"Waiting for Connection" can't download songs to Windows 7 PC

[e1eve17]

Whenever I try to download a playlist to my laptop, running windows 7, it just sits forever on "waiting for connection", but it can connect to the internet just fine.  Songs stream without any problems, but I want to be able to download for plane rides and other times without internet.

Downloading worked fine when I first got Spotify, but for about the past 3 months it hasn't worked on my PC.  My phone can still download songs just fine.

Here are some of the things I've already tried:
Uninstalling/reinstalling Spotify

Logging off and back on
Switching connections between wired and wireless internet

Confirming that I don't have more than 3 devices (currently PC, phone, and audio receiver)
Confirming I don't have more than 3,333 songs d/l'ed (I have about 15K on my hard drive, but they weren't from spotify.  The total size of playlists I've asked it to d/l is 641 songs.)

Set up a firewall exemption. Spotify is currently unrestricted.

I can't find any other stuff to try online.  There's apparently some reddit wiki that existed once, but the link is currently broken.  Any other suggestions?

[thetacomplex]

I've got the same problem, haven't found a solution yet though.

[joram-t]

I have the same problem, don't know how to fix it.

[syahrefi]

I do have same problem, stuck on "waiting for connection""
I'm on win 10 pro, mobile broadband connection via usb modem
Tried everything from reinstalling, give permission on firewall and AV, clear up storage

My connection is fine, all other apps can function normally and spotify's streaming also works without any problem

[mqwe]

I have this as well, I have tried everything to fix it, makes me feel like im wasting my money 

[sanriopurin]

This may not apply to everyone, but I found out that:

I would have this same exact problem "waiting for connection" only if I'm connected to a VPN.

The moment I disconnected my VPN connection, the download will immediately start.

[e1eve17]

Doesn't work for me. I have a VPN, but whether or not it's enabled doesn't
seem to have any effect on Spotify.

[Ramsu]

Same problem. Reinstalling didn't help, disabling firewall didn't help, nothing so far has helped. I've tried WiFi and Ethernet. I'm paying for Premium so I expect to get the features that are advertized.

[billsech]

I have VPN, Spotify and the same issue. To fix it I had to shut down the VPN (exit) and then it was still doing the issue of no download. So I had to open the computer task manager and look for the VPN program in the background processes list. Sure enough it was still there which means it hadn't fully closed. So I used the task manager to select in background list and then end the program. After that I disonnected my WIFI and then Reconnected it to get a fresh connection and then opened spotify and it immediatly started to download everything it had on wait. Maybe it could work for others.