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)

[jude_fruit]

Same problem here, I don't understand why I don't have an option to disable the videos altogether which I don't like in the first place (I'm subscribed I should have this freedom), and it is a waste of my bandwidth: If I want to see clips I'll use youtube, for me Spotify is for music and that should be it...

Quite annoying indeed, might go to some other service...

[MikesMusicSpot]

I’m not sure blocking the videos would help. I seldom access even the pics and never allow the videos, but the problem persisted (until I turned off hardware acceleration.)

[matiasnino]

Workaround here, FWIW. 

Started experiencing this recently on one of my 4 monitors connecting to my NVIDIA 3900 RTX. Flickering/Disconnecting monitor was connected via DisplayPort. Monitor in question is a Dell U2414H. After messing around with different cables and refresh rates to no avail, I finally switched the monitor to an HDMI cable with an HDMI>DisplayPort adapter on the GPU and it now works flawlessly with no flicker/disconnect when launching Spotify. 

[p6qwre]

In my case this was caused by app called FxSound, which is windows equalizer and sound enhancer. 
My new monitor has got its own speakers and it was not able to connect propoperly. When I opened spotify, the monitor went black. 

[enistoja]

for what it's worth, turning off hardware acceleration on my web browser did nothing to prevent spotify from blacking out my monitor.

[MikesMusicSpot]

That doesn’t surprise me, but my symptoms are confined to flickering and ghosting so I pass along the tip.
FAR too many corporations are FAR more interested in raking in money now than in keeping customers for the long haul.

[hast_do_angst]

Using DRM for videoclips inside a music player is to dumb, i'm not getting myself new cables for several 100 dollars across my various setups just for that. So I will just cancel my family subscription I had since Spotify started years ago and instead just use my Google music account. Bye Sweden, you su*k, from Norway!

[MikesMusicSpot]

Nor was I willing to buy ANOTHER new monitor as advised, specifically a $2-5,000 Mac monitor, especially since there was no way to be sure that even that would solve the problem.

[Vishera]

I figured it had to do something with the DHCP protection maybe..

My setup is 3 monitors. 1 is connected to my GPU via HDMI - this one doesn't go blank when spotify is loaded/in focus. The other two are connected with HDMI cables but run to a "2 HDMI in to single Display port out" and they are the two that always go blank. I have to always press CTRL + SHIFT + WIN + B to re-wake them.

My monitors are so old they don't have Display Port, only HDMI and DVI. My GPU has 1 HDMI and 3 DP ports - It's an RTX 3060.

Any ideas how to properly connect this so I can avoid this stupid issue spotify refuses to fix? TIA!

[boti__]

Thanks Simitus for your help!
I'll describe my case to see if it helps others, because your writing helped me to find a solution.
Until recently I was using an HP Elitebook 840 G3 via docking station and regularly listened to Spotify without any problems. However, 2 weeks ago I bought a new laptop, a Lenovo Yoga 9 2-in-1. This laptop does not have DisplayPort or HDMI inputs, but it comes with a USB-C 3-in-1 mini dock, which I can use to connect the monitor to an HDMI cable. So I started using my new laptop and listening to Spotify. Sometimes my monitor screen would go off for 2-3 seconds and then come back on. It was very annoying. At first I suspected the monitor. After a few days I realised that it was only when listening to spotify that I had this problem. I tried listening on the web interface but the result was the same. Then I found this support forum. Since you described that the HDMI cable must also support HDCP and my cable is an old cable, I started looking for such a cable to buy. While searching, I suddenly remembered, what about my mini dock? I wonder if I buy a new cable, could the dock be the problem? I checked Lenovo's support page to see if there was any information on whether the mini dock supports HDCP. It wasn't easy to find, because the serial number on the mini dock said it was a Lenovo USB-C Travel Hub, which I found and the photo was the same as my dock. There's a firmware update for it, but it was somehow suspect. Then I typed in the name of my device in Lenovo's search engine: Lenovo USB-C 3-in-1 Hub. And the photo is the same as mine, but in white. There's also a firmware upgrade option, but the software is different, the version number looks different. But most importantly, this is what the update said:
a.Update HDMI FW to fix following issue:
* Fix the problem of YX70 intel can't light up when connect to Lenovo USB-C 3-in-1 Hub
I decided to update the firmware. And since I did that, I have had no problems with my display. 😁
Thank you Simitus! 🙏 If you do not write these things, I will not find the solution.

