Yet Another - Spotify Cannot Play This Right Now. Windows 10

[merkurlover]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

PC

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

Let me first start by saying I'VE ALREADY TRIED JUST ABOUT EVERY SUGGESTION OF FIXES ON THE MULTIPLE POSTS ON THIS ISSUE.... Reinstalling, Signing out twice, Clearing all files before reinstalling, Editing App Data. EVERYTHING!

With that being stated, there is one thing I have noticed which may be a huge clue to the main problem. I also use TIDAL, and I notice that when I open TIDAL, a separate volume slider appears in the Windows Volume Mixer (Right click Speaker icon, select open Volume Mixer) to represent that app's volume.

However when I open SPOTIFY, no separate slider appears to represent it.  EVERY SINGLE TRACK I SELECT RETURNS THE MESSAGE: "Spotify cannot play this right now. If you have the file on your computer you can import it."  I already tried editing app defaults in sound settings. Spotify doesn't even appear there! It was working just fine for the many years that I've been a customer, and it works just fine on my Android device. However on the PC, It has just stopped allowing tracks to play.

Another detail worth mentioning: This didn't start until AFTER I installed my Creative Sound Blaster AE-9 sound card.  Spotify desktop app worked just fine for a while, and then suddenly, not at all. I've been through just about EVERY setting in both the Sound Blaster Command app, and Windows sound settings, including setting the speakers as "Default Device" to no avail.

Any help, GREATLY appreciated.

[Dian · Accepted solution]

Hey @merkurlover,

Thanks for posting in the Community.

This definitely looks like an issue with the sound settings of your device.

Could you have a look at this similar thread for a possible solution? The settings may look different on your end, but the idea is the same.

Let us know how it went or if you have any further questions,

Cheers!

[merkurlover]

Hey Dian,
Thanks for the response. After checking out the post you suggested I read, It clued me in to my solution. I didn't have to download any drivers, however for some reason the Output field for the Spotify app in Windows Sound settings was left blank.  But you can only set this while the app is open. Once I selected (Default), Spotify started playing again! Awesome! Thanks for the guidance.  Once again, much appreciated.  

[Jeremy]

Hi @merkurlover,

Thank you for your reply and confirmation.

We're super glad to see that everything works as it should for you 🙂

Let us know if we can help you with anything else! Have a great Friday and start of your weekend!

[merkurlover]

Bad News,

Looks like the issue has returned! For whatever reason Spotify does not show up as an option under the App Volume list in Windows 10 Sound Settings. It was working fine, and now it just doesn't come up.  The app opens but will not play any tracks. I'm puzzled. I haven't changed anything since the last time I played music on the app and it was working. I have restarted my computer a couple times, but that's it.  I'm wondering what is causing this.  All other apps appear just fine.... Just not Spotify.... Very Strange

[Jeremy]

Hi again @merkurlover,

Thank you for getting back in touch with us. We're sorry to see that this issue has occurred again.

Can you remove all lines from your hosts file by following the steps bellow to see if the issue persists:

1. Open Notepad as an administrator (right-click - Open 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 open, you will see a block of text with # in front of each line and might see entries like 0.0.0.0 website.com127.0.0.1 website2.com
5. Check for any entries with Spotify in the address. Examples may look like: 0.0.0.0 weblb-wg.gslb.spotify.com0.0.0.0
6. If you do find any lines with Spotify, please remove them
7. Save your changes and restart Spotify

Let us know how it goes.

Have a great Friday and start of your weekend 🙂

[merkurlover]

Sorry for the late response.

I followed the file path and unfortunately saw no entries in the "hosts" file with Spotify in the name. 

[Jeremy]

Hi again @merkurlover,

Thank you for getting back in touch with us and for trying the troubleshooting steps that's been suggested.

It seems like it might be an issue with the soundcard you've installed. Can you try adjusting the bitrate of the audio output?

If that doesn't work we recommend that you reach out to the manufacturer for more help.

Let us know how it goes 🙂

Take care!

[merkurlover]

Hey!

**bleep**. I don't know what's up. But I restarted the computer, and now Spotify is playing again without making any changes to the settings!  IDK what's up! But something is causing intermittent issues....

Thanks for your suggestions anyway.
Armand