topic Re: NYT app not linking in Other (Podcasts, Partners, etc.)

NYT app not linking

asimm — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 13:44:46 GMT

Plan

Premium Family

Country

USA

Device

iPhone 12 Pro, Hp Laptop

Operating System

iOS 26.1, Windows 11

My Question or Issue

I have an NYT family all access plan that I had connected to my Spotify account. This gave me access to all the locked subscriber only content available to only NYT audio subscribers. Suddenly in the past week, I noticed that a lot of the NYT podcasts that I normally listen to had episodes that were suddenly locked. However, nothing had changed with my NYT subscription as I am able to listen to the locked episodes in the NYT app. I tried unlinking and re-linking NYT with Spotify multiple times in the desktop browser but after I accepted the terms to give access I would get a message saying that “this Spotify account is already linked to another Times account” immediately after. I gave it about 24 hours, but even though I can see New York Times linked in the list of linked apps the episodes are still locked. I also confirmed multiple times that I was using the right account. Both my Spotify account and NYT account are associated with the same email address.

Re: NYT app not linking

OscarDC — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 15:31:41 GMT

Hey @asimm,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and welcome.

In this type of case, we'd first recommend logging out from the Spotify account and log back in twice to force the sync between your accounts and your device.

Also, and in case you haven't tried before, we'd recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app by following the steps in this article. This process is frequently ignored, but it can assist in eliminating any cache that may be causing issues.

If the issue persists, taking into account that you're receiving an error message when trying to re-link your accounts, we'd recommend unlinking your accounts from the Spotify side first by following these steps:

Log in to your Spotify account on a web browser (not the app).
Go to your Account Overview page.
Select "Apps" or "Manage Apps" in the Security and Privacy section.
Find "The New York Times" in the list and select Remove Access.

After that, find a locked NYT podcast episode in Spotify, click the lock icon/Get Access, and log in with your NYT account again to sync your subscription.

Hope this helps. If anything else comes up, the Community will be here for you.

Re: NYT app not linking

126337883 — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 19:51:17 GMT

I tried this solution but it didn't work. Not sure what to do at this point.

Re: NYT app not linking

AlejaR — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 17:59:04 GMT

Hey there @126337883,

Thanks for posting in this thread and welcome.

Would you mind clarifying exactly what steps you've already taken on your side? It'd be awesome if you could add more info about the issue you're experiencing, so we can avoid repeating any steps.

Have you unlinked the podcast from your Spotify account? You can follow the steps mentioned by @OscarDC above to proceed. Afterwards, we'd recommend you make sure you don't have any other accounts, so you can make sure you're linking the service to the right one. You can follow the steps here to find out if perhaps you have any other Spotify accounts.

If issues persist, we'd like to gather the following info to have a better idea. Please send us:

The link to the podcast you're having issues with. You can share it by following these steps.
A more detailed description of the specific behavior you've noticed.
How you purchased the show service. Was it directly with the provider?

Keep us in the loop!

Re: NYT app not linking

username133 — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 17:30:31 GMT

I have this issue as well. Account linking worked just fine until a few days ago. I tried removing the NYTimes app and readding it, I tried logging out of the app twice, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Spotify on my iPhone, and I tried logging in on a web browser, removing NYTimes on that and readding it. None of it has worked.

Re: NYT app not linking

asimm — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 02:15:21 GMT

Hi Aleja, thanks for connecting. I have no other Spotify accounts. I only have one Spotify and one NYT account. Here is what I’ve tried so far:

Signing in and out of the Spotify iOS app.
Removing NYT from my connected apps in the account manager from the web browser then re-connecting. (tried this a handful of times) I typically get the error in the image below after clicking “Agree” to let Spotify connect to NYT
Performing a Quick Reinstall as suggested by @OscarDC
Performing a Clean Reinstall as suggested by @OscarDC.

So far none of the above options have enabled me to listen to any of the subscriber only NYT podcasts, I still see the locked icon for older episodes and bonus content. As I mentioned in my original post, I can still listen to the older and bonus podcast episodes in the NYT app but I can’t on Spotify. It’s not isolated to one podcast but applies by all the NYT podcasts.

Re: NYT app not linking

Ivelina — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 10:44:33 GMT

Hey again @asimm,

Appreciate your cooperation and the provided screenshot!

A small detail worth mentioning is that it's possible to be logged in to 2 different Spotify accounts in the app and on the website at the same time which may be causing the confusion here. It's great and very helpful that you've already made sure you've got one account, but you've also mentioned you're on the Premium Family plan. Just to be on the safe side that you're using the same Spotify account in the app and on the website and it's correctly linked, consider taking a look at and following these more detailed steps:

1. First, verify the account logged into the browser where your Spotify account was linked to your partner account. Use the same device and browser you used for linking:

Go to accounts.spotify.com
Click on "Account Overview"
Note the "Username"

2. Next, check the account logged into the player where you're trying to access the content (e.g., Spotify mobile app or desktop player):

Navigate to "Settings"
Go to "Account"
Note the "Username"

If the usernames on these two platforms are different, you've likely linked a different account than the one you're using to access the content.

