Video not working on Windows app or in browser (works fine on Android)

[AuroraPolaris]

Plan

Premium

Country

Slovenia

Device

PC

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

Videos won't load in Windows app or in any browser, it starts loading but never loads and after a second or two it just stops. Music works fine. I've tried different browser, no difference. Interestingly enough everything works fine in Android app.

[AuroraPolaris]

I actually just noticed another thing - when I press play on the podcast (Joe Rogan Experience), it skips to the next episode and does that 3 or 4 times and then it just stops and if I press play again, the circle around the play button animates but nothing happens. And again, only on my Windows 10 PC and only for video, music works fine, both app or browser, the video in the Android app works fine.

[Elena]

Hey there @AuroraPolaris,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community!

Apologies for the delayed response, we just came across this thread.

As we haven’t seen any similar posts about this recently, could you let us know if you’re still having troubles with this?

If you are, can you let us know if you've already tried to log out > restart your device > log back in? It's also a good idea to try a clean reinstall to clear any old files that might be causing issues and make sure you've installed the app form the Microsoft store.

If that doesn't do it for you, we'll need to know your Spotify version and if this happens when you use a different internet connection.

Keep us in the loop here.

[RuffMark]

This didn't fix my issue I only have it on my win 10 system trying to play joe rogan podcast only. All other podcasts and music play just fine. I've upgraded app, I've tried to do clean install, I've rebooted my device, I have tried it on 3 laptops and 2 desktops. Seems to be pretty wide spread issue. 

[morganhelmen]

Same problem here... Maybe I'll try the non-Microsoft Store version instead?

[Ver]

Hey there @RuffMark and @morganhelmen,

Thanks for reaching out to us 🙂

You can try installing the app from here. Does the issue persist when you try with another account on the same device. That way we can see if it's an account-related issue. 

If you still experience this issue, you can send us a screenshot of what you're seeing. We'll investigate this further.

Keep us posted! If you have questions, you know where to find us.

[tkasputis]

Hi @ver,

I am also having the problem with video podcasts (such as the H3 podcast and Joe Rogan Experience) not playing on the windows 10 app. No audio or video plays from these podcasts....they just "freeze" and don't play at all until you pick an audio-only podcast or music, which stream normally. No problem with the video podcasts on my Android phone either.  

Your help with this is greatly appreciated.

Edit: I am also in touch with the Spotify Cares team and will report back with progress. I sent them a short video with a demo/description of the issue.

-TK

[Alex]

Hi folks,

Thanks for keeping us up to date with your current situation.

For anybody who is still having this issue - could you try to remove the local files cache from your windows device. This causes issues with playback sometimes. Check out the Solutions in this thread for the relevant steps on how to do this.

@RuffMark, have you tried asking a friend to log in with their account on one of your PCs or to create a new test account and try playing the podcast through that account? This will help us determine if the issue is account related or device related, like @Ver suggested.

We'll be on the lookout for your replies.

[tkasputis]

Hi All,

I think I found the solution to this problem:

VPN was the problem all along. I was having this problem and have been working with the Spotify Cares team to figure out the problem. They were having me try all sorts of different things (different Wifi connections, different accounts, etc) and nothing was working. Then it dawned on me...my VPN has been on this whole time, and I know that other apps, such as Hulu, don't work when my VPN is on. So, I turned off the VPN, restarted Spotify, and my video podcasts started playing right away.

-TK

[semifed]

NONE of the solutions on this page work.
Its a bug Spotify.
How about you fix it?

[Eni]

Hi there @semifed, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this. 

Could you let us know which troubleshooting steps you've already tried? That way we can avoid any repeating steps.

Additionally, we'd like to know if this happens only with a specific podcast.

Lastly, could you let us know the exact make/model, operating system and Spotify version of your device?

We'll be on the lookout for your reply. 

[semifed]

Just wrote a reply and got a "fault" page.

Well done Spotify

Whether you like it or not, this is a bug in your software.

I've deleted cookies/emptied cache, no VPN, no adblock, same on all browsers.

Stop putting this problem on your users.

Take responsibility and fix your problem.

Its on various videos, amongst them Joe Rogan, like many others.

I'm not going to try any of your "fixes", I'm done - why would I spend time fixing Spotify's problem?

[Eni]

Hey @semifed, 

Thanks for your reply.

We're sorry to hear that you feel this way. We're asking for all this info and troubleshooting steps to get to the bottom of this and help you get the solution you need. 

Just to confirm, is this only happening on the web player or on the desktop app as well? 

Also, would you mind sending us a screenshot of what you're seeing on your end so we can take a closer look? Make sure not to send any private info.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[semifed]

Again, why am I spending time solving Spotify's problem?

There's plenty of people tell Spotify this is a problem ...a simple internet search will confirm that.

I've attached a screenshot. When maximizing the screen is just black.

I also have to push the "show video" icon god knows how many times just the get the "no video" frame.

This is in the web player. I don't have your desktop app and I will never will. I simply shouldn't have to. So please don't give me that as a "solution".

Just do your job. You have enough money to buy Arsenal Football Club, but you can't hire people to solve this problem??

[Ivan]

Hey @semifed, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Just to confirm, is this happening only when connected to a certain Internet connection? If possible, we'd suggest connecting to a different network. 

If it works with another connection, it’d be a good idea troubleshooting further the original one (for example, by restarting your router). You can also reach out to the service provider of the original network so that they can take a look on their end as well.

Hope this helps. Keep us in the loop here. 

[dooglio]

I just experienced something that maybe might help you guys track down the problem. I was trying to watch the Joe Rogan Peter McCullough interview, but the video window was black the entire time. I started episode #1757 with Robert Malone and lo and behold, the video started working! I watched about 5 minutes or so, then hit "pause". As soon as I hit the pause button, the video immediately went black and nothing I do brings it back, even if I scrub back to the beginning of the episode.

I'm running Mac OS/X Catalina, using the Mac App, with hardware acceleration off and no VPN.

[dooglio]

More color here: I just shutdown the app, removed the entire user folder (/Library/Application Support/Spotify), restarted the app, logged in, and now the videos seem to be behaving right. I pinged back and forth between episodes, starting and stopping, and the videos are working. So maybe this is all a cache issue.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @dooglio,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

We're glad to see that everything's working as it should for you again 🙂

Let us know if we can help you with anything else.

Have a great week 🙂

[dooglio]

More information. I went on a flight so I wanted to listen in the air, so I downloaded the episodes. As soon as I finished downloading, I could no longer view the video. Same behavior as before with the black video window.

[Kiril]

Hey there @dooglio,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop here.

We're sorry to hear you've encountered issues while trying to enjoy podcasts with video, while being offline. Podcasts with video require more time to download and also more bandwidth, so this has to be kept in mind prior to starting the download. Because of this there are some additional settings that could help avoid any unexpected situations in terms of high volumes of mobile data usage.

It's worthwhile to check if you haven't toggled off the Video Download by yourself, in which state, the app continues downloading the audio only. This is an added option to “Download Using Cellular” in >Data Saver>Audio Only Podcasts.
 

Hope this helps. If you need anything else, the Community is here for you.