Spotify Can’t Play This Right Now: Here’s What to Do

Have you ever been trying to listen to your favorite album on Spotify, only to be met with the error message, “Spotify can’t play this right now?” This is a common error that pops up with Spotify’s music player that cannot be fixed by simply switching to another song and back again, or even another album by a different artist and then back again. 

The issue becomes extremely frustrating as Spotify provides no feedback on why the problem is occurring or how to fix it. In many cases, the only recourse is to try restarting the app or your device, which is often unsuccessful. And when the problem does eventually resolve on its own, it can be difficult to remember where you left off. So, let’s dive into why the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message pops up and how to fix it to get your music flowing again.

What does the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message mean?

The error message, “Spotify can’t play this right now,” is not the only version of this message you may encounter related to this specific playback problem. There are actually a few different messages that may pop up, as some users may be on Spotify’s subscription while others may be “free users.” 

• Spotify can’t play this track right now. 
• Spotify isn’t able to play this song right now. 
• The track is unavailable. 
• This track is not playable in your country/region. 
• Spotify can’t play this right now. If you have the file on your computer, you can import it into Spotify.
• Songs cannot be played from other external receivers.
• Song playback fails to start on all tracks (MAC/PC).
• Song playback fails to download local files/fails to download some of the local files.

If you see the track is not playable or available in your country/region, this simply means that you’re trying to play a song that is not available in your current country. If Spotify asks you to import a file from your computer, this usually means that you’re having network problems or that Spotify is having trouble communicating with its servers. 

Regardless of what version of this error message you get, they all mean the same thing – Spotify is having trouble playing a particular track or series of tracks in a particular album.

Why do you see the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message?

There can be a few reasons why this error message is popping up. We’ll go over some of the most common reasons below:

• You’re Not Connected to the Internet. One of the most common reasons this error message appears is because you do not have an active internet connection. In order to use Spotify, you need to be connected to the internet either through cable, WiFi, or a mobile data plan. If you’re not connected, Spotify will not be able to play any music.

• Your Device is Offline. If you’re trying to play Spotify through your mobile device and you see the error message, “Spotify can’t play this right now. You’re offline,” this means that your device is not connected to the internet. As we mentioned above, in order to use Spotify, you need an active internet connection.

• Your Spotify App is Out of Date: Another common reason this error message appears is that the Spotify app on your device is out of date. In order to use Spotify, you need to have the most up-to-date version of the app installed. You can check for updates in the App Store (for iOS devices) or the Google Play Store (for Android devices).

• Your Spotify Account is Out of Date: If you have a Spotify premium account, it’s possible that your subscription has lapsed or is no longer active. In order to use Spotify premium, you need to have an active subscription. You can check the status of your subscription by logging into your account on the Spotify website.

• You’re Trying to Play a Song That is Not Available in Your Country: As we mentioned above, this error message appears when you’re trying to play a song that isn’t available in your country. Spotify has different licensing agreements in different countries, so some songs may not be available to play in all countries.

• You’re Trying to Play a Local File: Spotify is designed to stream music from its servers. If you’re trying to play a local file that is not stored on Spotify’s servers, you may see the error message, “Spotify can’t play this right now,” as it’s not available on Spotify’s servers. 

• Spotify’s Servers Are Down: Finally, it’s possible that Spotify’s servers are down or experiencing some sort of technical issue. This is usually not the case, but it’s possible. If Spotify’s servers are down, you will not be able to play any music.

If you are receiving the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message, there are a few things you can try to do to fix the issue, which we will cover in the next section below. 

9 ways you can fix the Spotify can’t play this right now error

Now that we’ve gone over some of the most common reasons why you might see the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message, let’s talk about how to fix it. Before jumping into the troubleshooting steps below, make sure to try the basic step of signing in and out of your Spotify account to see if that fixes the issue. If it doesn’t, then start moving through the steps below. 

1. Check your internet connection.

Make sure that you’re connected to the internet, or you have a secure and strong mobile data connection. If you’re offline, you’re not going to be able to play any music. When possible, try to use an Ethernet cable, as this will give you a stronger and more reliable connection to the internet.

2. Restart your device.

Another troubleshooting step you can take is to restart your PC, Mac, or mobile device. This method will close all open apps and clear your device’s memory. Sometimes, this is all you need to do to fix the issue.

3. Disable hardware acceleration within the Spotify player.

If you’re still seeing the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message after checking your internet connection and restarting your device, try disabling hardware acceleration within the Spotify player. To do this:

On Windows

1. Open Spotify and click the three dots in the top-left corner of the window. 
2. In the drop-down menu that opens, mouse over the View option.
3. Finally, uncheck the Hardware acceleration option.
4. Restart your Spotify application to see if the issue persists. 

You can also disable hardware acceleration in the Advanced settings under the Compatibility section. Simply click on your username, head to Settings, and scroll until you see the Compatibility section. Toggle the option off to disable and restart. 

