Issue with the Web Player skipping tracks on multiple devices

[Yordan]

We received reports from users having issues with the Web Player skipping tracks after a few seconds of streaming (usually around 10) and occasionally displaying a "Spotify can't play this right now" error.

[Yordan]

IT's Finally FIXED - and can resume enjoying the music again !!! 🙂
Woah - waited a while in case the faults scame back but web player Spotify has been playing perfectly all afternoon.

Seems Spotify did some code changes the Mozilla Firefox Browser (and other browsers as well by sounds of it), didn't like very much.

Step 1 - Upgraded Mozilla Firefox 32 bit version from an earlier version up to version 115.0.3esr.

'esr' stands for - Extended Support Release'.
These ESR Mozilla releases are to keep the Firefox browser running on the ancient Windows 7 platform.

Version (115.0.3esr) was released (15-Jan-2024)
This made no change !!
Spotify Web Version was still not working.

Then upgraded again from (115.0.3esr) up to (115.17.0esr)
Version (115.17.0esr) was released (28-Oct-2024)
This is browser version is 9 months newer, and less than  3 weeks old as of 2024 11 15 (when this fix was posted).

So possibly (and hopefully) your issue will also be fixed by upgrading your browser to the very latest version 🙂
No idea what got broken, but the plan to Stubbornly Stay With Windows7 (along with the growing millions of other users), should definately be noted by Spotify please?

If the choice comes between W7 and Spotify, huge numbers of users (me included), will be hunting for another music streaming platform.

🙂 Thanks 🙂

[Yordan]

Hey folks,

Could you check if there are any pending updates for your browser and installing them? It's also highly recommended you manually check if the latest version of the Widevine plugin is installed. There's a detailed guide on how to do that in this article.

Below are some additional things you can try. Click on each section to expand it.

► Audio Output & Sample Rate

Make sure Spotify is mapped to a valid audio device in Windows/macOS and that the sample rate isn’t set too high (anywhere between 44.1 and 192 kHz should be okay). Check “App volume and device preferences” and confirm Spotify is assigned to the correct output. You'll find a detailed guide on how to do that here.

► USB DACs or external audio interfaces

Driver conflicts or odd configuration in advanced setups (e.g., gaming headsets, external DACs) can trigger errors. Disabling/re-enabling the device driver or trying a different USB port often helps.

► Clearing hosts file

Check if the hosts file contains any entries with Spotify in the address and remove them. You'll find the steps to do this here.

► Symlinks or moved browser data

If you moved your browser’s cache/profile via symbolic links, check permissions and confirm Widevine is working with the new location.

► Firewall/Antivirus software

Aggressive AV or restricted network policies can break DRM or streaming requests. Try disabling them briefly or test with another network.

Should the issue persist, make sure to include a full list of the details requested in the Status Update above so we can forward them to the team investigating this 👍

[MrKnobs]

I can tell you with great certainty that Spotify works with Windows 7 but not with the last version of Chrome browser available for Win7. Another member of this group has brilliantly taken about his Chrome and discovered there is a small piece of code in Chrome that protects copyrighted material.  That user was able to transplant the newer copyright protection to the old Chrome but it sounds like it takes pretty advanced knowledge.
 Far easier is to simply download the free Firefox browser which works perfectly with Win7 and Spotify.

[janbh]

its still not woking on firefox win 10'

you cant play a song with out it skip abunch and then it just start a random song

[ghiiwa]

Chrome 

windows 7 

still an issue

nothing worked

[BNYTBwpDUAQWKt7B]

This seems to happen to me no matter where I'm playing it (an updated chrome browser on latest version of Windows 11). It seems to be random. Closing the tab or window and opening it a moment later seems to work. 

[Peggie9999]

Same issue here, using the web player on Windows 10.
Happens in both Chrome AND Firefox. I've tried logging out and back in, two different accounts (free). Clearing cache, updating browsers, etc.
Lots of people reporting this issue and not a single fix. Ridiculous.

[graceful2398]

For some reason I can't find a way to make an entirely new post for an issue, so I'm going to reply here since this issue is the most similar to mine. The main difference for me is that it's only affecting my desktop app, the web player works just fine for me. Every time I pick a song to play on the desktop app (no matter what song it is), I get a message saying 'Spotify can't play this right now. If you have a local file, you can play that' I have plenty of storage space on my laptop, I made sure Spotify tabs on other devices were closed, I tried reinstalling the app, I tried looking at my VPN settings in case that could be the issue and disabled my VPN for the desktop app, but nothing has worked. 

Plan: Student Premium 

Country: USA 

Device: Dell laptop 

Operating system: Windows 11 Home 

[p0k3m0n]

This is connected with "Playback issues related to the next song in the queue" - glitch exist since years.

[LynChilds]

I haven't been able to play the songs I want in Spotify for months now and song only plays for around 9 seconds. Bought premium to see if it would resolve problem but still the same. Cancelled premium. Will this ever be fixed

[MrKnobs]

This is pretty well understood now, it's so common. 

If you use an earlier version of Chrome that's why.  Windows 7 works fine, it's a little piece of rights managment software inside Chrome that needs to be updated (not easy to do).

Best bet is to download Firefox and use that to log into Spotify.  Hope that helps in your case. 🙂

Firefox 115.19.0esr solved all my Spotify Problems using windows7 64 bit

[carl2130]

4 months now spotify. multiple browsers, multiple os, your own software still intermittently skips tracks...... FOUR MONTHS. close to 20 songs have now skipped in the last 10 minutes.