External monitors disconnect when opening Spotify

[jackspencer]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Operating System

Windows10

My Question or Issue

Whenever Spotify is active my monitors will constantly disconnect and reconnect (and my bluetooth mouse). This happens with the web player, the desktop app, and on webpages with embedded Spotify songs. 

[jackspencer]

The fix is going to depend on your cabling setup. HDMI to HDMI should be fine, but where you will confuse Widevine is using HDMI adapters to things like USB-c or Display Port. Widevine is not smart enough to tell the difference between this and a video capture device, so it overreacts. Buy a cable that states it is HDCP compliant and you can probably get use of your monitor back. 

Of course Spotify could also just not use Widevine DRM on these short loop video streams, or at least admit they are doing it and prompting for opt-in, or even updating their TOS if using DRM is now required. Like I said, solving this was hard because Spotify made it a mystery, unlike other Widevine using services that are upfront about it. 

[jackspencer]

Got this problem too. In my case with a Lenovo Thunderbolt USB C hub under Windows 10. Also changed from HDMI to DP but didn't fix the issue.
Maybe we are thinking too much about the video stream since we know the monitor is causing the issue. But maybe it's more the audio stream to the monitor that I think spotify wants to protect and if the hub doesn't support it or can't handle it properly, we get these crazy issues.

MY 2 SOLUTIONS (under Windows):

Both solutions aim at the same fix, but 2 ways to get there:

Via sound settings:
Disable all audio playback devices connected to your display. Mostly they are called something like Nvidia High Definition Audio, Intel Display Audio etc. Click the speaker icon in the right corner -> Sounds -> Playback -> [Disable all screen audio devices].
This solution will not work if you need your screen audio somehow, because it disables the screen audio at all.

Via Device Manager:
Open Device Manager -> Go to Sound, Video and Game Controllers -> Disable Nvidia High Definition Audio, Intel Display Audio, etc (any output connected to your display via USB-C, HDMI, DisplayPort, etc.).

After that you can trigger the screen crashes and blinking issues by clicking the home button in the spotify app and then if it doesn't crash just start playing some music. Normally after disabling the screen audio stuff it should stop (in my case)

[kennethgp]

Thanks to Simitus for such great investigation. I'm using a Lenovo setup with thunderbolt 3 gen 2 dock and Samsung monitors connected via HDMI and one of them crashed to gray upon starting Spotify. I replaced the older monitor HDMI cable with a newer one based on Simitus' findings and voilà! issues is gone. It also fixed monitors flickering to black sometimes when opening videos in the browser.

[fishcakezxc]

Nailed it! I had a gut feeling spotify was behind the issue of my monitors disconnecting but this has helped prove it!

[dixondevasia21]

This problem still exists, it is not just the app but even when I open Spotify web. It beats me how that can happen. Now it is so bad that the second screen running at 144 hz just does not receive input and is blank everytime I open spotify (both web and app). It works if I bring down the refresh rate of my second monitor. No playing spotify in the background while playing games for me!

[OldSkewler]

Nice find, but your proposed solution is not completely clear for plain non-IT people:

I have a ThinkPad connected to a Thunderbolt 4 docking station with two monitors connected to it. 

Is the problem the USBC from the Thinkpad to the docking OR each cable from the docking to the monitors? 

Please clarify in plain language what could be done to solve this, because clearly spotify is not doing anything about it. 

Which cables should i upgrade?

Thanks in advance! 

[FacePunch-FU]

OldSkewler,

As previously stated, buy a cable that states it is HDCP compliant and you can probably get use of your monitor back. 

[OldSkewler]

I am trying to confirm which cable(s) needs replacement. 

For instance, my docking station has (3) DVI ports. One of my monitor also has DVI input, but the other monitor has HDMI input. 

It seems this glitch only happens when I connect the HDMI monitor to the dock - when I run only the DVI monitor connected to the docking, no glitches. So I suspect I need to buy a DVI-HDMI cable that is "HDCP compliant". 

Am I on the right track here? Also, could a DVI-HDMI cable be "HDCP compliant"?

[NightyShadow42]

Disabling HDCP via Windows registry solved it for me: Create a new file "spotify.reg" with the following content:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000]
"RMHdcpKeyglobZero"=dword:00000001

Execute the file and restart - disconnecting should be gone. Though Netflix might not working either anymore ;-). To enable HDCP again just change the dword value to 00000000 and repeat the steps described.

[Simitus]

I wish I could offer more information here... unfortunately, it appears that we the consumers have been put in the difficult position of trying to find out how to make our workstations compliant with the Widevine CDM plugin when that plugin's enforcement regime is extremely opaque.I am not happy with Google for that. The best advice I can give is make sure everything between your PC and your monitor is HDCP compliant.

Spotify -- You either tried to be sneaky, or didn't understand that your streaming pipeline would interact with Widevine in this way. If this was an accident, I understand accidents happen, though I would say an accident like this should have been caught in canary before pushing to prod. If your video is encrypted with HDCP then it is probably going to trigger Widevine.

