Spotify won't play certain podcasts

[jerviper]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Google Pixel 4

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

Hi there, just this past Monday (March 15, 2021) Spotify suddenly won't play podcast episodes from two specific podcasts I listen to ("Stuff You Should Know" and "Pod Save America"), while other podcasts I listen to, like "ShortWave," play just normally, and music also plays normally.
When I select an episode from those two that aren't working, the play button changes to the pause button, but the progress bar doesn't move and no sounds are heard.
So far, I've tried restarting my phone, uninstalling then reinstalling Spotify app, and trying to play the non-working episodes on wifi/mobile data and nothing has worked.

I would just like to reiterate that other podcasts, as well as music, work just fine; for some reason it's just these two podcasts in particular that aren't working. Any help beyond what I've tried would be greatly appreciated. 
Another thing I just realized, it seems like this issue pertains to ANY podcast under the "iHeartRadio" or the "Crooked Media" names.

[Jeremy]

Hi there folks,

Thank you for your replies in this thread and for trying out the troubleshooting?

Would you mind sending us the URI of the podcasts so that we can check it from our end?

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

Have a great Friday and start of your weekend!

[1ordquas]

Hello, I have the same issue with a specific podcast. Cant play it on my phone but there is no problem when streaming with my PC.

Tried everything recommended: clean reinstall, permissions, battery optimization, ad-blocker and vpn. Still wont work.

Here is the URI: https://open.spotify.com/show/6eDix9KdDiXUtn1u7bjWOS

[MihailY]

Hey @1ordquas,

Thanks for reaching out and sending over the link.

Can you please check if the issue persists when connected to a different network by a different internet provider?

Keep us posted.

Take care,

[Bchangbang]

Same exact issue as well with this podcast I’m listening to. I tried the clean reset, clearing cache, turning my phone off and on (iPhone 12, iOS 16). It works on PC but not on my phone. 

https://open.spotify.com/show/7C4x591YrBiOuuMtLijhsN?si=_vW5rb7qRM6TFOFfNbgi6g

[AlejaR]

Hey @Bchangbang,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared.

Kudos for that initial troubleshooting! We'd like to gather some additional details. Would you mind sending us the exact Spotify version you have running on your iPhone?

On another note, is this happening just with the podcast you kindly sent us, or does it happen with another one you like? It'd be awesome if you could check.

Since you mentioned this is not happening on your computer, we'd like to confirm, are you using the web player? The desktop app? Both? If not sure, it'll help us a lot if you could check. Are you using a VPN?

Lastly, from what you kindly described, this could be related to this Ongoing Issue we currently have. If the described scenario fits what we reported there, we'd recommend adding your vote in the thumbs up icon and subscribing to the thread, so you can stay up to date on any news we have to share.
 

Keep us in the loop!

[Tangeren]

Hiya! I'm having a similar issue on my Samsung galaxy s10e. I've been listening to Rob Paulsens 'talkin toons' podcast and the Jim Cummings interview won't play. All the other episodes in the podcast work just fine, but this particular episode either works but only up until the 0:11 mark, or it doesn't play at all.

I can still select the episode and press pause and play but the time bar does not move and it refuses to download (but I am able to download/play other episodes in the same podcast). I tried to play it on my other devices (laptop, pc, phone) with no luck. I even made a new account with a different email and that the episode still wouldn't play. I tried using mobile data instead of my WiFi and reinstalling the app but that didn't work either. I sent the episode to two other friends who tried to play it on their end and they had the same issue, so I'm concerned whether it is a problem with the episode itself.

I'll leave a link to the episode below. Please let me know if it works on your end, and if it doesn't, let me know if there any other possible solutions for me to listen to this episode? Please and thank you x

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Dj35Znpu2bJBdhqbJHtIX?si=L4aYqm-fQsax9V2KdQPh0w&utm_source=copy-li...

[Vasil]

Hey @Tangeren,

Thanks for letting us know!
As this one seems to be an isolated issue with this specific episode, we'd suggest reporting it to our support folks!
You can find out how to do this by following the steps here 🙂
Cheers!

[TA8RIS]

I just posted about this in ongoing issues, but I think this thread is closer to what I'm actually dealing with.

For me, a specific podcast ("Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet") will stop playing episodes at exactly 8 minutes and 38 seconds in, on both desktop and mobile. This just started this evening; I've tried all the steps recommended for similar issues (restart, log out, clear cache, reinstall, etc.) and had no success. All my other podcasts and songs play just fine.

