need to go to spotify.com/pair and enter the code. When go to do that, it says I need a Premium account. Why do I need a Premium Spotify account, just to connect to Spotify using bluetooth?

[Charlie508]

Hi Kiril,

I have a Denon receiver x2200w which declare Spotify support, but it shows "Premium user only" when I use it with free Spotify account. Both receiver's software/firmware and phone APP are up to date. If you can share any of link which can check any Soptify connect device require/support free account or Premium only will be appreciated.