Playback stops automatically on Amazon echo device

[Rdixie]

Plan

/Premium

Country

Uk

Device

Amazon echo dot 

My Question or Issue

hello, 

we use a specific white noise track for our daughter to sleep. For a while now, when we play this on repeat only through our echo dot device, it will stop after a few repeats and require us to press play again in the middle of the night. This disturbs both hers and our sheep. We posted on the original thread about this issue. We’ve subsequently followed all the trouble shooting including ensuring Alexa is up to date but sadly this issue persists. If we play the track through a Bluetooth speaker via Spotify, it stays on all night. It is only when using the echo dog device. Please help! 
many thanks 

Wendy 

[MihailY]

Hey folks,

This should now be fixed. If you're still experiencing the issue, make sure that everything is up to date.

Cheers,

[JenHuntington]

Have the same issue on echo show 8 running fire os 6.5.4.5 (NS6545/3002). Not been working for a couple of months. Songs play for about 30 seconds and then stops. Am a member on a family plan.

[PVjacksons]

Have the same issue. We're playing on grouped echo dots of various generations on a spotify family plan. It will stop mid-stream and then 10 minutes later start playing again. As of about a month or so ago this issue began and has been consistently happening. Don't know how to solve it. We've used the same devices and spotify account for several years so some new issue just popped up. Please advise. Unplugging the devices and replugging doesn't solve it. Seems like updating devices and apps doesn't work for others on this thread. It's not our internet as we don't have this issue when playing Amazon music, only Spotify. We prefer spotify as it has a larger selection and curation but if this doesn't get solved, we'll end our subscription and jump to Amazon. Thank you.

[Myemotions36]

I have 9 echo devices and used to use my "everywhere" speakers to play Spotify on the devices. It keeps skipping songs after a few seconds of play or ir will just stop playing altogether. This has been happening for months and I have tried all of the workarounds. If I play Spotify on 1 device vs the everywhere group, it will play for a few songs and then stop altogether. This has been extremely frustrating. It would better to be told that Spotify and Echo just don't work instead of constantly looking for fixes that do not work. 

[xefier]

My Echo will stop playing after a few songs since early December.  Tried all the aforementioned recommendations and no luck.  Please fix this.

[joshduif]

Read the article, says issue been fixed.  It hasn't.  Updated everything, reconnected everything.  Same issue when trying to play Spotify in multiroom.  However as a trial for last few weeks switched Spotify to Amazon music as choice of provider to play, and that works flawlessly.  When switching back to Spotify, once again multiroom playback doesn't work as it did many months ago.  So it isn't an echo issue, it's a Spotify issue.  

[kogenesis]

Also experiencing this issue when selecting “Everywhere” in iOS Spotify app, which plays thru an Echo, 2x Echo Dots, and a firetv connected to a soundbar. Works fine for a few songs but tends to pause at the end of a song randomly killing all vibes. May switch our family to another app if they can’t resolve this sooner than later 🫠

[#9]

Every time a song plays on my Alexa stops working

[Kcallen]

Same issue here.

[apandazan]

2025 and I’m still experiencing the issue despite always following the steps outlined to fix it. It’s maddening to have to reset it every few months and have it come back regardless.

This issue, paired with the bad algorithm that keeps us in a loop of songs we’re tired of or are being pushed as top hits, is likely going to lead me to end my almost decade long loyalty to Spotify. 

[#12]

2025-01-18 I have an echo studio an have been using Spotify for a long time without problems. One week ago echo studio stopped playing at all, After a few seconds skips to the next song.
Other older echo dot works fine
Bose Amp works fine
Also works fine in my Iphone spotify app.

I have tried all the hints in the other blogs. Update to the last echo software version, soft reset the echo studio, unlink-relink the echo studio in the Alexa App.

Today I made a Hard Reset to the Echo Studio and completely reinstalled. Spotify started to work but after a few songs played a beep and stopped playing (again started skipping to the next song)

Please fix this issue.

Regards
Víctor Pérez

[Joan]

Hi there folks,

For anyone still experiencing this, please provide us as much info as possible so they can look into this further. Namely the following:

• What devices does this happen on?
• What queries did you give it?
• What troubleshooting steps have you tried so far?
• The exact makes, models and OS/Firmware versions of all your affected devices
• The exact Spotify Versions you use.

Keep us posted.

[matiasd]

Hi! 

I have two Echo Dots (3rd Gen and 5th Gen) 

The problem seems to be caused by the 5th Gen. 

I have no problem playing spotify on the 3rd Gen alone, but if I use the 5th Gen or multi-room I get the random pause at EVERY song.

I have been having this problem for many many many months now. Sometimes it works but it keeps coming back. I've read several threads and done everything suggested. 

Only happens with Spotify, other apps work flawlessly. 

Doesn't matter if I start up Spotify from the Spotify app or by talking to the device. Both cases result in pauses. 

[matiasd]

I disabled Advanced Tap Control in the Alexa app and that somehow seems to have solved it. 

My Echo Dot is placed on a glass table, and I guess somehow the subwoofer triggers the tap detection. 

[jaylendwill]

I've been experiencing this issue for the past week. Seems to play fine for a couple of songs, then pauses or turns off the music after about 20-30 seconds of playing. Then continues doing so without end. I have to keep pressing play again or telling Alexa to continue playing Spotify. This is only happening on my Echo Dot.

I have also updated all my apps, firmware, and software. 

