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"Spotify can't play this right now." Songs stop after seconds.

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"Spotify can't play this right now." Songs stop after seconds.

I have tried everything I've seen here: deleted the Library files, restarted the app, reinstalled the app.
Mac OS Mojave 10.14.4, Macbook Pro 13-inch 2017.Screenshot 2019-04-22 at 19.58.42.png

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Hey folks,

 

Thanks for your continued patience on the matter.

 

We're going to move this thread back to the help boards, since it seems that users are posting about a variety of different error messages they are seeing.

 

Moreover, the error message described in the thread's title can have a number of different root causes which need to be treated as separate issues.

 

First, we need to establish whether your issue is account- or device-specific by trying out the following:

  • log in on the device using a different account
  • if that works, then the issue is account-specific
  • if not, then could you try a clean reinstall of the app?
  • if that doesn't work, could you try a different network connection?

If none of the above steps work, then we suggest you create a new thread describing your exact issue, including the troubleshooting steps you've already tried and:

  • your device + OS version
  • your exact Spotify version
  • a screenshot of the error you are getting
  • a detailed description of the behaviour of the app (e.g. songs skipping after X seconds)

Thanks! 

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Marked as solution

Hey there folks,

 

We really appreciate taking the time to report this here in the Community!

 

We realize this thread is gone a bit off topic with a variety of issues posted. It’s for this reason we’re going to lock this thread.

 

However, if you're experiencing an issue similar to the ones described here, just let us know in the related Help Board, like @Peter suggested in this post.

 

It'd be a good idea to also include any additional details of what's happening or the troubleshooting steps you've tried. We'll be happy to lend a hand there.

 

Hope this helps clarify things! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to give us a shout.

 

Have a lovely day 🙂

KaterinaModerator
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View solution in original post

139 Replies

Plan 

Premium

Country

USA

Device

MacBook Pro 2016

Operating System

Sierra 10.12.6

 

My Question or Issue

Ever since I canceled my premium last week (on the app), I cannot listen to any songs that were not already favorited by me.  Every time I try to play any song not in my playlist it starts for 1/2 a second then I get a "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it" message at the top.  This is getting very annoying and none of the suggestions ive found previous seem to work.  This only affects the app, it works on the online version.  

 
 

Same issue.

 

Have deleted all libraries, reinstalled app, updated audio driver etc etc.

 

@spotify pls help

Spotify would love to have all the world’s music available to everyone. However, some artists and tracks aren't currently available. This means that the artist hasn't made those greyed out songs avialable in your region.

I'd recommend reading this article for more info.

Hope this helps!

 

Family Plan

Premium

Country

 

Macbook Pro

 

plays the first 7 seconds of a song and after that says cant play current song, already tried reinstalling several times and clearing cache and turning off hardware acceleration but nothing works, spotify still works fine on my windows computer and my iphone and my ipad but only on my mac it stopped playing properly, used to work fine

 

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

PC

Operating System

Windows 10

 

My Question or Issue

I recently got a new laptop with Windows 10 on it, and spotify will not play any music through the desktop application. I see a blue bar across the top that says "Spotify can't play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it." It works fine through the web, on my desktop computer, and on my Android. I have searched through the forums and a lot of google to try and resolve it on my own. Below is what I have tried up to this point.

 

1. Rebooted the computer

2. Deleted spotify local cache

3. Reinstalled spotify through the website download

4. Reinstalled spotify through the windows store

5. Reinstalled audio drivers

6. Disabled hardware acceleration

7. Running in compatibility mode 

8. Running as adminisatrator

***UPDATE***

9. Playing music from a different internet connection

10. Downloading music and playing in offline mode

***UPDATE2***

11. Uninstalled and installed an older version of Spotify

 

What is even more crazy to me, is that I can use the desktop application on my laptop to control music when it is playing on the website or in other locations, but it won't play the music itself.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have the same exact issue. I've tried everything. And I mean literally everything. I have contacted support and they replied to me just saying to check the community, which I had already done, which wasn't very helpful. I checked every post about this issue and did everything they said to do, with no success. Please help.

Bump - Still experiencing the issue today.

