Play button grayed out (album Affjetaut, artist BAP)

[pmspinks]

Plan - Free
Country - UK
Device - MS Surface 3
Operating System - Windows 10

Hi, I cannot play the linked album because the play button is greyed out and a red/white 'No Entry' sign appear above it...
https://open.spotify.com/album/49mtRsMikspRsL221u3psS

The album I'm interested in is 'Affjetaut' by the German band BAP...
https://open.spotify.com/artist/39ukKqQOSUFJDAM9OLKQZg

For some reason, this album (their first) doesn't appear under their discography. However, a Google search gave me a link to the album, so it does exist, and it's linked back to the correct artist, but I cannot play it.

Can anyone tell me if they can play it, and/or suggest reasons why I can't?
- do I ned a premium account?
- given the band is German and I'm in the UK, could DRM be an issue? (I can play their other albums)
- is the Spotify database **bleep** up?

[kaworu_bloodpaw · Accepted solution]

It's most likely some licensing issue, as this happens with other songs as well. For example, I've got a few songs saved to my liked songs that used to work that I can no longer listen to. (Like this one: https://open.spotify.com/track/3kJVvQMbcHpvf0M8wDSSym?si=f350b7598c614f29)

It's not just you, I'm from the US and I can't listen to this album either.

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

I noticed you liked my reply 🙂

I meant to mention, if you're happy with my response, don't forget to click "Mark as solution" (I'd love the achievement for it lol)

[pmspinks]

I liked your suggestion, but I was hoping for more replies 🙂

It seems odd that Spotify would load an album that no one can play. My own opinion is a database issue, given that the band is sometimes known as Niedecken's BAP or Wolfgang Niedecken's BAP, also that the album year is wrong (should be 1980, not 1985) so maybe Spotify have a reissued version from a different source. If database is the problem, I wonder how I can report it for fixing.

[pmspinks]

I figured out how to report content for fixing, and I got the reply that the album is "unavailable on Spotify" (their words). They didn't explain why the album is in their database but unplayable, but it's clear I'm not going to be able to play it via Spotify anytime soon. Fortunately I still have the CD 🙂

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

@pmspinks I'm glad you figured out how to report it, and I'm sorry that neither Spotify nor I have a better answer for you. I also don't understand why unplayable things are listed on Spotify. I, too have been frustrated by songs being removed even after I found them (like the one linked above, I added it to my library then a month later it was grayed-out).

If you rip the CD on a desktop, you can add these songs from your hard drive to a playlist within Spotify. Just be sure to turn on the "Show Local Files" option in your preferences.

 

I believe there's a way to hide grayed-out songs on Spotify Mobile, but I can't find a toggle on Desktop.

 

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

Turns out this toggle was removed. I found evidence of this in a post from April 2021.