Music keeps cutting out

[kirap662]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

moto g32

Operating System

android 13

My Question or Issue

Frequently my music will cut out randomly. Sometimes will happen within a minute of beginning to play music, other times after an hour. Occasionally will happen multiple times in one song.

Music will stop playing and when 'unpaused' will jump back to the start of the song.

I've had this issue for over a year and I've troubleshooted it with Motorola themselves to no avail.

Been using Spotify for years without issue, this issue is unique to this device. Majority of solutions suggested to me fix the issue for up to 48 hours before it starts failing again.

[MihailY]

Hey @kirap662,

Thanks for reaching out. We're sorry to hear about your experience so far. We'll do our best to get to the root cause of this behavior. 

Before we continue though, can you give us a list of the troubleshooting steps you've tried so we can avoid repeating any?

Also, let us know the following so we can get a better understanding of the issue:

• Does this happen with all audio output variations (phone speaker, wired/Bluetooth headphones, Spotify Connect)? What about Offline mode?
• Is it happening with both podcasts and music?
• Was it working previously on your Motorola?
• Have you noticed any patterns in when the issue re-appears after fixing it? (e.g. restarting the phone, logging out from your Spotify account, etc.)
• Does it persist with another Spotify account?

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[kirap662]

I have tried different pairs of headphones, both wired and bluetooth and this issue still occurs. It happens even when music is being played through the devices speakers.

I don't know if it happens with podcasts, I haven't tested that yet.

I bought this phone in September 2023 and it worked fine for a few months I believe. I know i was having issues in July 2024.

There is no pattern to the issue. It's completely random. I've reset the app, cleared storage/cache and it still did it. I did a factory reset on my device and it made no difference. My device has been wiped of all data twice.

I have previously used a tester account from yourselves and a similar issue occurred - rather than the music stopping entirely, it would just pause itself.

[MihailY]

Hey @kirap662,

Thanks for getting back to us so quickly with this info.

As a next step, can you go through your phone and Spotify app settings and search for the keywords background and battery and try to find any settings that might be restricting the app's performance when set to their default values (as would be the case after a factory reset)? If you're unsure about any of them, feel free to send us a few screenshots so we can take a closer look (just make sure to hide any sensitive info).

Cheers,

[kirap662]

My phone has these three settings that relate to battery. These are all turned off currently. 

I have been previously told to turn these off before, as I have had them turned on in the past, but it made no difference.

Additionally, since the most recent wipe of all my data, which was roughly a week ago, these have been turned off.

 

[MihailY]

Hi @kirap662,

Do you by any chance have any of the settings mentioned on this page? A similar behavior has been reported in this Ongoing Issue thread so feel free to try disabling:

• Gapless playback - found in the app's Settings > Playback;
• Equalizer - also found in the app's Settings > Playback.

Also, it would be really useful to know if the issue happens in Offline mode.

Thanks!

[kirap662]

I haven't found any settings like that. I haven't tested offline mode yet, but I will try to soon. As I've mentioned its completely random when it happens, so it may be a while before I am back with a further update.

[kirap662]

Hi, I can now confirm that it does infact happen in Offline Mode. My music cut out after roughly five minutes, or rather halfway through a second song. This is also with gapless playback turned off.

[kirap662]

Since my most recent message, my music has cut out a further two times, this is still on offline mode.

I will also add that Spotify isn't the only app I'm experiencing this issue with, but I've contacted Motorola support and everything they suggested hasn't helped either. At their recommendation, I contacted yourselves, despite having done so multiple times previously.

[Eni]

Hey @kirap662, 

Thanks for getting back to us and letting us know. 

Would you mind checking if the OS of your device has any pending updates? Also, we know you tried with a different account provided by us, but could you ask a friend or a relative to log in to their account on your phone and check if the same happens with their account? 

On another note, just to confirm, have you tried with a different internet connection? We understand it's happening with the downloaded content too, but we'd like to make sure it's unrelated to that. 

Lastly, if the issue persists regardless of the account or the network you use, and it happens with other apps besides Spotify, the issue is most likely device-related. In that case, you can try running Motorola's Device help app > selecting Hardware test > Audio. 

Keep us posted on how it goes. 

[kirap662]

Hi, I was able to get through to someone on your live chat and I realised that with my phone there is the option to individually turn off the optimized battery settings for specific apps which is separate from the other battery settings. I turned it off for Spotify and it has worked fine since so far, but time will tell. 

[kirap662]

My music has unfortunately cut out once again, after roughly 30-40 minutes of playing music. I'm at a loss for what to do by this point. I am still in contact with Motorola support, but I feel like I'm beginning to exhaust every possible solution.

[MihailY]

Hey @kirap662,

I'm sorry to hear the issue has reappeared.

If changing the settings improved the behavior it does point to the phone's battery optimization as the most probable cause, so communicating this to Motorola support is indeed the best approach.

In any case, it wouldn't hurt to try securing your account using this guide so we can be sure this isn't caused by someone accessing it without your permission. Make sure to follow all steps under Still have access to your account?, especially the ones about removing all third-party apps.

Let us know how it goes.

[kirap662]

I signed out on all my devices except this one (moto g32) as well as disabled access for all third-party apps. I did test using someone else account, and it seemed to cut out then also, but I may need to test it again. But otherwise, no improvements so far. Im writing this just after my music cut out once again, after 25 minutes (I'm doing my best to keep track of how long it plays before cutting as it tends to vary between less than a minute and up to an hour). As it's Monday, I hope to hear from Motorola again soon. 

[Yordan]

Thanks for your continued assistance with this, @kirap662.

As the behavior persists despite the extensive troubleshooting we've performed here, it's likely you're among the users affected by the ongoing issue @MihailY mentioned a few posts above. 

For the time being, I'd recommend checking it out and Subscribing to the thread from the three dots menu so you're notified of any development on the matter. Also, make sure you're always running the latest version of Spotify so you don't miss out on any updates.

The Community is just a post away if something else comes up in the meantime.

Take care.

[kirap662]

Thats not the issue I'm having though? The music cuts out completely, and the now playing tab that appears in the notification area will look like this once cut out. As in there is no progress bar at all. If I then attempt to unpause, it will take a moment to do so and then the song jumps to the beginning seconds of the song - not where it cut off like the other post describes.

[kirap662]

I'd also like to remind you, and anyone else, that this is not the only app I'm having this issue with. I've also had issues in Apple Music, Youtube Music, and playing music through the files app. I understand that you at Spotify can't find the solution for this or similar issues, but I'm not sure if it's even an issue with Spotify if im having problems with other apps. I will contact the appropriate support teams for these apps too, but I expect to be told more of the same.