If this wasn't an accident and you just hoped no one would figure it out -- game's up. If you're going to push DRM then consumers need fair warning and not just be left struggling for answers.

Either way I think people would appreciate some answers here.

[PatMathews]

Sadly after replacing my HDMI to Display port cables with HDCP compliant cables, the problem is still there.  

[MikesMusicSpot]

I've forgotten; what does Spotify offer that Amazon Prime Music doesn’t? I’ve got to resume that comparison, which so far left Spotify in the dust. One biggie is that with APM, I can block “suggested additions” … i.e., spam … from being added to the playlists I spent months developing. That, regaining a clear and productive desktop screen, and stiff-arming Spotify’s arrogance are HUGE.

[FacePunch-FU]

This problem has been known for over a year. Why is nothing being done about it?

[MikesMusicSpot]

Because Spotify does not care.

[chlon1]

Hello igorgel, same issue for me. Have you found an adapter male DVI HDMI female HDCP compliant? I can't find it. Thank you.

[rehills]

I am experiencing the same issue.  My monitor disconnects and reconnects constantly.  I can barely use the Spotify app.

[bighastle]

Using an Asus VS248 with HDMI to HDMI cable to my Graphics Card. Browser and Application cause my screen to flash black a few times each time I focus/close the application/browser instance.

[MikesMusicSpot]

Cables, schmables. The problem is with Spotify, who doesn't give a damn about it. One of the dozens of proposed "fixes" may help one person a bit for a while (my 95% solution was turning off hardware acceleration, which I don't need anyway), another "fix" may help the next user a bit for a while, but the bottom line is that apparently thousands of users' screens are &@%^*#$^ up and Spotify denies it. Nothing's going to solve the problem until Spotify's revenue stream is impacted by people switching music providers. Google (no, DuckDuckGo) music services, pick one, and switch. Some good ones are free or much cheaper. Don't be deterred by the hypothetical hassle of switching to Amazon Prime Music, for example; it's completely intuitive because the platforms work almost identically, both offer a gazillion tunes, APM even has some advantages, we don't lose our Spotify playlist downloads if we quit them, and long trials are free with some music providers. Why should users bang their heads against a wall Spotify has created when a REAL universal solution is readily available? We can always go back to Spotify if their competition doesn't float our boat. Amazon merchandise is rapidly going downhill (too many used, dirty, broken, rejected, and/or wrong items), but so far their music system seems good.

[in42615]

This is disappointing from Spotify.  I've not been able to use the app on my PC for at least 3 months now.  I feel like submitting a complaint for a refund of sorts at least.

Having worked for years as Support in software development I know this is a card on their board, sitting somewhere in the backlog, getting no attention because Support departments are always the first things to get their funding cut whilst Marketing get to collaborate with Coldplay on a new Barcelona shirt sponsor.  We are not a priority and it shows.

[PatMathews]

I have now received emails from 4 different escalations techs regarding this and they all give me virtually the same BS answer.  They are getting $ from us as users, as well as likely getting kickbacks from the service that they're using in which this issue is created.  Some of us, including myself have spent $ on hardware that has done nothing to resolve this issue either.  I'm headed to the BBB and file a formal complaint as soon as their site is back online.  this is the most recent email i received from their techs including my most recent email:

ME:  ok this is getting to be more of an annoyance on Spotify's part than the actual problem.  You guys are basically doing nothing about this and it's been going on for over a year.  The forum has a guy that has done all of your research and has clearly pointed out where the problem lies, and you're doing nothing about it.  We are paying our hard earned $ for a trash program right now and you guys basically don't care at all.  Are we all going to have to start forcing you guys to refund us all the fees since this whole problem started?  This is very bad business, and very unethical.  I'm tempted to send this to the BBB as well as any other outlet that i can find so that you guys will actually do what's right and fix this problem.  I have spent well over $400 in " fixes" that don't work and countless hours trying to find any setting that will change this as well.  You're wasting my time as well as everyone else that has this issue.  Get this fixed ASAP.

TECH #4:  Thanks for getting back to us. This is Rodrigo, also from the Escalations team and I'll be stepping in for this one.

I totally understand how you're feeling about this, and I do want to assure you that this is being reviewed by the relevant team as of this moment. I'll be sure to get back to you as soon as I hear any updates. But for now, I'd like to confirm that I can't provide a specific timeframe. With that said, I'm hoping for your continued patience and understanding while they're checking on this.

Hope this gets sorted out soon.  Should other questions occur to you, reach out to us, okay?

All the best,

Rodrigo N.

[PatMathews]

official complaint has been filed

[enistoja]

Considering I have no subscription i have no way to threaten spotify. Until they fix this i simply shall not follow any links and block the spotify miniplayers using script blockers. Hopefully the official complaint does something.