3. To disconnect the incorrect Spotify account from the partner account, follow these steps:

Go to https://content-access.spotify.com/ using the same browser you used for the initial linking.
Click on "Unlink" next to the relevant partner.

4. After successfully unlinking, follow these steps to relink:

Log out of your Spotify account by visiting accounts.spotify.com.
Log back in with the account you're using to access the content.
Repeat the linking process, such as clicking on the padlock icon for the show you're trying to play, and follow the instructions provided.

Thank you once again for the cooperation and keep us posted on how it goes 🙂

Re: NYT app not linking

asimm — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 14:02:31 GMT

I figured it out.

I had originally logged into NYT with Apple and had an anonymous email using the “Hide my email” feature set up with a trial subscription. At some point when I was setting up the new family plan with NYT I think I they had me set up another account with my actual email address. I thought I was just updating the email address if that existing account but apparently I created an entirely new account. Once I deleted the Apple NYT account via their website I was able to connect NYT to my Spotify. It seems NYT won’t let you connect to Spotify if your Spotify account was associated with a different NYT account in the past.

Re: NYT app not linking

126337883 — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 02:54:31 GMT

Thanks for replying. I've connected with NYT and resolved an issue I had with multiple email addresses. I now have one NYT account using the same email as the one I use with Spotify. Once I resolved the issue with NYT, I removed NYT from Spotify and added it back. Unfortunately, I'm still unable to get behind the pay wall for the NYT.

Re: NYT app not linking

126337883 — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 02:55:27 GMT

I'm in the same position... did all of the above, and nothing has resolved the issue.

Re: NYT app not linking

Dessi — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 08:27:35 GMT

Hey @126337883,

Thanks for reaching out!

We'd like to help and look into this, but we want to make sure we understand what's happening on your end first. Just to confirm - after you've connected NYT to Spotify, you try accessing a locked podcast episode in the app, which should be included with your NYT subscription, but you're not able to play it? Do you get some sort of a message or an error? Can you send us a link to the content you're trying to play, as well as a screenshot of how it looks like on your end so we can take a closer look? Just make sure to hide any sensitive info that might be visible.

Keep us posted.

Re: NYT app not linking

126337883 — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 06:27:24 GMT

Yes, that is the problem. Here is a screenshot of the message that I get.

Re: NYT app not linking

Vasil — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 11:47:31 GMT

Hey @126337883,

Thanks for letting us know.

What I'd do in your place is to use a different device or an incognito browser window to try and connect the two accounts once more. If the errors persist, it's a good idea to double-check if you're trying to link the correct accounts. If there are no issues there, I'd recommend reaching out to the NYT support folks once more to see if there is anything wrong on their end.

Hope this helps! Keep us posted on how things go.

Re: NYT app not linking

LaurieJB — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 16:01:13 GMT

I have been getting the same exact error, and I did contact NYT customer service. They told me to go through the same steps described above, but I continued to get the same error. They told me to contact Spotify customer service, which doesn't really seem to exist?

Re: NYT app not linking

burnincrab — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 15:17:49 GMT

I'm having this same issue. I changed my NY Times subscription to a different email address, and now my Spotify won't link to the new NY Times account. I already reached out to NYT support and they were unable to help, and told me to reach out to Spotify.

I've kept unlinking and relinking my NY Times account in the Spotify web page (including using an incognito browser) with zero success. It's always the same error message "We couldn't link this Spotify account because it's associated with a different Times account."

Re: NYT app not linking

126337883 — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 16:54:18 GMT

I have tried this solution and the problem still persists. I connected with the NYT first and ensured that my account email was correct. I don't know that contacting them again will help to resolve this problem. Given the number of people with the issue, most of whom have done what you recommend, it may require more research on the Spotify side of things. Thanks

Re: NYT app not linking

126337883 — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 16:55:30 GMT

Please see my response further down in the thread. The problem persists despite following Spotify's recommendations. Thanks

Re: NYT app not linking

MihailY — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 12:44:29 GMT

Hey folks,

Thanks for your replies.

Sorry for the confusion here, removing the app's access in your Manage Apps section doesn't necessarily remove the underlying connection between the accounts and this isn't something that can be done on our or NYT's end, so the best course of action here is to log in the original NYT account that your Spotify account is linked to and remove the connection from your NYT account settings.

If you don't have access to the old account, then NYT support should be able to help you with this.

Let us know how you get on.

Re: how to remove New York Times subscription from my account

JV95 — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 07:26:33 GMT

What do you do if you’re trying to link an account but Spotify says the account is already linked with another NYT subscription but it is not. I’ve gone through the process of unlinking and still get the error. Is there a way to see which NYT account is linked with your Spotify account?

Re: NYT app not linking

yyonnes — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 14:31:27 GMT

I am also unable to link with NYT. Getting an error-message that is slightly more vague though: "There was a problem connecting to your Spotify account. Please close this window and try again."

I tried different browsers and clearing cookies.