Spotify keeps skipping

[allav]

Every since I installed Spotify on my computer, it keeps skipping every few seconds with practically every single song. I tried re-installing but still experience the same problem. Not really sure what else to do, but it's pretty annoying.

[Timzor]

Same problem here. Very annoying!

[David]

Hello,

Try popping into your Preferences menu (Edit > Preferences) and then unchecking the "Enable Hardware Acceleration" setting. This generally solves some playback issues in Windows machines.

[Timzor]

I've tried that, but it didn't help. I've updated to the latest version, and it's only with spotify I'm having these audio problems.

[dynasty]

I've the same problem - the songs keep skipping about 10 seconds in and then play normally. 
It only does this when I change the songs myself and not when the playlist keeps playing on its own.

I've tried re-installing and updating, and I unchecked the "Enable Hardware Acceleration - nothing helps?!

[KirstieReed]

AHHHH!!! This has JUST started to happen on my mobile!!

I cant find preferences to change anything and just want to go out for a run!

Any ideas on what can be done??

[Agirl]

Same problem- started skipping 10sec at a time on my phone

[mabeechen]

I'm having the exact same problem.  Every song skips.  Every single one.

At this point the software is not usable at all.

[Radacci]

Same for me.

Says: can't play current track. but it plays it for 5seconds, then skip to next song.

[chrisclaybo]

I've discovered the culprit!  Hardware acceleration is NO solution.  The evil force behind this annoying track skipping is none other than iTunes itself!  I discovered this when playing the same song on one machine that has iTunes installed (uploaded from my iTunes on that machine) and another machine that does not have iTunes installed.  The result?  Skipping on the machine that has iTunes, and no skipping on the machine that does not have iTunes. 

So, what say you Spotify admins?  I could understand you not wanting to disparage iTunes, or reveal that there is a cross-platform problem between the software for fear of losing subscribers due to compatability issues.  Honestly though, you shouldl have discovered this.  Now that I have served the problem to you on a platter, it is in your best interests to find a solution.

[Peter__]

Does this problem occur when streaming music from spotify or playing local files through spotify? 

I've seen this issue on my computers with tracks that have been imported from my iTunes library (not being played correctly and skipping) but never whilst streaming music.

[chrisclaybo]

I have had the same problem with skipping on mobile streaming, but I typically blame connectivity issues (who wouldn't, with an AT&T mobile provider). 

I conducted a small experiment to establish my hypothesis; perhaps you can do the same to develop a theory. 

I made a playlist of songs that I had to upload to Spotify through my iTunes account on the computer that I uploaded them from (the "Host" computer).  Each of these songs on Host skip.  I then opened Spotify on a different computer (not tainted with iTunes) and played the same playlist - no skipping. 

I had a short chat with a friend about the fact that the songs that were not previously available on Spotify (until I uploaded them) were thereafter available to me on Spotify on a different (i.e. non-iTunes) machine.  Hopefully that made sense.  We pondered how they could thereafter appear on Spotify without Host providing a local file which Spotify could draw upon. 

Thoughts?

[Mavrick593]

I just installed this on my PC that has virtually nothing else installed (work stuff, browser, browsers, and steam. No iTunes) and it skips on every song just the way that's been described.  It seems completely random when it does it.  I can track back a few seconds before the point where it skipped and it usually doesn't do it again.  Very annoying.  I'm currently listening to the third song I have ever listened to on Spotify and it has done it on all of them.

[Lycean]

I have never had iTunes installed on this computer. I have the premium version. It skips (like a CD, not to another track) every single song if I pick them myself (only on the desktop) and will randomly do so on songs streaming out of a playlist. It doesn't seem to matter if they are local or streamed files. I also found that occasionally you can find a "sweet spot" by randomly clicking on the slider bar for the track and it will catch and start playing, but almost never finds this on its own. I double checked my firewall exemptions and have tried it with hardware acceleration enabled and disabled with no change whatsoever.

This software is completely unusable on the desktop at this point. How practical is it that I have to have a special playlist on my phone just so I can listen to new stuff on my phone to decide if I want it in another playlist?! I love Spotify and am actively trying to get people to sign up, but this is a hard issue to work around trying to get people to join...

[amigaforever]

I have the same problem, never had it before.

I am thinking to end my membership, it's useless like this

and it's 10 euros a month.

I give it a week and then I cancel my subscription.

[MrMcKilla]

I have an i7 processor and 16gb of memory, but somehow spotify still skips if I'm doing even minute tasks.
Right now as I'm typing this, with only Firefox running, it's still skipping.

[Fasti1970]

I had the same problem and found support to be both slow and ineffective despite being a 'Premium' member.

Here are some things I found useful, specifically for playing tracks I had saved locally.

1 - On the left side-side of your screen in 'local files'.  I found if this was updating ( a circular motion couple of arrows) the skipping and client (program you're using) would become unresponsive.

2 - Deleting the cache that was part of the 'local files'.  

Also increasing the cache size for me was important due to my music library. (I'm with 350,000 tracks and the max settings have been sufficient so far).  [EDIT][Preferences][Cache] (I set to max)

3 - If your drive is an external drive, most of them power-down and cause issues when not spun up.  I used a program that wrote and re-wrote a small text file back to the drive/s every 7 minutes to ensure it stayed spun to speed.  This isn't a 'green' way to behave so I guess we should all shut down that program when we're not Spotifying.  

Some forum posts talk of of deminished drive-life-durations for external drives used this way. These drives are exactly the same as usual drives:  They're usually housed in egg-thin plastic to give the illusion of survivability.  They might be sourced from the same, or equally, from lower quality bins. Who Knows?  Just don't drop them , particularly when they're spinning their discs'.  Also keep a backup.

If you need any further help, or more specific... let me know.

[Dibola]

I keep seeing people and the mod say disable acceleration  and etc etc but IT DOESN"T WORK.. Pfft...I feel like going back to Last.fm's client....least their streaming doesn't skip.

[Baresmarts]

GUYS I HAVE JUST FOUND THE SOLUTION (At least for me)

Go to Edit > Preferences > Untick all the boxes in "Show songs from these sources"

For me it was skipping parts of songs I already HAD on my computer 🙂

[jeffbazz]

That's fantastic.  Thanks for fixing everything.

Except I don't have iTunes on my tower and Spotify still keeps skipping.

I was hoping that since you are the God of all program-based admin, you can help me with my Goddammed problem