local files will not sync to spotify mobile

[chop924]

My details

- Spotify Premium

-iPhone 4

-MacBook Pro 13 inch (from 2010)

Not sure what the deal is, but let me break it down as simply as I can:

I'm Phish fan - I have TONS of Phish on my computer, all of it obtained legally. Either through buying it or downloading fan recordings (which Phish allows, and is legally distributed). 

Obviously, Spotify will NEVER have some of the recordings I have on my computer, many of which I like to listen to quite a bit. When I'm listening to these particular files on my computer, they play fine. It's the correct recording. 

HOWEVER, I use Spotify mobile way more than I do the computer app, and for some reason these files that Spotify does not recognize are not syncing correctly on my iPhone. Instead, Spotify finds a "replacement," for these particular songs. And while its the same song, its not the same version - e.g. the fan recording I want to listen to (Spotify will play the studio version of the song instead).

Can anyone help? 

[chop924]

Bump. 

This issue is annoying and is making me reconsider my Spotify subscription. I was under the impression I could listen to my OWN music whenever I wanted through syncing local files.

Mods, I know you're reading this. Any ideas???

[thrasbarg]

I have the exact same problem with Spotify "replacing" songs when syncing local files. It's been driving me nutts!

Haven't found a solution for this, yet... Anyone?

[freshjive80]

hi,

im new to spotify and have premium access... i have the same problem and cannot sync my local files to my Iphone 4s.  i have created my own playlist and turned on playlist available offline to YES. This problem is making me reconsider my subscritption to spotify... please help moderators!

[Peter__]

Hey guys 🙂

You should be able to sync local tracks to your mobile Spotify client by connecting your mobile device and main computer to the same WiFi network. 

More information can be found in this FAQ.

Peter

[thrasbarg]

Yeah, we're not stupid you know. And besides this is NOT the problem myself or chop924 are having.

I'm tired of people giving me crap advice that is so obvious. Reboot, turn the power on yada yada - well duh!

[Peter__]

I apologize, I wasn't trying to imply that anyone was stupid, often on the community problems have simple solutions that people have forgotten to try. I don't work for Spotify, so I am only here to offer my support. 

One of my housemates has an iPhone, so I will ask them about this issue when they return this week. In the meantime, have you tried contacting the Spotify team directly using the contact form?

Peter

[dd28beatlesfan1]

Well I am stupid lol.  My problem is how do you figure out what WiFi network your computer is using, so you can set your phone to it, and thus sync your tracks.  That's my problem.  I'm completely clueless about WiFi networks.

[dd28beatlesfan1]

Well, I figured out how to find my WiFi connection.  Now I'm just waiting to see if the songs will sync.  Though it doesn't look promising. 😞

[chop924]

No offense dd28....but your issue has nothing to do with my original question. If you have a problem with your WiFi networks, please start your own thread.

Has anyone had any luck with the local files problem? I've found that Spotify does this randomly - some of my songs will sync fine but others will be the wrong song version. 

Could it possibly be the music file format that's the issue? (I.e. Spotify not being able to to play .avi or something similar?)

[thrasbarg]

Thanks for the contact form tip. I'll try that.

I think Spotify replaces local files with, what it thinks is, the exact same song that it has in its cataloge. I think that's where things gets messed up. Spotify wants to be kind and fetch me the streaming version, so that my precious space on my phone's preserved. What it doesn't count on is that the streaming version of the song is not what I wanted to hear and there's no way to opt out. This behaviour might be good if I were to just import my whole iTunes library straight off. I guess that's how it is intended to work from the beginning. But i've built me a library with Spotify and aded albums I couldn't find from my iTunes library along the way, which means I don't have any duplicates. Yet, untill those albums does appear in the Spotify cataloge that is. I see the good of the intended feature but it doesn't work. Sorry Spotify. Do it right or don't do it at all...

I guess there's nothing we can do right now. I'm hoping some pleading will get this fixed, along with some other well needed fixes.