[alessio1198]

Same bere, i'm very sick of this.

[ameb1981]

Same issue here
I have an Echo Dot 3rd generation and an Echo Dot 4 generation and a Marshall speaker with Alexa.
The only one that fails to keep playing music is the Echo Dot 4 Gen. The other 2 work flawlessly. 
I had the same issue in the past and it was fixed but started happening again like 2 months ago.
I have tried resetting the router, resetting the echo device, removing the Spotify skill, and linking it again, but none of those have worked. 
It happens if I give a voice command or if I start playback from the phone. 
We needed to change our internet provider, so we thought that could possibly fix the issue, but it keeps happening. 
It only happens in Spotify. Amazon Music, Apple Music, IHeartRadio and TuneIn work fine. 

Echo Dot Software version 12584497540.
Spotify Version 9.0.48.415

[kogenesis]

Solution!
Mech/elec engineer here with Echo devices in every room of my home here. I spent a good amount of time testing to find the root cause of this issue and can definitively state that this is caused by poor wifi connectivity. The thing you need to understand is that any time any one of your Echo devices loses connectivity, all Echo devices will pause on Spotify. It is a weakest link in the chain type of problem. Many people notice that this only happens on Spotify, not on Amazon Music or other services. My best guess is that the Spotify/Alexa integration uses some kind of continuous state feedback loop to keep devices in sync. The moment one Echo drops out of sync with what spotify expects, it chooses to pause playback instead of automatically resuming. Given that other apps don't have this problem, Spotify could absolutely fix this. That said, you can fix it yourself with the following:

---

1. First learn about SNR to test empirically

You might have a fast internet connection and strong wifi signal to your echo BUT if there is a ton of noise from other networks it won't matter. Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) measures how much stronger your wifi signal is compared to the background noise in your environment. You can calculate it easily:

SNR = noise value in dBm minus signal value in dBm

An example, from the Alexa app > your echo device > Advanced Network Information
Signal −60 dBm
Noise −75 dBm
Gives you a signal to noise ratio of 15 dB

Target SNR for stable Echo playback

• 25 dB and above, excellent

• 20 to 25 dB, good

• 15 to 20 dB, fair

• Below 15 dB, unstable and likely to trigger random stoppages

If even one Echo device is struggling, Spotify playback can be interrupted for the entire group.

---

2. Check local channel congestion with a wifi analysis app

Use a laptop to scan your local wifi environment. Good options include

• WiFi Explorer on Mac (I used this)

• NetSpot or WiFi Analyzer on Windows or Android

These tools reveal channel overlap and noise levels. Wifi analyzer apps can provide an overwhelming amount of data. I simply dumped screenshots of tables or graphs into an AI and had it do the analysis for me to have it recommend the quietest band and channels to set our router to.

For me, this improved SNR on all devices by 10-15 db and if that solves the problem for you than great, you might not have to continue to step 3.

Note: When you make changes to your router, avoid staying on automatic channel mode because an automatic channel change during playback can force your Echo devices to reconnect. You might have a single echo device with superb SNR but if you and your neighbour both have auto channel enabled, your two networks might see each other and flip-flop channels every so often, causing you echo to pause!

---

3. Consider placement as physical obstructions can destroy SNR

While I was broadly aware that things like concrete walls could disrupt signal, some other learnings I had:

• A large mirror leaning against a wall completely killed the signal to one of my bedroom Echo devices

• Placing an Echo behind a TV resulted in poor SNR because televisions contain RF shielding

Note for those of you complaining about white noise pausing in the night, a humidifer that emits a cloud of moisture next to your night stand echo can also drop SNR.

---

4. Use AI to diagnose your setup if you are overwhelmed

Rather than spreadsheet these values, I found it much easier to simply open my Echo’s Advanced Network Information panel, take screenshots showing the signal and noise values, and paste them into an AI. Ask it to calculate SNR for every device and output a table that highlights your weakest link. This makes it easy to identify which Echo is causing the dropouts and where to focus your fixes.

---

5. Remember that the weakest Echo controls everything

If you have a mix of generations, older Echo devices often have weaker radios. A single Echo with a poor SNR can pause Spotify for your entire house. You can

• move it to improve its line of sight to the router

• place it on a cleaner channel

• switch from 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz (all devices should really be on the same network)

• or remove it from the room or speaker group entirely

Once I optimized my channels, fixed SNR, and removed physical obstructions, all of my Echo devices stopped pausing randomly and the issue has not returned.

[ameb1981]

I highly doubt it. It only fails in the echo dot 4 gen. In my 3 gen it works perfectly. I suspected something like that and I first put a repeater in that zone so it could have better signal and after I switched the echos so the 4 gen will be next to the router, but the result is the same. The 4 gen even sitting next to the router stops playback, but the 3 gen kept working in the room where the 4 gen was keep working. I don't use multiroom setup, so the playback is always in a single device, no matter where I put the echo, the only one that fails is the Echo Dot 4 gen. Switching from 2.4 to 5GHz won't make any difference. 2.4 has a better signal but there are more devices connected to it.

Anyways, the echo is connected to the 5GHz network with a SNR of 29, so it's pretty solid.The only thing I cannot do is changing the channel because the device provided by my ISP is set to auto. But in the repeater I did it with the same results.

I don't remember where I read that seems to be that the 4+ gen is getting stuck in an instruction after playback starts and that causes the interruption in the playback. 

[Jqkillaloe]

That worked for me. Thank you