Can't play some non-local songs in a playlist over Spotify Connect

[1214926250]

I have a bunch of songs in my playlists that I cannot play over Spotify Connect, but can play on my laptop. These are NOT local files; I have turned off the option to show local files. If I use the search feature to find the songs and play them outside of the playlist, the songs work, but not through the playlist.

I did a complete uninstall of the app and deleted all associated files in the Mac library. When I reinstalled all my song files and settings had been wiped out, but I still couldn't play those songs.

Any ideas?

[1214926250]

If this helps, here is a share link to one of the songs that will play on my laptop, but not through Spotify Connect.  https://open.spotify.com/track/5DhPjU2qaH5U2gIM5f9CIm?si=c517e26e6e0142ea

[Joan]

Hi there @1214926250,

Thanks for reaching out. So it's always the same songs that cannot play in this manner, is that correct? Can you confirm if you have performed a full clean reinstall as shown here? If not, please do so. Also, try using Connect to control different devices and see if all of them display the same behaviour.

Let us know how it goes.

[1214926250]

It is the same songs that won't play over Connect.  I tried on my PC and Mac, same issue, but I could play them through my phone through Spotify Connect.  I tried my wife's account on her Mac, and again couldn't play the songs through the playlist to Spotify Connect.

If I double-click these songs in the playlist, they won't play over Spotify Connect (will play on the Mac or PC not using Spotify Connect).  Via Spotify Connect, I get the error saying, "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it."  But, if in the playlist, I click the name of the album of one of the songs that won't play, then double-click it in the album, that exact same song will play just fine over Spotify Connect.

Here is the playlist that won't play the songs through Spotify Connect: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bUfP1jas60m6KEKF3GAsu?si=98df45e1775a4a21

[MihailY]

Hey @1214926250,

Thanks for the link.

Are you able to play the songs through the web player on your desktop? What if you put the tracks in a different playlist?

Please remove any lines containing Spotify from your hosts file using this guide and let us know if that helps.

Keep us posted.

[1214926250]

This is super weird. So, I tested it in the web player and that worked fine. But, I discovered this. On the Mac, those songs that won't play from the playlist will only not play if you use the search feature to find them in the playlist. If you scroll down in the playlist, they will play. For example, if you search for "Ronnie" it will bring up two songs and it won't play either through Spotify Connect.  But, if you scroll down to either of those songs without using "search", they play fine.

[Maria]

Thanks for keeping us in the loop @1214926250!

A bit of an odd request to try here but it's helped in similar situations in the past. Could you make sure Show Local Files is turned on, as this could help with the playback? Have a look at this page and follow the steps under Desktop to enable it.

It's also worth double-checking if hardware acceleration is switched off in the app. You can find it by heading to the desktop app > Settings > scroll down to Compatibility > select Enable hardware acceleration (if it's turned on).

However, with the info you've provided us with and considering the troubleshooting you've already tried, it's possible that it's an issue simply related to the specific set up and tracks. In this case, we're afraid we can't give a timeframe for when it will be fixed. The best thing to do is to keep the app up-to-date to stay on top of any new released fixes.

Cheers!

[1214926250]

Turning off hardware acceleration and showing local files didn't fix it.  Thanks for the ideas, but no dice yet.

[1214926250]

Bringing my computer to a different building and using someone else's network also did not fix the issue.