[chop924]

I just sent in a support ticket to Spotify. Hopefully they can shed some light on this issue. An issue that really should not be an issue. 

[chop924]

Ok, I got a reply from Spotify Support. Not sure if this will work (as I'm at work and not on my personal comp) but for anyone who has this problem as well, give it a shot and let us know what happens.

It sounds like the metadata of these fan made or live recordings may match up a little too closely with the tracks on Spotify, and replace them with "similar" tracks when syncing. In most cases, people might want to be syncing the studio recordings that are also available on Spotify, and it works just fine.

However, in this case, it appears not to quite work like that.

First thing you need to make sure is that the local file syncing process is working correctly. Try and find a track on your computer that isn't available on Spotify (or create something using a microphone, if that's easier). Then, follow these steps -

* Ensure that your phone and computer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, and logged into the same Spotify account
* The name of your phone should now appear under the "Devices" tab on the left hand side of Spotify on your computer.
* Create a new playlist, only with this Local file you have created
* On your phone, set this playlist to sync offline.

This local file should now be on your phone. Now, try adding these live Phish tracks to this playlist. Do these sync over to your phone correctly, or are they being replaced with the versions on the Spotify catalog?

Kind Regards,
David | Spotify Customer Service

[Marsha]

I have almost the same problem as you do, except the fact Spotify does not sync my local files which it doesn't know on Spotify (not even a replacement on spotify similar file, as you do) 

I have read your reply you got from the customer service desk, checked the steps. Point device: your mobile should in that, my spotify on my laptop does not show my iphone, even both are on the same wifi.

If you know how to solve this, let me know, otherwise I will contact the servicedesk myself.

[thrasbarg]

Holy cr*p! It worked!? Why would it matter to Spotify that I first added a track that's not in the cataloge and then add the files that's been replaced? Well, it worked anyway, finally. Thanks for sharing the reply chop!

[chop924]

Ah, good to see it worked. I'll have to give it a shot when I get home. Interesting how the whole "single" track playlist thing works but who knows. The process makes sense, I wonder why it wasn't working before.

[Boses]

It only half works. I have two versions of the same song. They are on different albums. I had to delete the original recording in order to get the redone version on my mobile. I like both versions and would like to have both of them, but Spotify sucks. Every issue I run into is like this one. There are tons of peopl having the same issue with little to no response from Spotify. It takes months to get a response, and then it is never really helpful. I'm just crossing my fingers for Apple's eventual streaming service. They tend to make things work the way they were intended to.

[chop924]

Bumping this thread again (I know, I know...its been awhile).

I'm still having the same issue - despite the response I received from the origanl help ticket. Has anyone found a solution to this problem??

[Thayan]

Hey mate, I just tried out the following (and it worked):

"If you’ve recently updated your Spotify and you notice that you can’t sync local files, they merely stay grayed-out on your iPhone, then I may have a fix for you. If you’re on Windows 7, go to start and in the search type “firewall” and select the firewall option. You should get a pop-up, on the left there’s some options – select “allow a program or feature through the firewall”.

You should now get a list of programs, scroll down until you find Spotify and ensure that both public and private are checked. While you may not want to sync on a public network many simply select that option when prompted when setting up their Wi-Fi access at home. Open up the spotify app on your desktop and iPhone and see if your device appears.

If it doesn’t, go to start and type in “network” and you may get a yellow bar drop down near the top informing you network discovery is not on. There will be a link to the right to enable network discovery. This particular step worked for me, but a friend had success with the first step. If it worked you should now see your device under devices in Spotify on your desktop!"

Source: http://technologymob.com/2012/01/spotify-wont-sync-local-files-to-iphone/

[RankkaApina]

I have the same problem. Tried everything in this thread: doesn't work. One file was there before, but now it's disappeared (I used to have it linked and unlinking it helped. now I can't even get the wrong version to show up...) I have a mac, so I don't know about firewalls, but I have other local files that have been synced no problem, it's just the ones that I originally get a wrong version on.