Transitions don't play correctly

[Vasil]

Hey folks,

We've been getting reports that the transitions between songs are not being timed correctly the first time you start a playlist. When restarted, the transitions work as expected. 

This is being looked into & we'll keep you posted.

[4udf7_v-e7ztb]

When using the new "Mix" feature transitions, on android, the transitions don't okay correctly when starting a Playlist. I have to start it over, and they all play correctly on the second play. 

[Billy-J]

Hey @4udf7_v-e7ztb, thanks for reaching out to the Community!

Could you try restarting your device? If that doesn't help, try a clean reinstall of the app following these steps. These steps are more thorough than the simple reinstall and can solve common issues.

If you're still having trouble, can you let me know the make and model of the device you're experiencing this on?

Let me know how everything goes!

[4udf7_v-e7ztb]

I can't tell for sure if this fixed it, because it doesn't happen every time. 

What happens is... The first time you play a Playlist, the transitions are sometimes not timed correctly. There might be a second or even a few ms difference from what you set the transition as. On the second play, it corrects itself. I've especially noticed it when I'm connected to a Bluetooth audio device. 

[Billy-J]

Hey @4udf7_v-e7ztb,

Thanks for the information. After you try the steps in my first reply, observe and let me know if the same issue happens again. If that happens every time you connect to an external bluetooth device, there may be a delay depending on the connectivity strength and the audio device you’re using. Make sure to hide sensitive info when posting to the Community. 

Let me know how this goes!

[4udf7_v-e7ztb]

Tried those steps. No luck. 

Confirmed it doesn't only happen when connected to Bluetooth. It happens maybe 60% of the time I start a Playlist, and will play correctly on the second try.

This is on a Samsung S24 ultra. 

[Billy-J]

Hey @4udf7_v-e7ztb,

Thanks for trying those steps! Since this feature is quite new on your device, I’d recommend just keeping the app updated and also reinstall the app following the steps I have provided. 

I will also pass your feedback on to the right folks. If you need a hand with anything else, just let me know!

[user26972912]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone 12 mini

Operating System

iOS 18.6.2

My Question or Issue

I am playing with the new beta "mix" feature. I noticed that when I play a mixed playlist containing a sequence of tracks with similar (but not identical) bpms, the actual transitions between songs can be ~100 ms misaligned from the intended transition that I created.

E.g. if I have a playlist with tracks A -> B -> C -> D where A, B, C and D have similar (but not equal) bpms, and begin playback from A, transition C -> D will be misaligned. However, if I stop the playlist and restart from C (or even B), the C -> D transition will play properly.

The bug is somewhat difficult to reproduce because it seems song-dependent. It also (frustratingly) appears to take a couple songs before it manifests. But it appears to be consistently reproducible for a given playlist. E.g. if C -> D is misaligned if I start playback from A, then C -> D will always be misaligned if I start playback from A.

I realize this is still a beta feature, so wanted to report this specific bug so that the team behind the feature is aware. I can also share a minimally reproducible example playlist demonstrating the bug if that is helpful. This bug unfortunately makes the feature unusable for a lot of playlists since the misalignment is very distracting (DJs call it "trainwrecking"), and most ppl will not want to bother with constantly stopping/restarting songs while listening.

My guess is that it is related to speeding up / slowing down beat-matched songs with similar bpms. The misalignment appears to be more severe if the bpm difference between the songs is greater.

[b7lmf8m264mqrsh6kpgm]

I noticed this problem with mixed playlists as well. It’s frustrating because I don’t think I’ve had one successful run through without having to pause or restart a song leading up to the transition to ensure it will line up. I’m patient and hopeful that these bugs will be fixed soon as it is just in beta, and i’m excited to continue playing around once this bug is fixed!

[undergrounddavidf]

yeah having the same issues here, I've been using this feature to mix a lot of dance music and I've gone to painstaking effort to ensure beat matching and transitions are perfect, then when you play them back within a playlist they are completely out of sync. I get that it's still in a beta phase and hopefully whatever method Spotify is using to save this data improves

[Billy-J]

Hey @4udf7_v-e7ztb, @b7lmf8m264mqrsh6kpgm, @user26972912,

Thanks for posting and sorry to hear you’re having issues. Let’s try some steps here to see if we can narrow down the root cause. First, can you try logging out > restart device > log back in? If that doesn’t work, can you try a clean reinstall of the app following these steps?

If you’re still having trouble, if possible, can you check to see if this happens on another device or account to see if that makes a difference. If it doesn’t, try to see if connecting the Spotify app to an external device and if switching to a different internet connection makes a difference. 

In case I need to take a closer look, please let me know:

• the make and model of the device you’re experiencing this on
• current operating system of the device you’re using
• as well as the Spotify version you’re currently running

Let me know how this goes!