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Issue with the Web Player skipping tracks on multiple devices

Submitted by Moderator on ‎2024-11-13 08:31 AM
Status: Old Case Closed

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.

Hey there folks,
 
We really appreciate all your reports so far!
 
Our tech teams have looked into this, but weren't able to reproduce it. Since this issue could be caused by individual network setups, we'll close this thread as the issue is something that will need to be looked into individually or could get resolved by an overall system and/or functionality change.

 

Here are some troubleshooting steps that are worth taking a look into:


Check if there are any pending updates for your browser and install 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 you can find 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 or Ad blockers

 

Aggressive AV or restricted network policies can break DRM or streaming requests. Try disabling them briefly or test with another network. Uninstall any ad-blocker apps.

 

► In case you're using any DJ apps/ software for mixing or creating tunes

 

If you have any DJ apps/software for mixing or creating tunes, try disabling the option to exclusively use a specific sound card. You can try using a different device to verify if the issue is limited to your setup and/ or network.

 


We hope this helps. If you still need a hand, you can start a new topic in the relevant Help board including all the steps you've tried so far and their outcome and we'll take it from there.

P.S. If you're on a non-personal device or network (student laptop, student network, corporate laptop, corporate network) get in touch with the administrator for more help! 🙂

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Top Answer
8hsn9203hz75o47i46yu
Newbie
‎2024-11-15 07:39 PM

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 🙂

Jump to reply
Comments
keefie
Casual Listener
2024-11-12 12:28 AM

i have the same problem, there are no hosts to clear and I cant download the app on my laptop. come on moderators y'all can give us better help...

0 Likes
darkishgirl
Newbie
2024-11-12 12:35 AM

Hi, I've checked the hosts file and nothing to change there. Issue still persists. Please see attachment. I'm surviving using the YouTube mixes for now O.o
Please let us know when you find the solution to this issue. Thank you!

juanpr87
Regular
2024-11-12 01:48 AM

Hello, I had the same issue and I found that the problem (in the case of the web player) is the Widevine plugin. You have to update it to version 4.10.2830.0. Older versions don't work anymore. If you're using Firefox, you have to update it to version 132 and follow some steps because it doesn't update the plugin automatically. Here I explain the steps you could do to update the plugin (it's based on another user's message, which explained the solution for the same problem that had happened before). If you're using some Debian based distribution you can follow these steps to update FF.

 

Hope you can find the solution to this annoying problem.

Regards!

0 Likes
nix2301
Casual Listener
2024-11-12 02:37 AM

Issue for me is just in Webplayer.

 

HOSTS file is a red herring I think, but anything in mine is commented out with # anyway and there's NO entries relevant to Spotify anyway.

 

Windows PC - Pick a song from the start of an album - skips 5 songs then starts playing the 6th, sound is heard until 9 second then sound stops from 10 seconds onward but the song appears to be still playing but if you try and pause and then play it won't start playing and seems frozen. Tried everything suggested, Edge, MS IE, hotspotting to my iphone for a different network / ip address. Nothing makes a difference.

 

I also tried on a MacBook Air, with the exact same results. Skip 5 songs start the 6th and then silence after 9 seconds.

 

Happens in playlists, full albums, popular releases for an artist and even the DJ Beta.

 

Tried connecting to my BOSE Quite Comfort 2 earbuds instead of interanl speakers. Same thing.

 

Note: When using DJ the dude talks but as soon as it goes to play music it just skips 5 songs back to the DJ who talks again then a song starts but goes silent after 9 seconds

 

In both cases sound normally comes from built in speakers and is working for other applications i.e. YouTube etc

 

Works fine on my iPhone.

 

So it's Windows Chrome, Edge, MS IE and Mac Chrome for me.

 

Thanks.

nix2301
Casual Listener
2024-11-12 02:58 AM

Deleted by Author

0 Likes
nix2301
Casual Listener
2024-11-12 03:01 AM
@juanpr87 wrote:

Hello, I had the same issue and I found that the problem (in the case of the web player) is the Widevine plugin. You have to update it to version 4.10.2830.0. Older versions don't work anymore. If you're using Firefox, you have to update it to version 132 and follow some steps because it doesn't update the plugin automatically. Here I explain the steps you could do to update the plugin (it's based on another user's message, which explained the solution for the same problem that had happened before). If you're using some Debian based distribution you can follow these steps to update FF.

 

Hope you can find the solution to this annoying problem.

Regards!

I looked into how to do this in Chrome but it said it was up to date.

 

For those wanting to check their Widevine in Chrome, see this article https://www.vdocipher.com/blog/google-widevine-plugin/#4

0 Likes
nix2301
Casual Listener
2024-11-12 03:21 AM
@Dessi wrote:

Hey folks,

 

As @Mariamentioned, this is currently being looked into, but in the meantime, it'd be great if you can try clearing your hosts file by following the steps here if you haven't tried that already and letting us know if that helped. We'd really appreciate that, thanks!

 

Take care.

To quote Simon The Sorcerer PC game from 1993: "That doesn't work"

0 Likes
21smd7qvl6pkqiegx67q
Visitor
2024-11-12 05:33 AM

I have a similar issue, song plays for 9 seconds then audio stops, but progress bar continues.
I am using Windows PC web browser, not app. It does this for any song, 9 seconds, then silence.

Spotify is unusable now. Restarts, Cache clears, logging in and out, makes no difference. Been like this for 2 weeks now.
It's clearly a Spotify only issue, as Apple music, Sound cloud, etc. works just fine. Only issue with Spotify.

0 Likes
LPatamon
Newbie
2024-11-12 07:21 AM

I have the same issue too, no spotify related urls on my hosts files, I have widevine up to date, and issue is happening on Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge. I have to add that I even tried a clean Firefox profile and I never used spotify on Edge before so no cookies or cache for spotify there.

Good to see I'm not the only one having this issue.

0 Likes
P-M-T
Casual Listener
2024-11-12 07:24 AM

With browser FF actual Version: 4.10.2830.100 it already works, but with Chrome even the current version has the same problem.
If anyone knows how to fix this with Chrome that would be great. Thanks.

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