I also tried downloading an episode (on mobile), and while it looks like it starts downloading, it never actually appears to make any progress.

My account's country: United States

My device's make, model and OS version: The first is an iPhone 8 running iOS 15.6.1. The second is an Early 2015 Macbook Air running MacOS Monterey 12.5.1.

[brett111222333444]

Same. Have Spotify premium. Auto update is enabled for the app on my Pixel 6. Certain episodes of Brian keating into the impossible.

Uri:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0O3NRMiJ26tvQd93sBdq3F?si=y8-shj3lQXuRtxOn3mSVzw&utm_source=copy-li...

[jimmysmom]

Hi, same thing. Clean reinstall, clear cache, log in-out, restart phone, download updates all didnt work. Stops at 3:19. Does not work on either of my devices. First Device is Iphone X with iOS version 16.2, second device is a Macbook Air with version 11.6.8. Spotify premium version 8.7.92.521. This podcast will not download (it "starts downloading" but never advances), and do not have any ad-blockers or VPNs. 

https://open.spotify.com/show/4jmtWrpDmTRqapfYLGhDIe?si=182c53a679fc4624

[AlejaR]

Hey folks,

Thanks for your replies and for the info shared.

We really appreciate the time you take to report this, these details help us a lot. We can confirm the right team is aware of the inconvenience and is currently looking into it in this thread. We'd recommend having a look at it and providing us there with the info we'll need to report it. You can find the details we'll need you to send us in its status at the top of the thread.
 

We’d suggest adding your vote in the thumbs up icon and subscribing to the thread to get notified as soon as we have any updates to share.

We hope you found this helpful. We're always here to help.

[lam0063]

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5m4xztzpEC6uZtaINSlbuw?si=d57eec6e9c1d4414

this podcast is not playing on my phone or desktop. including other episodes from this same channel

[prewittbn]

I am having a similar issue where no podcast from Crooked Media will play in app on my LG TV, Windows PC, or Pixel phone. I can however play them in the firefox browser. Other podcasts will play without issue anywhere, I've tried all of the suggestions above.

[neadyc]

I also have this issue. A certain podcast (Today FM) was playing fine up until four days ago, but now will not play. When an episode is selected, it immediately skips to the next, to the next, to the next. All other Podcasts seem to play without issues. This is happening on my smart TV (Samsung), my laptop (Windows), my iPad and my phone (samsung) so I don't think this is a device issue. I have tried logging out and in as well as complete reinstallations, none of which have worked. I don't have any ad blockers. I also have Spotify Premium, and I cannot download any episodes. Additionally, (though admittedly I think this is a separate issue) the same thing is happening with all songs on my smart TV. All my versions of Spotify are up to date.

[#16]

Won't play on my desktop, podcast. I have tried all suggested solutions and it still won't play! I'm using windows 10 app. Every thing else seams to be working except Case 63 podcast!

[JoeyBraemer]

Whenever I want to watch a podcast (JRE for example), the podcast doesn't start playing (black screen), and it says it's playing 00:00 of 00:00 in total. I've tried turning off data saver and audio only podcasts, but these setting were already turned off. Sometimes when I haven't opened Spotify in a while (a few hours at least) podcasts just randomly work. The phone I use is a OnePlus 9 Pro.

[emohatch]

Same exact issue as everyone else in this thread and have tried everything. How is this not solved being that the issue seems to have existed for well over a year widespread across different devices and Spotify versions? Asking for specific URLs and delaying any actual assistance clearly is not helping. Also on a company phone as someone else had mentioned and I believe that is the problem but it’s strange to only affect one specific podcast (all episodes).

[prewittbn]

So.... I'm not sure if this will help you but i got it working by 1st uninstalling and reinstalling the app on my phone and PC, then playing the podcasts that wouldn't download or play in the app on either my phone or PC by FIRST playing it in the web browser. Then when I logged out of all devices and the web browser and logged back into the app on my phone the podcasts I was having trouble with magically started playing again on all my my devices and I've not had an issue since. No idea how or why it fixed the problem.

[Other_SBF]

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0q1eC5RGMddffW8f6cUu3U?si=kXPvyRZrS-eL0a8NfUwDYA

This specific podcast only is visible on Spotify but won't play. Why is that?

[ohgeeeljay]

Same problem as everyone else here. Pixel 7, Spotify version 8.9.12.599. The podcast is Fitness Stuff (for normal people) and all my non-video podcasts do not seem to be affected, nor music. Please fix this. I am tired of uninstalling and reinstalling Spotify just to listen to one podcast.