Playback Failed - We’re not able to play this video in your current location.

[L82Day]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone X

Operating System iOS 13.7

(iOS 10, Android Oreo, Windows 10,etc.)

My Question or Issue

Continuing to get the error message on different podcasts I've downloaded :

"Playback Failed - We’re not able to play this video in your current location."  Notably the Joe Rogan Experience.  I can still listen on Apple Podcasts, but come Dec. 1, I won't be able to, any more.  This error message occurs on other podcasts I listen to, but intermittently - also, I am not trying to play video; I only use Spotify for music/podcast AUDIO.  I have uninstalled/reinstalled the app, made sure my location is set to USA. I'm not sure what other things I can do. Please help!

[L82Day]

Hey @slch000,

Thanks for reaching out.

Provided that videos are available in your area, keep in mind that VPN should be turned off to ensure a smooth experience with the playback of videos. 

Hope this is helpful but don't hesitate to let us know if you have any further questions!

[Andbia77]

Same problem here!

[sharpone]

Same. I’m in the US. Come on Spotify...

[FabTees2011]

I am also having this issue - USA, app currently up to date, Spotify Premium

[L82Day]

What’s the deal with this “help” area?  Spotify has not addressed this issue, and it appears that others are having the same problem.  I pay for premium, so shouldn’t Spotify have an area where you can contact them for fixes? 

[L82Day]

Ok so after spending about 2 hours with Spotify chat help, restarting router, RE-uninstalling/installing the app, restarting phone, etc. etc. They said I had to contact apple, that they had sent it to their top tech team and they could not figure out why I continued to get this message. After I stopped the conversation with them, I tried, as a last-ditch effort, to reset my phone to factory settings.  THIS is what fixed the problem.  I did a complete, clean reset of the phone.  Hope that helps! 

[heydj11]

I had the same problem and realized it was my VPN. I shut it off and it works fine after that.

[Ringer95]

I’m a premium member and I have the same problem. I use TotalAV which includes a software VPN that shields my location. But my location is in the US. It seems like Spotify should disable this error for those using VPN if location setting is US and we are paying. Not happy. Considering switching to YouTube music over this

[slch000]

Having same issue.

In Russia but with French vpn (pia).

Somewhat solved it but disconnecting from vpn and hitting play. It started fine, reconnected to vpn, was still good. Could skip around podcast, video and audio were good. But when hit to play another episode, problem rised again - could not play any episode.

So it seems to be some ip filter on load of episode data.

The funny part is I'm fine with playing music with any ip.

[charlizard]

Tried android app, linux client, web client. No luck.

[charlizard]

Ah this would make sense. So they are tracking listeners of the JRE podcast specifically... I find that quite suspicious.

[naiibot]

Same issue here..

[Elena]

Hey there folks,

Thanks for reaching out about this here in the Community!

Apologies for the delayed response, we just came across this thread.

Can you try restarting your router to see if that makes a difference for you? It's also a good idea to turn off your VPN.

We'd also recommend giving this a try on a different network, for example you can start a hotspot of your phone and use that network.

Lastly, we just want to double check if you have the possibility to ask a friend or a family member to log in on your device and give this a shot.

Let us know how you get on! We'll be here in case you have any further questions.

[Haziq1]

Any solutions to this? Its getting so frigging annoying now. Spotify please provide us with a solution to this.

[Haziq1]

Hi there, tried all the solutions but, it didnt help

[Alex]

Hi there folks,

Thanks for your replies.

Some of you mention that you're receiving this error message across devices. Could you try creating a test account with another email address or asking a friend to log in with their account on your device and check whether the same error message appears.

Thanks.

[sharpone]

Wow so a factory reset of the phone is required to listen to JRE? Sorry Joe, guess I won't be listening until I get a new phone. What a joke.

[L82Day]

But if you switch to YouTube, you won’t be able to see Joe Rogan’s podcast, which was my issue for posting this problem in the first place.  It didn’t happen with my other podcasts - which, in itself , is questionable

[L82Day]

Alex- I sat with the online chat help for 2 hours and tried everything you all suggested. Nothing helped and your co-workers just sent me to Apple, saying that they had asked their ‘senior techs’, and that it must be an issue with Apple.  I did a clean re-install on my phone and the JRE podcast worked for a little bit, then I got that stupid message again.  I don’t care if I can SEE the video, but I do want to HEAR it - if I could just disable the video, maybe that message would stop.  I can still listen on Apple Podcasts right now, but if this issue doesn’t get resolved - and it appears there are more than just a few folks experiencing the same thing - and Dec. 1 rolls around, there are going to be some very unhappy JRE listeners

[peter1312]

Have same problem with 'Playback Failed' on my iPhone and I live in Denmark. 

Tried to listen to JRE on iPad and Macbook and here everything works just fine so I'm quite sure this is only a iOS issue.