Recommended / suggested contents localized for the app's country settings

[CJSpork]

Background info:

I am on a 3-year expat assignment in Argentina, a country in South America. Before I left the US, I opened a free Spotify account hoping to be able to listen to my favorite local music while I was away. I was planning to use the free Spotify on my laptop, which is running on Windows 10, and my Android phone and later on upgrade to a Premium account after settling in.

My Question or Issue:

The first thing I noticed after opening Spotify here is that I had to change my country's settings. No problem with that. However, I found two issues which I haven't been able to pinpoint:

One of them is that the list of favorites I had already set up back home now shows many of its entries grayed out, i.e., unavailable. I guess this is because of music-licensing regulations, right? 

The other truly important issue is that switching the country also changed the app's interface language to Spanish (and I'm afraid I don't feel comfortable with it, not yet), issue that seems to be related to the fact that, all of a sudden, most if not all, of the suggested contents is now local.

Before upgrading to a premium subscription I would want to make sure:

1. there's a way to switch the app's interface language to English while keeping the local country's setting.

2. that I will be able to avoid getting any locally targeted suggestions whatsoever

Can someone help me out?

Thank you!

[Maxim · Accepted solution]

Hey @CJSpork,

Thanks for reaching out.

1. Yes, you can change the language of the app! 🙂

You just need to click on the downward-facing arrow in the top-right corner of the app (next to your profile picture) and click on Settings and choose a language from the drop-down menu. This won't change your localisation settings, however, just the app language.

2. Spotify localises your music recommendations depending on the country you're in, so you can expect to get locally targeted suggestions.

If you would like this to change, you can create an idea by going here and get others to vote for it. If it gets enough votes, then Spotify might consider implementing it in the future!

Hope this helps 🙂

[CJSpork]

Hi @Maxim,

Thank you for getting back to me. Your answers are really helpful, especially the suggestion to post a new idea. Honestly, I tried but don't feel comfortable yet listening to the music automatically recommended by Spotify in a language that is not my own.

There's still an outstanding topic/question I mentioned in my post but didn't include as a specific question: back home I had already set up a list of favorite songs and now many of the entries are grayed out, i.e., not "playable". Can you confirm that this is because of music-licensing regulations?

Thanks again!

[Maxim · Accepted solution]

Hey @CJSpork,

Spotify wants all the world’s music and podcasts on Spotify, but availability can vary over time and between countries for many types of reasons depending on the permissions from rights holders.

The good news is: Spotify adds new music and podcasts every day, so if you can’t find something you’re looking for right now, it may appear (or reappear) soon!