Spotify investigating bug where songs start 30 seconds in after ad breaks on Web Player

Spotify has officially acknowledged a bug where songs start 30 seconds after the ad ends, on the web player. Free users report that the tracks jump 30 seconds ahead of the moment that advertisements finish.

In the community post, Spotify has specifically stated that they’re aware of this issue affecting the web player, and that the tech team is actively working on resolving the problem. They did not give a specific timeline for when the issue will be fixed. However, they did say they’ll keep users posted once there’s any news to share. 

The bug works in a specific way. Anywhere between two and four ads, each of 30 seconds, play first. The next song begins during the final ad, or right after it ends. However, listeners notice that the track is already 27 or 30 seconds in, and they’ve just missed out on listening to the intros of their songs. This thread is the source of most of the information in this article, and the replies under this Reddit post.

Many noticed that the songs started skipping around a few days ago, and reports come from various devices. It’s not isolated to a specific browser or OS, since reports come from MacBook web sessions, Chrome on Windows, Xbox, PS5, LG TVs, and even Meta Quests.

For some extremely unlucky users, the song jumps three or four minutes ahead, which ruins the experience of using the web player entirely. 

People have tried basic fixes, though none seem to help. This is clearly not a user error, and it’s an issue on Spotify’s end. Clearing browser cache didn’t seem to help. A few people report that playing in Incognito mode or refreshing the browser after the ad may help. The simplest solution is to drag the progress bar back to the beginning of the song. 

Since the thread on the Spotify Community is still active, I assume we’ll get further updates there. So either bookmark that page or check back here since we’ll update the article if and when there are any further developments.

We stand out from the tech-media crowd because we break news stories; we mainly bring you stuff that you won’t find anywhere in the mainstream tech media. Our stories have been picked up by some of the world’s most popular websites and media outlets—more info is available here.