[smiff1000]

Aside from changing cabling is there any solution? I'm on a KVM switch between DP & HDMI monitors, and Spotify alone shuts off both monitors. I dont really have an option to change the HDMI connection without getting a new monitor, which is a bit much to expect. I cant locate anything to do with Widevine anywhere, I was thinking if I could disable it might fix?

[Evilbuns]

It is not only HDMI. I only use DP over USB-C on a docking (HP Thunderbolt G4). It have a HDMI port on it but it is not in use.

It seems like it is any display over USB-C.

[jacobball11]

To further this discussion, I have tried many different solutions to solve this problem and will explain my context here. I'm a software engineer and would be happy to help solve this issue because it is very distracting during my work and I otherwise love Spotify and use it almost all day every day.

My setup:

- I am using a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop with Windows 11 and pretty exclusively use an external monitor over an HDMI to USBC adapter. I make sure all software, drivers, and firmware is up to date before working every single day.

My problem:

- I get a black screen on my external monitor for just a few seconds every time Spotify is opened (native app or web app), also whenever I switch to a new playlist (presumably when more things need loaded than usual). I also get this event seemingly randomly when listening to music normally without interacting with the app. If other sound is playing through the monitor, the sound output stops during the blackout as if the monitor is disconnected.

My attempted solutions:

- I have tried the native app and the web app as mentioned above.

- I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app from the Microsoft Store and directly from the Spotify website.

- I have enabled and disabled hardware acceleration

- I have connected to different monitors and different docks

- I have connected to wired and wireless networks as well as different wireless networks at different locations, all with very high speed connections

- I tried connecting the HDMI directly into the port on my laptop (after reading this thread)

- I killed all other software to confirm it is only the Spotify app that causes this behavior

Summary:

I do not have any issues with my computer when Spotify is not running. I use every port on my laptop and nearly every key on the keyboard for my work and can vouch that this computer has no known issues interfacing with hardware or software. I also can vouch for the hardware not being worn out. It is a new laptop built for software development and so has more than enough resources to run a music app. None of the solutions above have changed the behavior I experience, and I am confident this problem is exclusively caused by the Spotify app.

Thanks!

[Dedsdidgdn]

I have the same problem with a brand new BenQ 4k monitor plugged into HDMI. In my 20+ years of computer experience, I've never noticed such a stupid bug that shouldn't exist. I'm using a high quality 8k HDMI cable, no converter, nothing, it's just plugged into my laptop and Spotify has made it impossible for me to use the app, even after disabling those useless videos. I'm not going to buy a new cable just because Spotify wants me to. Can't believe I pay for something with such over the top "security" measures.

[Sheepdemon]

I am experiencing this on a work laptop connecting to a Lenovo Thinkpad docking station (Laptop > Dock is USB-C, Dock to Monitors is Displayport) and the Spotify Web Player.  Really disappointing to hear this is a DRM issue, as I don't really have the option of changing setups or cabling in the office.  Is there any other workaround that can be tried for this?

[MikesMusicSpot]

Amazon Prime Music comes to mind.

[enistoja]

My personal solution has been to not use Spotify and block all spotify elements using AdNauseam (firefox addon). If you can live without spotify, I recommend just erasing them from your internet experience altogether.

[MikesMusicSpot]

Ditto anything to do with Norton products.

[Dedsdidgdn]

No I've never had that software 

[PatMathews]

This was a response i sent to the BBB regarding this bs..

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# 22470050, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

The reply that i received from Spotify stated "As for the refund request, we can grant that for the last payment. However, please note that in this case yours and all member accounts will revert back to the free tier with immediate effect. Let us know if you'd still like us to process that."  which to me says that if they refund the single payment, then I'd be pushed to the basic free membership.  I'm paying for a family plan.  Basically what they're saying is because I have an issue with my paid account, they're going to punish me by removing all my paid features because of a problem on their end.  That doesn't fly with me, and shouldn't for anyone else that is in the same situation as me with this screen issue.  They need to acknowledge to every user that they have this issue, and actually do something about it.   Some of us have spent countless hours with settings that Spotify recommends to change, hardware replacements, etc. to remedy the problem that is their own. So, no, I don't want their measly 1 month refund.  I'm not in this just for myself, I'm also trying to help the hundreds of other users that are having the same issue as me in forcing Spotify to take ownership of this issue and get something done ASAP.  This is bad Business on their part.  Not to mention, since their last update, not only are my external monitors flashing off, but now, at first launch, my laptop is included as well.