Local files downloaded but not playing

[dsegs]

Plan

Premium

Device

iPhone SE 2020

Operating System

iOS 13.4.1

My Question or Issue

I have a playlist that includes songs not available on Spotify, so I sync the local files from my desktop to my phone. This worked fine until a few days ago my local files on my phone became unplayable (greyed out). The song is downloaded to the phone (the green arrow shows, see the song called "5334" in the attached screenshot for an example), but I cannot press on it, and opening the menu on it does not show the play option. How can I play my local files again?

[Elena]

Hi there @kadmon and @Rev_Raven1031,

Thanks for posting about this in the Community!

Indeed some synchronization problems might occur if the metadata of your local files is not supported, so it's best to be sure all of it is inputted correctly. Also, as @Mario mentioned earlier, Spotify won't allow you to play files/tracks acquired illegally (e.g. YouTube video converted to mp3) so it'd be great if you'd also double-check the files' source before trying again.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get on.

[Tom0510]

I'm having the same issue as above. Songs play on the desktop version, but not the mobile (Iphone) app. They previously played with no issue. I usually play my songs on a playlist on shuffle and its a mixture of local files and songs added through Spotify. I only noticed because a song came up and skipped to the next song. When I tried to go back, it skipped over it again. I tried all the suggestions. I even took a few songs to test with and converted them to a different format (mp3) and no dice. Any help would be appreciated. And the song showed the length and bitrate in the properties so that wasn't it for me.

[kadmon]

All my downloaded tracks are YouTube to mp3. The first 100 or so worked perfectly fine then I added like 5 new ones and it just skipped over them like @Tom0510 mentioned.

[Ver]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the info.

It's a good idea to make sure that the app is up-to-date.

@Tom0510 Could you share with us screenshots showing how the local files appear on your devices? We'll look into this further.

Keep in mind that files or downloads from illegal sources are not permitted.

Keep us posted.

[sur3]

what are some examples of illegal sources?

[Jeremy]

Hi there @sur3,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

For an example using  YouTube converter.

 The feature is designed to work with:

• .mp3
• .m4p (unless it contains video)
• .mp4 (if QuickTime is installed on your computer)
• .m4a (unless it’s an Apple lossless file; ALAC or ALE)

Let us know if we can help you with anything else.

Take care!

[CapsFan8]

Hey, did you ever fix this? Im having word for word the EXACT same problem.

[Eni]

Hey there @CapsFan8, 

Thanks for reaching out about this. 

Could you let us know which troubleshooting steps you've already tried? That way we can avoid any repeating steps.

We also suggest that you take a look at this article to make sure you've followed the right steps. 

We'll be waiting for your reply.

[Rev_Raven1031]

I did solve it (kind of). For some reason the site that I got some of my
mp3 files from doesn't have the bit rate or length of the song in the
file's description so I just had to download those same songs from a
different site.

[Eni]

Hey @Rev_Raven1031,

Thanks for sharing what worked for you, as it may be helpful for other users too!

If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you.

[CapsFan8]

@Rev_Raven1031 What is the website you used?

[miki21]

Converting the files from .wav to .mp3 worked for me.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @ CapsFan8 and @miki21,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

We're super glad to see that everything works as it should for you again 🙂

@CapsFan8 - can you let us know if you still have issues with this?

Cheers!

[BASHFUNK]

RATHER THAN SEARCH FOR FILE YOU KNOW TO BE ON THE PC 

CLICK LIBRARY AND LOOK FOR LOCAL FILES FOLDER

IF THE TRACK IS NOT IN THIS FOLDER THEN YOU NEED TO MOVE THE FILES INTO THIS FOLDER, THIS FOLDER SHOWS ALL MP3 FILES THAT ARE IN THE MUSIC /DOWNLOAD FOLDERS PLUS ANY THAT OTHER FOLDERS YOU ASSIGN SPOTIFY TO USE

PREVIOUSLY I WAS ABLE TO BROWSE AND SEARCH THIS FILES, NOW I CAN NOT, BUT LIBRARY THEN OCAL FILES IS THE WAY TO FIND THEM

THIS HELPED ME AFTER 3 HOURS OF REINSTALLING ETC

[LeifThaLucky]

Okay, so i followed all the steps but when i upload a local file to your chromebook it works perfectly and i’m able to listen to my music on my chromebook. And the playlist appears on my phone but when i try to play them on my phone it tells me song not downloaded when i have downloaded it on both my phone and chromebook

[Eni]

Hey @LeifThaLucky,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community.

In this case, you can try storing your local files in your phone, and then turn the "Show audio files from this device" on in the app settings.
 

For more info, we suggest that you take a look at this article. 

Let us know how it goes.

[mango3771]

I've had this problem for like 3 years and I just accepted it would never work but I found the solution. Look up "soundcloud to mp3" and look for whatever song it is your looking for on there. Use the website to turn the song links to mp3 on your computer and then put it on whatever playlist you want from your pc. Sorry if this was confusing, it's 4:30 am for me and it feels like I'm in a dream that i'm about to wake up from. If you have any questions, message me on discord its Croc#5870. Best of luck to you all

[mango3771]

By the way, I meant search up the song on soundcloud and then use the "soundcloud to mp3 converter" to turn it into an mp3. then download the mp3 and find it in your local files then download the song to your playlist. Apologies for the confusion

[Thornpath]

jsut kidding! thanks for all your help!!! love your spotify!!!! a very helpful admin told me i had to covert my files to mp3 now everfythings fixed!!! love u spottty 

BTW you might wanna fix the very annoying bug that certain FLAC files can be downloaded on mobile and others must be converted to mp3! it seems this is an issue that has been going on for MULTIPLE years so maybe we should fix that soon 😛 

[S5hy]

This is happening to me. My music library was playing without a problem not a week ago and all of a sudden non of my downloaded songs are playing. These are songs from albums I’ve bought and have downloaded through ITunes legally. Seems like Spotify just need to get**bleep** together and fix their broken feature.