Spotify on mac keeps stuttering. Auto quality does not work.

[Chad_Chad_Chad]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

Operating System

Mac OS 12.1

I am sick of the constant stuttering/dropping out for a second all the time. 

I have searched the "community" and there is no solution that works.  It would be nice if you had actual customer service / tech support instead of just dumping it on your users, and no, the email option, that warns you it will probably never get answered, is not an option. 

This is my last try at getting this solved. I have used spotify for almost 10 years... but, I think Apple music is calling. I like spotify better, its suggestions and AI, but none of that matters if it doesn't work well. 

[AndresM]

Hey @Snowekim,

Thanks for posting on the Community and welcome. 

We recommend that you check if there's any software update available for your device. Also, we suggest that you get in contact with the manufacturer in order to discard any software/hardware conflict that may be related to this issue. 

Keep us posted. 

[ian_brown78]

Hi All,

Here is a link to a video of the stuttering I am getting on my brand new Macbook Pro (Apple M1 Pro).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fuPD63hYwnMDfg5HGGMLaR-cO5MsqSuC/view?usp=sharing

I have tried all other troubleshooting options described.

I am connected via wifi6 AX to a 100Mbps internet connection that constantly achieves 97Mbps with a 17ms ping.

Cheers,

Ian

Thanks,
Ian

[Eni]

Hey @ian_brown78, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this and for the video you sent. We've passed this info to the right folks so they can further investigate. 

Cheers 🙂

[hellodustin]

I've been having the same issue, just to add to the reports for at least the last 4-6 weeks.  It does not happen every time, but usually does occur when I've been using the app off and on for a longer period of time without a device reboot.  It happens on songs I have never listened to.  It happened before and after a Mac OS update.  It does not register anything strange on the activity monitor.  On a Macbook Pro with Intel i5.  No VPN.  Connected with gigabit fiber.  No firewall.  As a video engineer, my assumption is that the audio files are somehow chunked and encrypted for DRM and your issue appears to me to be a drop out in continuity when playing back the segments and processing the DRM.  The discontinuity appears over time.  No difference when using the built-in speakers vs blue tooth vs external USB DAC with optical out.  Restarting the app does not fix it which is crazy to me since it also doesn't appear every time.  You have a hard one on your hands, but it is really annoying and I can't use the app when it happens like this.  It seems to effect some sessions and not others and somehow the sessions persist even through an app restart.

[_caramcc]

I've been having the same issue with my 16" 2021 M1 MacBook pro on the latest macOS Monterey (version 12.3.1). I have tried all of the recommended steps here: disabled Hardware Acceleration, uninstalled application and removed local files before restarting my computer and reinstalling the application, tested with and without my headphones, and tested in offline mode. I've also tried killing coreaudiod, since that's helped to resolve other audio issues that I've had in the past. I've tried downloading songs before playing them, which doesn't seem to help either.

I've observed that the skips and stutters happen at different parts of the same song when I replay them, suggesting to me that it isn't an issue with the audio data, but rather with whatever the Spotify is doing to play them.

I have a handful of other macbooks that I haven't observed this issue with, including a 15" 2017 macbook pro on macOS Monterey 12.0.1.

[k-p-]

Just wanted to bump this issue.

2021 MBP 16GB M1 Pro running on Monterey 12.0.1.

Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon)
1.1.86.857.g3751ee08

Tried hardware acceleration, clean install, offline mode, web player, etc. Intermittent stuttering still happens. Sometimes a few times a song, some times several times a minute. It's driving me insane. For the time being I've retired Spotify in favor of youtube until this can get fixed. If it persists for much longer, I can no longer justify paying for the subscription.

[kozlone]

I've been experiencing this issue on my previous Macbook Pro 16'' and the same with my current M1.
There are no any glitches while using headphones, but the problem persists when playing through internal speakers.
Relevant for both web and native app.
MacOS Monterey
12.2.1 (21D62)
MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)Chip Apple M1 Pro

Memory 16 GB

[ibgtennis]

I am having the same problem as others have stated. In my own words, the problem is that my audio sometimes skips, stutters, repeats, and has static-y sounds. This doesn't always happen, and it happens more when I am using more applications at once. I use the desktop app and my MacBook speakers. This problem did not occur on my old MacBooks. 

I have MacOS Monterey, 12.3.1 (21E258)

MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

Memory 8GB. 

Spotify 1.1.86.857.g3751ee08

[Eni]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for all the info you've sent so far. 

We've passed it to the team in charge who are currently looking into this. 

We'll keep you updated here when we have more news.

Cheers!

[actuallyitsashley]

Hi there, 

I'm experiencing the same issue on my Macbook Pro 14 inch and recorded a short video of the problem, not sure if it's still helpful at this point but here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g9CqpIjzEmac3bPnLIqWztQ7rVjxJOKl/view?usp=sharing

You can hear the stuttering at these time stamps in the video: 00:01, 00:02, 00:04, 00:07, 00:19, 00:20, 00:28, and 00:36 (might've missed a few). Thanks Spotify for dealing with this issue!

[Alex]

Hey there @actuallyitsashley,

Thanks for the video recording. We've passed this on to the team working on this issue.

Cheers.

[kozlone]

I've noticed that these glitches started to happen not only on spotify but during calls or playing video if the uptime is high. But they are not so loud as on spotify. Restarting the mac helps for a while.

[KarineP]

Still the same issue for me, macOS Monterey 12.4. Did everything as listed above and not working.

[_caramcc]

Any updates on this issue? It makes listening unbearable.

[Novy]

Hey folks,

Thanks for your patience while we looked into this.

We've heard from the right folks and after some tests, this seems to be related to Apple and the way their hardware/firmware works, hence why some of you have previously mentioned it happening with other apps as well.

If you're still experiencing this, we'd suggest reaching out to Apple's support team to see if they have any comments or resolution to the issue.

If anything else comes up, the Community will be here.

[cag5280]

.

[kkirbatski]

I’m unsure what happened to your post, but you were 100% correct.

Uhhh isn't it your responsibility to contact Apple and work with them on a solution? Don't you think Spotify, a multi-billion dollar company, will have more sway than individual users? Also, wouldn't it be a lot easier to track this down and resolve it if Spotify engineers are communicating directly with Apple engineers? Having Apple customers contact Apple directly will only lead to a flood of unnecessary reports that front-line support will likely misdiagnose and ultimately waste a lot of peoples time.

[hbs]

How could this possibly be an issue with Apple's hardware when Spotify is the only application I've ever experienced this problem with? Spotify even has this problem in the web version on macOS. The issue is not with Apple hardware. It's with how Spotify's application interfaces with that hardware. Fix your faulty software. 

[alexjplant]

I'm using Premium on an M1 Mac Pro. On both the desktop app installed via Homebrew and the web app running in Incognito mode in Chrome I'm getting choppy playback. The music is sometimes nigh-unlistenable. I've tried disabling hardware acceleration in the desktop app to no avail. I don't have this issue with any other sound source.

Running Chrome Version 104.0.5112.79 (Official Build) (arm64), MacOS 12.4 (21F79), and Spotify for macOS (Apple Silicon) 1.1.88.612.gcc529952.

[OscarDC]

Hey @alexjplant,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community and welcome.

First, in order to check if this could be related to some damaged cache stored from previous versions, we'd recommend performing a clean reinstall of the app. This is often an overlooked step, but it's more thorough than a regular one and can be helpful in getting rid of any cache that might be causing trouble.

If the issue persists, and to keep investigating your case; would you mind checking if this happens using a different web browser? Also, and if possible, could you check if this happens using your account on a different device? This will give us a better look at the issue.

We'll be on the lookout.