 

Additional testing:

1. Tested on a different internet connection, still does not work.

2. Downloaded a playlist locally and tried to play them in offline mode. Does not work.

Same issue here, reinstalled, cleared caches, turned HW acceleration off...

All works fine on my phone! So music is available in my region (!).

@spotify please solve this for MANY MANY users!

 

Thanks for the idea. I tried it as well and I still see the same message. Bummer.

Hi there!

I know it sounds simple, but it's often overlooked. Could you try restarting your device? If that doesn't help, try a quick clean reinstall of the app. Just follow these steps.

 

If possible try updating to macOS Mojave 10.14.4 🙂

If you're still having trouble, could you let me know the exact version of Spotify and the exact version of the operating system you're running?

I'll see what I can suggest next!

Hey @arjanvl@topolinoplaya@MrSwamzi & @jgordo,

 

Please note that some songs may not be available in your country at the moment.

 

Since all of you are having this issue that's the case.

 

Check this article for more info.

 

Thanks and have a nice weekend 🙂

Loxer,

 

Thanks for the suggestions.  Unfortunately, the restart didnt help, and the fresh re-install of the desktop player resulted in the same lack of being able to play any song.  Unfortunately I am limited in my ability to update my OS as I have work restrictions on my computer.  I am currently running Sierra 10.12.6, my spotify version after the fresh install is 1.1.5.153

Hey Loxer,

Apparently you are not reading the reply I gave. You give the exact same useless answer as before... you sure you're not a spotify autoreply bot??? Please do not replynif you do not have a good addition to make other than hit repeat and trybto get kudo for that.

 

Songs are available. I can play them everywhere! 

 

I did find out, and i need to investigate this further, on a different network. Appatently it has to do with spotify connect. The phone or computer tries to connect to one another. 

 

It works on my home network

It works on my cell network (via hotspot)

It fails on my work network. Need to digg into this... firewall is not the culprit, I am the sysadmin and I am not blocking any port used by spotify. We have plenty of bandwith so we do not need to censor it.

 

If i have additional info or a real solution, I will post it here.

 

Have a happy weekend y'all.

Hey @arjanvl,

 

Have you tried the steps from this Spotify Answer to see if that helps?

 

If possible, try it with another account on your devices in your work network to see if it makes any difference.

 

Let me know how that goes 🙂

Hey @madeupman1, welcome to the Community.

Hope you're doing great!

Have you tried the steps from this Spotify Answer to see if that helps?

 

Hope it helps 🙂

This started the literal day I canceled my premium subscription.  It is still active until May 14th, but the day I canceled it, that is when all the problems started with not being able to play songs.

I am using both a Desktop app on a Mac and the mobile app. Just recently, the Desktop app stopped working fine - it does not play many songs.

The songs do show up but they don't play - a bar appears and does not move. In other cases, and this is a phenomenon getting worse, the app plays 6 seconds of the song and then stops with a criptic message "can't play this song". Note that the mobile app works fine and that I don't have a setting to show me non-existing songs. 

There are several other tickets here about similar problems, but the solutions offered, namely:

1. Deleting the cache and reinstalling
2. Checking settings (one suggested unticking the "hardware acceleration", which I don't have)  

didn't work for me. Also note that I checked my location is correct and that several of these songs suddenly not playing used to play just fine.

Hey @martinapugliese, thanks for writing!

 

It sounds like some of the app files got corrupted somehow.

 

Since the normal moving to trash method is not working, my first suggestion is that you download this free app cleaner:

http://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/

 

When you open up the app, click the search icon and search for Spotify and it will automatically find and delete all files on your computer related to Spotify.

 

After that, download and reinstall Spotify.

 

Note: after you reinstall make sure to go into the Spotify settings and redo your preferences

 

Let me know if it helps!

BittencourtSpotify Star
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Hi @Bittencourt,

thanks for this! Unfortunately doesn't solve the problem, I've followed all the instructions and I keep having the same situations with the newly downloaded app. For the record, this is what happens to many songs: they stop at second 6 and show the message "Can't play this song"Screenshot 2019-04-29 at 07.45.33.png

and this is what happens to the play bar to other songs, where they don't even start:
Screenshot 2019-04-29 at 07.46.03.png

Appreciate all help!

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