Have you ever been jamming out to your favorite playlist on Spotify, really feeling the music, when suddenly that little green bar stops moving and the tunes cut out? Annoying, right? There are few things more frustrating than having your Spotify streaming interrupted by unexpected pauses and buffering.
If your Spotify keeps pausing on you, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Many Spotify users deal with this pesky problem from time to time. The good news is, there are usually some simple troubleshooting steps you can take to get your music flowing again. In this blog post, we’ll break down the most common reasons why Spotify pauses and buffers, along with some tips to fix it.
Reasons Why Spotify Keeps Pausing
There are a few key culprits that typically cause Spotify streaming interruptions:
Poor Internet Connection
The most obvious and common reason Spotify keeps pausing is a slow, unstable, or congested internet connection. Spotify streams a constant flow of music data to your device. Any hiccups, lag, or bandwidth constraints with your home Wi-Fi network or cellular data service can disrupt that stream. Verify you have a strong, high-speed connection whenever using Spotify.
Bandwidth-Hungry Apps
Do you tend to have multiple browsers windows open while streaming Spotify? Or maybe you’re also running bandwidth-heavy applications like video chat or gaming services. When there’s too much bandwidth demand from different apps and services on your device, Spotify gets starved of data flow and pauses to buffer more music. Close out any unnecessary apps hogging your internet bandwidth.
Server Hiccups
Once in a while, the cause of Spotify buffering has nothing to do with your device or internet connection. Spotify’s servers also can occasionally glitch on their end, leading to music disruptions. Not much you can do when it’s an internal server issue, apart from trying again later.
Outdated App Version
Like any software application, the Spotify app releases updated versions periodically. Failure to update to the latest Spotify version can sometimes lead to performance issues that mangle music playback. Be sure to regularly check for and install app updates to stay current.
Extensive Ad-Blocking
Do you utilize an aggressive ad-blocker to limit promotional ads? That might inadvertently block crucial music streaming data. Try whitelisting Spotify under your ad-block settings. Also check your network firewall to ensure it’s not choking the data flows.
Excessive Downloads
Downloading Spotify songs or playlists for offline listening requires bandwidth too. If you’re actively downloading a queue of songs while trying to stream music, pauses can occur. Hold off downloading until you’re done streaming.
Account Limitations
In rare cases, pausing arises from limits imposed on free or ad-supported Spotify accounts. Premium Spotify subscribers get priority bandwidth allocation, so upgrading your account could help.
How to Troubleshoot and Fix Spotify Pausing
The key is pinpointing the exact culprit causing your Spotify streaming interruptions. Here are some general troubleshooting steps to uncover and remediate what’s disrupting your musical flow:
Check Internet Strength
Run a speed test of your Wi-Fi or cellular data connection to quantify bandwidth rates, latency levels and overall health. If speeds are low or the connection seems unreliable, address any network issues or switch to a stronger signal.
Inspect Bandwidth Usage
Use your device’s task manager to view all processes and apps consuming bandwidth in the background. As noted above, things like browsers, video apps, updates, games, etc. could be hogging capacity needed to stream smoothly. Close out unused processes.
Update the App
Go into your device’s app store, search for Spotify, and see if any pending app updates are available to install. Keeping Spotify fully updated often fixes performance glitches.
Toggle Online Mode
Open Spotify’s settings and ensure ‘Online Mode’ is enabled under ‘Playback.’ This may have gotten switched off, forcing Spotify into a problematic offline mode.
Reinstall the App
If all else fails, a fresh reinstallation of the Spotify app can work wonders. Uninstall completely, reboot your device, then download and reinstall Spotify as if new. Log back into your profile and see if that cleared up any lingering issues.
Contact Support
For recurring Spotify pausing that you just can’t seem to resolve on your end, submit a support request to Spotify describing your issues in detail. There may be an obscure technical glitch on Spotify’s servers only fixable on their end. Provide logs and specifics that can aid their troubleshooting process.
Embrace Offline Mode Temporarily
Since streaming hiccups typically stem from bandwidth constraints somewhere, you can sidestep the whole mess by intentionally switching Spotify into offline mode. Download whichever playlists or albums you want available and disable the need to stream from Spotify’s servers. Playback locally until you get your connection issues fully straightened out.
Investigate ISP Throttling
In rare cases, internet service providers intentionally throttle or deprioritize bandwidth for Spotify’s streaming music data. See if you can find any information on potential ISP throttling practices related to Spotify or multimedia streaming protocols. Switch ISPs or complain loudly to customer service if intentional squeezing of your Spotify data is confirmed.
Wrap Up
With millions of songs at your fingertips, interruptions to your Spotify streaming are especially disruptive. Diagnosing the exact points of failure along the pathway from Spotify’s servers to your ears is key to smoothing out the playback. In most cases, common issues like poor Wi-Fi, crowded bandwidth, outdated apps or temporary glitches can be easily corrected once identified. But even the occasional need to embrace offline mode is better than a musical experience plagued by repeated pausing. Hopefully with the troubleshooting tips above you’ll have your Spotify snags sorted out promptly. Now get back to singing along horribly off-key to all your favorable tracks!
