Ad results in spotify stopping

[nekem]

Plan

Free

Country

Sweden

Device

Laptop

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

Lately, an ad "www.pegi.info" results in that the announcement is not played, and spotify does not play anymore music. It halts. Not the first time. Some times, some ads result in "freezing". The only way to solve it is closing and opening spotify, but since the ad comes again, it is a repetitive issue.

[Alex]

Hey @nekem,

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community!

Can you let us know if this is a sound or video ad? Does the app freeze only on your PC?

We'd recommend running a clean reinstall of the app. Please follow the steps from this Spotify Guide exactly, as this will assure that all app data is cleared completely, before reinstalling.

Keep us posted on this.

[nekem]

Hi Alex,

It is unclear to me if it is a video or an audio ad. Basically, it looks as if it is playing but nothing is really played (unless it is a static add). More or less only the weblink I provided is shown in the add. That lasts and is shown for around 29 seconds. When it finishes, another add or the next song should play, but nothing does play. I press stop, pause, next, previous, play... nothing of that results in the desired effect. At most, the only thing I see is the ad playing again as I explained few lines above. Just to point out that the app does not freeze, but there is "something" that it does not let to play the next song or next add when that announcement comes. I am only have spotify in my laptop so I cannot say if it happens in other devices.

I did remove the app once before because of this reason. Nevertheless, I will check the guidelines you pointed out and see if there was some step to ensure all was removed. I can attach a picture of the ad next time it comes up.

[nekem]

And the picture of the problematic ad.

[nekem]

I tried the suggested solution but did not help. The same announcement came again and resulted in the same issue.

[Elena]

Hey @nekem,

Thanks for keeping us posted on this.

Could you try editing your hosts-file and deleting all lines that contain Spotify? Here's how you can do that:

1. Open Notepad as an Administrator (right-click the executable > Run as Administrator).
2. Go to File > Open and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc.
3. Choose "All Files" instead of "Text Documents" next to the File Name box. You'll see a handful of files. Pick hosts and click on Open.
4. When the file is opened, you will see a block of text with # in front of each line and might see entries like 127.0.0.1 website2.com.
5. Check for any entries with spotify or fastly in the address. Examples may look like 0.0.0.0 weblb-wg.gslb.spotify.com or 0.0.0.0 prod.b.ssl.us-eu.fastlylb.net. If you do find any, you can delete the line.
6. Save your changes and restart the Spotify app.

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers!

[nekem]

Hello Elena!

Thanks for the tip. I checked the file you pointed out and I did not have any entry as the ones you described. Indeed when I checked that file, I saw it had not been modified for years. I searched for another same file in other locations and did not exist anywhere else.

[Alex]

Hey @nekem,

Thanks for the reply.

Can you try the Solution from MattSuda mentioned here?

If you've previously installed the app from the MS store, try downloading the app from the Spotify Website and vice versa.

Keep us posted on how you get on.

[nekem]

Hi!

That first solution, indicted by MattSuda was suggested before. I did not have any Spotify files after I removed the app from my computer.

I downloaded the app from the microsoft app store. Spotify has now been working for a while without interruptions, suddenly - interestingly, that announcement with what all problems started, has now disappeared. I will follow up for a week or two more and see if it happens again.

[Kiril]

Hey there @nekem,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

We're happy to hear that the issue is now resolved for you. Remember to always keep your Spotify app updated to the latest available version, so you don't miss any fixes and new features. Don't hesitate to give us a shout if you encounter similar issues again.
 

Stay safe and if you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you.

[nekem]

Hi,

It has actually come back. Same thing, with a different ad. I will apply the solution listed before, downloading from spotify webpage instead of the app store, and see what happens.

Rgs

[Elena]

Hi @nekem,

Sorry to hear this behavior is back, do let us know if downloading the app from the web page makes a difference for you!

It's also a good to see if the same thing happens if you try using our web player - does it ever get stuck on an ad?

Keep us in the loop here!