Playback issues: Songs going silent on Android app

[Yordan]

We've received reports from Android users that the progress bar of a song keeps moving but there's no sound coming out. When the app is restarted, the progress bar goes back to the point where the song went silent.

Some users noticed that the issue doesn't occur when the features below are toggled off:

• Gapless playback - found in Settings > Playback
• Equalizer - found in Settings > Audio Quality

[ROBYER1]

I wanted to follow up that I have recorded this happening on my Xperia 1 V for Spotify support. At the 10 minute mark in this video you can hear the audio stops, I left the phone for a while so 10 mins after that near the end of the video I come back and try to play/pause to resume audio then try skipping forward/backwards which eventually restarts the song.

I'm starting to wonder if a Xperia 1 V exclusive feature such as Dolby Audio and DSEE Ultimate which are both on by default are interfering with Spotify playback?

https://youtu.be/gOTSD_M2Qok?si=sWbHdPHlxsuWkXsC

[Larnu]

Plan

Premium

Country

United Kingdom

Device

Sony Xperia 5 II

Operating System

Android 12

My Question or Issue

While listening to music sometimes when the next track plays there is no audio. The app shows that the song is playing, but there is no sounds from Spotify. If I tell the track to start from the beginning, audio is given. If tap the bar to skip to a different part of the song (that could be 1 second prior), I get audio.

This has happened on multiple Bluetooth devices: my car, 2 sets of headphones, and a Bluetooth speaker/radio. It also occurs with both content saved locally and not.

I've ensured I've restarted the application (by force stopping  it) and have restarted the device. The problem still occurs.

Any ideas why this might be occuring and how to fix?

[MihailY]

Hey folks,

@1113736922, thanks for joining the conversation and reporting this.

@ROBYER1, thanks for the video! Would it be possible to disable the features you've mentioned to see if it makes a difference?

Cheers,

[NathanEH]

I am currently having this same issue on a Samsung Galaxy S9. Status bar shows "pause" as if it's playing, but it doesn't play anything. It's been happening intermittently for the past couple months while trying to listen to the Meat Eater podcast. Typically happens when one episode ends, beginning of the next episode stalls out. I've cleared cache, logged out and in, uninstalled and reinstalled. Same issue from several users across several platforms. Its not an internet or SD card or device specific issue. Incredibly annoying to have this happen repeatedly when paying for a premium account. Especially when it looks to be an ongoing issue for users for years. The link above to "this thread" for the "ongoing issue" that's "under investigation" says the issue is "not right now". Well... contrary to that, this is still happening, right now, more than 3 years after this issue was reported. A real solution to this issue from Spotify would be much appreciated!

[schokomc]

Its 2024 now , is there a solution to this problem now. I dont wanna download spotify lite just to fix a problem that shouldt be anyway

[ROBYER1]

I can confirm disabling those features has not fixed the issue. Have you seen all the reviews on the Google Play Store that mention this issue happening to them also? Doing my best to get this escalated currently.

[OliverGuestNo]

I have the same problem. Around 1 in 4 songs randomly start playing silent. The play bar moves, but there is no sound. If i skip forward to the next song then back to the silent one it plays with sound. This happens when no headphones are connected, just playing directly on the phone speakers. 

I have tried clearing the app cache, and storage, and reinstalling. Nothing helps. It is very frustrating. 

Sony Xperia 5V XQ-DE54

Android 14

Spotify 8.9.4.304 Premium Family

[Penguinoid]

I have exactly the same issue on my xperia 10V. It's really frustrating. I wonder whether it's something to do with battery / power management but haven't found any setting that makes a difference so far. 

[Gemini89]

I'm having the same problem. Very intermittent and incredibly frustrating. This morning I barely heard a quarter of 4 consecutive songs without it going silent on me. 

I've tried changing my password and logging out of everywhere to rule out the possibility of two of us trying to use it at the same time, uninstalling and reinstalling, clearing cache. I've double checked my phone settings too.

I updated to android 14 a couple of days before this issue started up.

[AlejaR]

Hey folks,

Thanks for posting in the Community and welcome. 

@Larnu in this case, we recommend you perform a clean reinstall of the Spotify app on your device. By doing that, the app can be up-to-date and you can make sure the cache is not leading to this inconvenience. You can see the steps for a clean reinstall here.
 

Just to confirm, is this happening just when your mobile device is connected to Bluetooth devices or does it happen when the playback comes from the mobile device as well? 

@OliverGuestNo, would you mind opening your account on a different mobile device to see if you can replicate this behavior? It'd be awesome if you could check. You can ask for the mobile device of a relative or a friend to open your account there and check. Please send us the exact Spotify version you're running on your device.

Lastly, does this happen when playing some specific playlist/podcast? Or does it happen no matter what content you choose to play? Make sure your device is up-to-date.

Keep us in the loop!