Audio Books on Spotify

[#1]

I have just started using Audio books on my iphone - and came across the 15 hour rule - so did not finish my book - I tried to go back this month to finish the Audio book but it is not allowing me to do this - getting very frustrated - any ideas on how to reactivate the book.? I have a full 15 hours available now.

[Ivelina]

Hi there,

Welcome to the Community!

Would you mind sharing some more info so we can get a better understanding of the situation? Does the audiobook appear locked and does it happen with other audiobooks? 

It'd be great if you could also test on another device and if it's working there I recommend logging out > back in twice in a row on your iPhone. This sounds a bit odd, but helps resync your account and the device you're using. 

It's worth mentioning that the availability of free audiobooks can vary over time and in case the audiobook has the lock icon, you should be able to purchase it. For more info, take a look at this article.

Thanks and keep us posted 🙂

[why44]

Plan

Premium

Country

Device

all

Operating System

any

My Question or Issue

Dear all, I've been playing around with the audiobook feature but some of the books I try to hear have some chapters locked? Is this a location issue? a problem with the licenses? I am still puzzled and it is frustrating to start listening to a book to find out later that there is a chapter locked. 

I tried the browser version, windows desktop version and iphone version in different networks and I always get the same.

Glad if somebody can give a hint.

[dmstrat]

I'm having what may be the same problem but ALL my audio books from Bandon Sanders seem to be unplayable.  From my phone app to the chrome browser and even the windows spotify app.  I am unable to play my audio books.  I checked my browser tools and see a critical 403 Forbidden hit on a gue1-spclients.spotify.com POST to /connect-state/v1/player/command/from/ (a uuid or something similar but don't want to give out too critical of info) but seems the 403 is the same response no matter which book I select to play.  I had been able to play them before but now I can't even replay already played books. I've followed the guides on the FAQ, etc.  I was able to play the "sample" for the book, just not the books themselves.  

[Eni]

Hey there @dmstrat, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this here in the Community. 

Could you send us the URI of the books so we can take a closer look? 

It'd also be helpful, if you could send us some screenshots of what you're seeing on your end. You can attach them to your next response by using the Insert image option in the post editor. Make sure not to send any private info.

We'll be waiting for your reply. 

[dmstrat]

Here are the books in question:  

Reproduction steps

USING browser app in Chrome version 131.0.6778.86 (Official build) (64-bit) : 

- be logged into spotify.com 

- navigate to library

- select 1 of my 4 books by Brandon Sanderson purchased via redemption code in 2023 through backer campaign)

- click on the 'play' button/icon/image 

- results: 

  - no play back begins. 

  - this includes attempting clicking on play button/icon/image at the chapter level, played or unplayed chapters.

-- 

using F12 (developer tools) and watching traffic items: 

For Yumi book - POST to https://gue1-spclient.spotify.com/connect-state/v1/player/command/from/e51a9dc644aa51d14f35ad6f217ff...
Result: 403 - Forbidden 
This is the only URL that is constant and does not look like a tracking or 'keep-alive' link or ad server and the only one consistently that URL and not something timestamped, etc. 

It is the same for all 4 books just different UUID (not really, but something like it) in the URL. 

[Dessi]

Hi there @dmstrat,

Thanks for the detailed response, we appreciate it!

If you haven't tried it already, I'd recommend logging out and back in your account twice in a row to make sure everything's synced. It'd also be great if you can try connecting to a different network (different WiFi, mobile data, hotspot) to rule out any connectivity issues. 

Can you also try redeeming the code again here and let us know if it lets you proceed or if you just get a message that it has already been redeemed?

Keep us posted.

[dmstrat]

Thank you for your response. I had tried all the FAQ items like logging
off and on again. I even downloaded the windows app that I had never used
before this problem ensuring that I was working with fresh cached items as
I was required to download the books in order to complete my testing.

[Eni]

Hey there @dmstrat, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Just to confirm, are you able to listen to the books while connected to the internet? Does this issue only happen in offline mode? 

Also, have you tried redeeming the code again with the steps @Dessi sent previously?

We'll be waiting for your reply.

[dmstrat]

Something changed over time on the spotify side I can only imagine.

Without rebooting my machine.
Without logging off/on after the last set of debug/reproduction steps.
and no other action

It suddenly started playing my books.

This has to be something server/account side as the problem was on ALL my
devices and browsers. Now no longer a problem.

Thank you to whomever was able to correct the issue. Wish you could share
the corrective action.