On MAC

1. Open Spotify and click the “Spotify” name at the top of the Window.
2. Uncheck Hardware acceleration from the drop-down menu.
3. Restart your MAC.

The purpose of hardware acceleration in Spotify is to optimize how music is decoded and played back to you. Sometimes, things can get a little wonky with this setting turned on, which is why disabling it can help fix playback issues. 

4. Delete the local files cache for Spotify.

If Spotify is still not playing songs, you can try deleting the local files cache for Spotify. This cache collects your information, such as your past searches, liked songs, and downloaded songs. If this local files cache becomes corrupted or damaged, it can cause errors like the “Spotify can’t play this right now” message.

On Windows

1. Close down Spotify completely. 
2. Head to the local hard disk where Spotify is installed. (Drive C in most cases)
3. In the local disk, click on the folder titled users. 
4. Then find your PC name, and click into the AppData folder.
5. Click into roaming, Spotify, and users. 
6. Delete the file titled: local-files.bnk
7. Now reopen Spotify and try playing your music. 

On MAC

1. Close down Spotify completely. 
2. You will want to go to users -> username -> library and into application support.  
3. Once in application support, find Spotify and enter users again.
4. From here, find your Spotify username and click into that folder.
5. Delete the local-files.bnk file. 
6. Now reopen Spotify and try playing your music. 

5. Change up the music streaming quality.

If you are paying for a premium Spotify account, then you may have access to songs that have a much higher quality to them. However, if you cancel your premium account and drop down to a free account, you may get prompted with the “Spotify can’t play this right now” if you try to play a high-quality song. To change the music streaming quality, do the following:

1. In the Spotify application, click on your username in the top right-hand corner. 
2. Choose settings from the drop-down menu. 

3. In settings, scroll down until you see a section called audio quality.
4. Streaming quality will be the first option available.
5. In the drop-down menu, change it from high-quality or very-high quality down to normal or automatic. 
6. Once you’ve done this, restart Spotify and see if the issue has been fixed. 

6. Disable crossfade in advanced settings.

Crossfade is an advanced feature that provides users with a smooth transition between songs. This feature ensures that your listening experience is a pleasant one. However, it is possible that this is what is causing the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message. You can try disabling crossfade to see if it is the issue.

1. In the Spotify application, click on your username in the top right-hand corner. 
2. Choose settings from the drop-down menu. 
3. In settings, scroll down until you see a section called playback. 
4. Make sure that crossfade is toggled off. 

6. If you don’t want to turn it off completely, you can have crossfade toggled on, but change the value from 5 seconds to 0 seconds. 

7. Restart Spotify and see if the issue has been fixed. 

7. Change the playback device. 

If you have multiple devices connected to your Spotify account, it’s possible that the issue is with the playback device you are using. To see if this is why Spotify is not working, change your playback device:

1. Open Spotify and click on the Devices available icon in the bottom right-hand corner. 
2. A list of all available devices will pop up. 
3. Click on the device you want to use, and Spotify will automatically change to that playback device. 
4. Once you’ve changed your playback device, restart Spotify and see if the issue has been fixed. 
5. You can read more about pairing multiple devices with Spotify here. 

8. Make sure unavailable songs are showing. 

If you are in the habit of downloading songs to your computer from Spotify that later on get deleted from the Spotify database, or you have traveled to another country, the song playback may not work as it may be unavailable. To see if a song is unavailable, you have to toggle this setting on.

1. Click on your username in the top-right hand corner, and choose settings from the drop-down menu.
2. Under settings, scroll until you see the display section.
3. Now toggle on the show unavailable songs in your library option. 
4. Once you’ve done this, restart Spotify and see if the issue has been fixed. 

9. Reinstall Spotify.

If you’ve tried all of the above troubleshooting steps and you are still seeing the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message, your last resort is to reinstall Spotify. To do this:

On Windows

1. Close the Spotify application. 
2. In your computer’s search menu (Start), search for “control panel”. 
3. In the Control Panel, click on Uninstall a Program under the Programs heading. 

4. A list of all the programs installed on your computer will pop up.
5. Find Spotify in the list and click Uninstall.

6. Once Spotify has been uninstalled, restart your computer. 
7. Then, go to the Spotify website and download the Spotify application.
8. Once you’ve done this, install Spotify and see if the issue has been fixed. 

On MAC

1. Open up Finder on your MAC.
2. Find the applications folder and click into it.
3. Choose Spotify from the applications folder.
4. Right-click on Spotify and move it to the trash.

Conclusion

We hope that this blog post helped troubleshoot the “Spotify can’t play this right now” error message, and Spotify is now playing songs as usual. If you have any other questions or issues related to Spotify not working correctly, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Let us know in the comments below if one of our steps has helped you out. Happy listening!