Local files keep becoming unplayable randomly

[im_jerry87]

Plan

Premium

Country

India

Device

Samsung M30

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

I have some local files added to Spotify on my mac. I wanted to add those tracks to other playlists so that I can play them on my android mobile. So I created a playlist called "Local Music" containing all my local files (mp3s) and then downloaded that playlist on the mobile by connecting to the same wifi network. Then I tested if the songs were actually downloaded by playing them in offline mode. They played fine, so I added those songs to my other playlists. So far so good. But after a day or two, those songs became unplayable on my mobile. They were still downloaded, but I couldn't play them. All the local files play fine on my mac though. It's just that they become unplayable randomly on my mobile.  So at first, I thought it was a temporary issue or something, so I downloaded them again. But after some time, local songs became unplayable again. I tried everything like doing a clean reinstall of the mobile app, removing and downloading songs multiple times, etc. But nothing worked. Even today, I checked the "Local Music" playlist and I saw all tracks have become unplayable for the millionth time. It's so frustrating not to have cloud support to upload purchased/downloaded music like that of Apple Music and even more when you find out that even "Local Files" just doesn't work on mobile as advertised. Please, HELP!Unplayable local files

[Alex]

Hey there @im_jerry87,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

We'd recommend you run a clean reinstall of the app on your phone. Before that, you'd have to disconnect all devices from your account here.

Then follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings on your phone.

2. Select "Apps".

3. Tap "Spotify" in the app list.

4. Tap on "Storage> Clear Data" for a clean reinstallation.

5. Tap Uninstall.

6. Open Google Play and install the Spotify Music app.

There is something else you could do if that does not help. Go to:

1. Mobile Settings> Apps> Spotify> Permissions. Allow everything you see there.

2. Mobile settings> Apps> Spotify> Battery> Optimize battery usage> select top All (not optimized for apps)> Spotify> disable. Help for Samsung here.

3. Last step - restart the phone. 

Also check that there is no cache clearing app enabled. As Spotify saves downloaded songs as cache, scheduled clearing can delete those without your permission.

Let us know how it goes!

[im_jerry87]

I did everything you mentioned, clean reinstall, turning off battery optimization, allowing all permissions, restart, etc. But nothing worked. My Local Music playlist became unplayable again this morning. It's so frustrating to download all of my local music every morning, man. I see topics regarding this issue dating as far back as 2018 but there's still no permanent fix for it from Spotify. 

Unplayable "Local Music" playlist

[Jeremy]

Hi there @im_jerry87,

Thank you for your reply and for the troubleshooting you've done so far.

Another useful step is to change the source folder of the local files on the pc. The steps are: Uninstall Spotify on both devices > create a new folder somewhere else on the pc and move the local files there > install Spotify again > remove any potential source folders and add the new one > download the playlist again.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

Take care!

[im_jerry87]

Hi @Jeremy,

I just don't understand your reply. I'm saying the local files play fine on my mac. Even on my mobile, local files download and play well for some time but it's just that they become unplayable randomly after a day or two. So how come changing the source folder of the local files on my mac has anything to do with files becoming unplayable after they are downloaded on my mobile?

[Jeremy]

Hi again @im_jerry87,

Thank you for your reply. We're sorry if the answer was confusing.

After you've changed the source folder you can resync the local files to your phone to see if the issue persist.

On another note, before you do that - if you have an SD card we suggest that you uninstall the app > turn off your phone > take out your SD card > turn on the phone again (without the SD card) > reinstall the app since the card can be corrupted.

Keep us posted 🙂

Cheers!

[im_jerry87]

Hi @Jeremy,

I really don't think you completely understood my problem.

Imagine this scenario:

   1. I have all my local music in a folder on my mac.

   2. Added this folder as a source for local files in Spotify.

   3. Then created a playlist called "Local Music" containing all my local files.

   4. Connected to the same wifi on my mobile.

   5. Downloaded the Local Music playlist and tested if all the tracks play fine on my mobile with and without offline mode turned on.

   6. Shut down my mac and never touched it for the rest of the day 'cause I wanted to make sure the Spotify mobile client doesn't connect to my mac after local files are downloaded.

   7. I checked if I could still play local files on my mobile after shutting down my mac. Local files played fine.

   8. Next morning, I open my Local Music playlist on my mobile and I find out that album covers are removed and I can't play local tracks anymore.

   9. So I removed the downloads and repeated steps 1-7, but local files became unplayable again.

The above scenario was exactly what I was doing for the last two days.

Now, tell me, do you still think the issue might be with the source folder on my mac?

[Jeremy]

Hi again @im_jerry87,

Thank you for your reply. We understand.

Can you confirm if you have any cache clearing apps?

Just to confirm - does this happen to music downloaded from the Spotify catalog as well or if it's just the local files.

As mentioned above - if you have an SD card we suggest that you uninstall the app > turn off your phone > take out your SD card > turn on the phone again (without the SD card) > reinstall the app since the card can be corrupted.

Keep us posted.

[im_jerry87 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jeremy,

I got it fixed. The issue was with the system settings of my phone. It was defaulted to automatically clear the cache at midnight. I toggled it off and there is no issue with local files so far.

Solution for Samsung users:

     1. Settings -> Battery and device care ->Three dot menu -> Storage booster -> turn off  "Auto delete unnecessary data"

     2. Settings -> Battery and device care ->Three dot menu -> Automation -> turn off "Auto optimize daily" 

BTW, if my replies came as little rude to you, I'm so sorry. That was clearly out of frustration.

Thank you for your time, really appreciate the support. Have a great day.

[Alex]

Hey @im_jerry87,

Thanks for letting us know what fixed it for you 🙂

This info is helpful to other facing this problem.

Don't hesitate to reach out again if you have more questions or issues.

Take care!

[Hassan4]

Hi I did this and it partially word only making a few playable and somenot and more advice you have?

[Eni]

Hey there @Hassan4,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

The way local files work has changed not a long time ago. Basically, the synchronization between files from PC and your mobile devices over the network isn't supported at the moment.  Your own audio files, that you want to play within the app on mobile, need to be physically present on the particular device's storage. So you'd need to copy them to your mobile. Check also that the setting for discovering Local files on that particular device is toggled on in your Spotify app. For more info, we suggest that you take a look at this article.

Let us know how it goes.

[applemightbebetter]

Yes, I have the setting toggled on. Yes, the files are present on my phone's internal storage. I can't play the songs. Why is this still a problem?

[Lyubka]

Hey @applemightbebetter,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community! 

Can you let us know if you've already tried to log out > restart your device > log back in?

It's also a good idea to perform a clean reinstall of the app. This is more thorough than a regular one and can be helpful to get rid of any cache that might be causing issues with app's performance. Give your device a quick restart as well before you open the newly installed app.

Another thing you can try is to remove all the local files you've uploaded on your device's storage and try reuploading them again. It might be good to create new folders with the files.

If you still can't play them, we'd appreciate it if you share the make, model, OS version and Spotify version of the device you're using, so we can investigate further.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[applemightbebetter]

I tried logging out, restarting and logging in again. It didn't work. I can't even remember how many times I've tried a clean reinstall, but I did it once more anyway. And again, it didn't work. Why am I still being given the same basic troubleshooting steps over and over? This should have been patched by now.

Device manufacturer: Samsung

Device model: Galaxy S9 (SM-G960F)

Device OS version: G960FXXUHFVG6

Spotify app version: 8.7.68.568

[Dian]

Hey @applemightbebetter,

Thanks for the reply.

We think this issue you're experiencing may be related to some cache clearing processes on your device. Could you check this site for steps on how to turn those off?

Let us know how that went,

Cheers!