New podcast episodes on PS5 will not play

[whalleyrulz]

Plan

Premium

Country

US

Device

Playstation 5

My Question or Issue

The latest episodes of several podcasts will not play any more, ever since the latest PS5 update. I'm experiencing this with My Brother, My Brother, and Me, as well as a few other podcasts.

When I select them (and only the latest two episodes, nothing that came out before the latest PS5 OS update) the app attempts to play for about 5 seconds, and then automatically skips to an entirely different podcast. I have noticed that if the podcast it tries to skip to ALSO does not work (for example, during testing earlier it skipped to a podcast named Wonderful) then the app will not try to redirect me again - however, it does not play any audio. I can play older episodes that came out before the latest PS5 update just fine. I do not know how many podcasts this issue affects, as I don't listen to many, but I have noticed it on MBMBAM, Wonderful, and Quick Question with Soren Bowie and Daniel O'Brien.

This only occurs on PS5 - I can play these just fine on my phone, or on the desktop app.

I have tried playing by searching for the podcast in the app, by adding episodes to my "Your Episodes" list, and by casting to the device, both from my Android phone and from my partner's phone which is logged in on an entirely different account. No matter how I try to play them, the same thing happens.

While testing, I tried uninstalling the Spotify app and reinstalling it, I tried clearing my console's cache and rebuilding storage, I even - at the recommendation of someone in customer service - tried connecting my PS5 to my phone in hotspot mode in order to use an entirely different internet connection, but the same issue occurred no matter what.

The customer service agent recommended I create a thread here, as they believed that the app may just need a catch-up update. If this is not the case, I would love to know how this could even happen - I'm a software developer by day and I am wracking my brain trying to work out how "some podcasts don't work on one specific device even after uninstalling and clearing cache" could occur.

[pgiceman]

Nope, updated and still skips...

[Evil_Noah]

I'm willing to bet everyone has the exact same version of Spotify and PS5 firmware. PlayStation tends to update things automatically when you have the system set to do so, which I think might be on by default. Continuing to ask people for system info is just a way for Spotify to make it look like they're doing something, when obviously they're not doing jack all about it. I've been dealing with this same issue as everyone else for the past few months, and not a damn thing has been done about it. So please, stop asking for info when you already have info to work from. You're not fooling me. 

[seancuenyy]

Absolutely pitiful customer service. Glad to know this isn’t even close to being solved. Is this issue going to get fixed while I’m still alive? P.S. Same version as literally everyone else!!! 

[seancuenyy]

Also still skipping for me sadly. Can’t wait to hear back from them in another month asking what version I have!

[pgiceman]

And just to give them input:

PS5 Version: 24.01-08.60.00


*Spotify: 1.008.000 the most recent avaliable that has not been updated
since last year October ...*

[MurphyslLawyer]

I cannot listen to the podcast "Stay forever" via my Playstation 5 App. I usually start the podcast on my phone, which works fine, and then switch over to my PS5 with Spotify connect. Playback stops immediately and cannot be started. It will then go to some random episode of that podcast and stop. It can also not be started via the App on PS5 directly. Other podcasts I tried seem to work fine and also the second podcast with bonus content for steady supporters of the same people works fine.
I already reinstalled the App on my PS and phone, deleted the cache, unlinked and relinked my PS and Spotify account, nothing helped.

[abc777362]

Absolutely, this sort of response is disheartening and frustrating. I understand they have to run through FAQs but at a certain point they need to be able to think critically. If this many people are having the SAME problem then clearly it's not the fault of the individual 

[abc777362]

The last response from a customer service rep was 10 days ago. This is absolutely unacceptable considering this is a paid service

[whalleyrulz]

Coming up on four months now...

I've had a PS5 OS update, I'm now on 24.01-08.60.00, but the problem persists. It's pitiful.

[pgiceman]

So any word on, is this something Spotify can fix or when does the next Spotify PS5 Update come out? Or is it a Sony thing and you can't change it anyway?

Any kind of communication from the support team (other asking for version numbers) would be appreciated.

[OscarDC]

Hey folks,

Thank you for your messages.

We can confirm that the right folks are aware of the situation and are currently working on a solution for this issue. We don't have a specific date for this to be resolved, but we hope it will be as soon as possible.

We'd also recommend having your Spotify app updated on your PS5, so you don't miss any improvements coming your way.

If anything else comes up, don't hesitate to ask.

[Yodazer]

I’m having problems with this as well. It’s same system as other above. I’m glad to know I’m not the **bleep** and everyone else is having issues as well. All I want to do is listen to podcasts and play snowrunner. How hard is that?

[tyulkjhg]

same problem here. 2 of the pods i listen to just skip on my ps5. been like this for months 

[whalleyrulz]

Absolutely nobody communicated this in here, but just so some of you are aware, it seems Spotify pushed a recent update and now I can play these podcasts again. I don't know if the push or fix is available for everyone, I don't know what they did, I just know that something changed, the PS5 UI looks different to the last time I tried it over a month ago, and it's working.

I don't feel like I should be the one communicating that they've tried something or that something may be working. I almost didn't want to report back on this, but I wanted to let people know, because Spotify's tech team clearly doesn't care about communicating with its community.

[Scodiac1]

Thanks for the update.

[tyulkjhg]

Thanks for the update, they now work. can’t believe it took this long plus they didn’t even announce it’s been fixed lool 

[Juhat]

It is Swedish company, it will take years before they will do anything 

[judithmcelroy]

It sounds like a glitch introduced by the latest PS5 update. Have you tried using the Castle app for podcast streaming? It tends to handle updates better, and may resolve the playback issue you're facing with newer episodes.

[judithmcelroy]

I have also facing the same issue on my clients websites: Castleapp.org