Playback Restricted Devices Greyed Out

[Wesmond1]

I cannot connect my Spotify to echo devices anymore. All devices greyed out and read 'Playback Restricted'. Have tried deleting and reinstalling Spotify and Alexa apps, clearing cache, resetting wifi, unplugging and re-powering echos. All to no avail. Work-arounds very welcome

[VeryGrumpy]

I hope I am not tempting fate but a recent Spotify update seems to have resolved my issues. I’m not using Alexa etc, just manually using phone or comp to control a streamer or Sonos speakers. The last week or so things have been working seamlessly as they should.

[NurseCupcake]

Turning off the explicit filter in the Alexa app fixed this for me. Tap Play in the bottom middle, then the gear in the upper right. Turn the filter off. That immediately re-enabled the greyed out Echo Dots in the Spotify devices list. 

[Hh30001000]

Hi, I have the same problem. I’m using echo dot 4, the new echo studio, Teufel called Holist M and the last Spotify and alexa versions on iOS 16.1.1

[ordinaryishnico]

I had this problem. my solution was go into the alexa app, rename the device you’re using to play the music. mess with it, try it a few times. i believe it was getting confused because my device name and my room name in the smart home was the same. if your room name and device name is the same, change it. say you have the room name as kitchen, and your alexa device is also called kitchen. change the device name to “kitchen alexa”, or something similar. hope this helps. 

[VeryGrumpy]

FFS, installed the latest iOS update on my phone yesterday and that instantly reinstated the problem!

[Mojjaba]

Jeremy, a spotify representative, what has been done to resolve this playback restriction issue? 

[OscarDC]

Hey @Mojjaba,

Welcome to the Community and thank you for joining the conversation.

Some of our users have mentioned that forgetting the Spotify skill in the Alexa app, then relinking them seems to do the trick in most cases with those devices. We'd recommend trying this to see if it makes any difference. Keep in mind also that certain podcasts are unplayable through Spotify Connect in general.

In case you have a different speaker, you can try setting the DNS server address to 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 in your router's settings and on your device's app as well.

Let us know how it goes.

[Gottstem]

Hi - the above response includes "Keep in mind also that certain podcasts are unplayable through Spotify Connect in general."

• Why is this, and what is the cause (i.e. intellectual rights, etc.)?
• Is the population of "certain podcasts" known, or otherwise listed?
• Is Spotify working on a resolution?

Thank you

[eze30000]

Hello everyone. I have this issue as well and I totally regret selling my homepods mini and replace them with 4 echo dot 4th gen... 

I cant plat music from my iphone since speakers are shown as Playback Restricted.. I read read read a lot of pages and possible solutions. and nothing worked. I tried everything!.. I notice that my ECHO SHOW 8 is showed but the echo dots no... 

Today apparently found a workaround... I log into spotify web and I could see all the echo dots (recently re-configured) properly.... but if I opened the app in my phone, the playback was restricted.. so I check again in the web and it worked... I added a new echo (let's say ECHO4), and it did not worked on my iphone.. but inmediatly appeared in the web player...  so I uninstalled spotify from my iphone, and access it via chrome (ios).. and it worked.. all the echos were available.. so I totally realize that it is an issue with SPOTIFY app.

Please, try to access spotify from your web browser in your phones and see it that works..

[eze30000]

well, it worked for some time, but it is DEFINITELY a SPOTIFY issue. I would consider migrating to other service.

[sofanumber2]

forgetting the Spotify skill in the Alexa app, then relinking it... this fixed the problem for me!!!

[zbejsjah]

Same here. I can't connect Spotify to my PS5. Never had this problem on any other devices.

[nycgallerygirl]

I’m having same issue with Spotify app songs and podcasts unable to play on new Echo Studio and Echo dot Generation 5- when trying to play from Spotify App from my iPhone. Both individual and group speaker Echo sets are greyed out and say Playback Restricted. Sometimes the speakers have been available to play fine, but often it shows up as Playback Restricted and I can’t select them and connect. Not sure why sometimes it works and sometimes it’s not available- can happen on same day. Also when I try to connect via Bluetooth and play via Spotify app to the Echo Studio is plays a few seconds then makes a loud popping noise and stops mid-song and does not resume playing. 

[Cornflakes_1]

I had the same problem with all my alexas, but when I disabled and enabled the Spotify program on the Alexa app then it was fixed! Hope this helps someone 

[eze30000]

All my devices are grayed out in Spotify...but if I ask Alexa to play music in XXXX speaker, it works. and then it is available in spotify... it also works for group of speakers... for example:

I have 5 echo dots:

-Playroom

-Kitchen

-Living

-Main Room

-Garden

and 2 groups:

- Inside (Kitchen, playroon and living)

- All (kitchen, playroom, living, garden and main room)

If I ask Alexa to play spotify in Playroom or even in "inside" it works and I can see the speakers/groups in spotify (and manage volume).

So, for now, it is working and it works for me... it is not the ideal situation, but works.. until spotify or amazon provides a real solution. 

Try and share your experience.

[Echopotty]

Well seems everyone who has solved problem used a different route. I got so frustrated that left it alone because my problem came after I added a 5th Gen echo dot to my group, moved echoes around and renamed them to reflect their new location.  I deleted, reinstalled, the app multi times, and finally unpaired and paired the devices in Alexa, making sure she recognized all the new names. 
Then went back to Spotify app, deleted the cache, and HERE was the different move: I shut down the iPad BEFORE trying to delete and reinstall Spotify, but AFTER deleting the cache. Then  turned off ALL the echo devices, and turned them back on, and voila, Spotify not only listed all the devices with their new names but also the groups and no playback restricted message.

i still would like to rename my echoes to a shorter easier name, but I’m so paranoid at this point now that won’t touch the thing!

[New user]

On the iphone app only My Alexa speakers are greyed out. But it works fine via the web browser.