Spotify is down for many right now —here's what we know about the outage

Spotify is down for thousands of users today, with the music streaming app showing error messages for many and experiencing playback difficulties.

<![CDATA[ <article> <div class="live-content"><p>Spotify is down for thousands of users today, with the music streaming app showing error messages for many and experiencing playback difficulties.</p><p>The problems started at around 10.32am ET / 2.32pm GMT, when a large spike on Downdetector showed a high number of users were experiencing issues — mostly with the mobile app.</p><p>At the time of writing, reports on Downdetector have hit over 15,500 in the US and over 3,600 in the UK. Right, now there's been no official word from Spotify about the issues, but here's everything we know so far...</p><div style="min-height: 250px;"> <div class="kwizly-quiz kwizly-Xk80Me"></div> </div> <script src="https://kwizly.com/embed/Xk80Me.js" async></script></div><div class="live-content"><time datetime="2026-09-29T14:35:21+00:00">September 29, 2026 – 10:35 AM</time><h2 id="39-something-went-wrong-39">'Something went wrong'</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:1600px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="3fmWqRrcU8KzbNipPMVbXQ" name="Spotifydown-1" alt="A graph on Downdetector showing a Spotify outage" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3fmWqRrcU8KzbNipPMVbXQ-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="1600" height="900" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Downdetector)</span></figcaption></figure><p>While Spotify is currently working okay for me, <a href="https://downdetector.com/status/spotify/" target="_blank">Downdetector</a> is showing a huge spike in reports of issues in both the US and UK – with many reporting a "something went wrong" error message.</p><p>Right now, over 18,000 people in the US say the music streaming app isn't working for them, primarily on the mobile app (63% of reports) but desktop users are also affected. Many in the UK are also facing similar issues, with over 4,000 reports and counting there.</p><p>There's no sign of an official acknowledgement from Spotify about the issues yet, but I'm trying to get one...</p></div><div class="live-content"><time datetime="2026-09-29T14:38:24+00:00">September 29, 2026 – 10:38 AM</time><h2 id="spotify-confirms-there-are-issues">Spotify confirms there are issues</h2><div class="see-more see-more--clipped"><figure><blockquote class="twitter-tweet hawk-ignore" data-lang="en" cite="https://twitter.com/cantworkitout/status/2104940227190255889"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’re aware of some issues right now and are checking them out!<a href="https://twitter.com/cantworkitout/status/2104940227190255889">September 29, 2026</a></p></blockquote></figure><div class="see-more__filter"></div></div><p>Ah, there it is — Spotify has just <a href="https://x.com/SpotifyStatus/status/2104940227190255889" target="_blank">confirmed on X</a> that it's aware of the issues that thousands are experiencing right now.</p><p>There's no mention of what's causing the outage that's left many unable to log into the app or stream music. But the streaming giant simply says it's "checking them out". Let's hope its engineers do that sooner rather than later...</p></div><div class="live-content"><time datetime="2026-09-29T14:50:43+00:00">September 29, 2026 – 10:50 AM</time><h2 id="reinstalling-the-app-isn-39-t-working">Reinstalling the app isn't working</h2><div class="youtube-video" data-nosnippet ><div class="video-aspect-box"><iframe data-lazy-priority="high" data-lazy-src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/nvj6LtcfIgs" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div><p>Many Spotify users have followed the streaming giant's <a href="https://support.spotify.com/uk/article/spotify-not-playing/?ref=related" target="_blank">official advice</a> (above) for when Spotify isn't working — namely, restarting the app, updating the app or, if all else fails, reinstalling the app.</p><p>However, that doesn't appear to be working on this occasion. Many are reporting being unable to log into the app after reinstalling it, so it might be best to hold tight and hope the fix lands soon instead. </p><p>As I reported below, Spotify is aware of the issues and says it's "checking them out"...</p></div><div class="live-content"><time datetime="2026-09-29T15:04:30+00:00">September 29, 2026 – 11:04 AM</time><h2 id="does-this-look-familiar">Does this look familiar?</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:2000px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="AdauJtuRPLdUaDZTAsQZkA" name="Spotifydown-2" alt="A phone on a blue and green background showing a Spotify error message" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/AdauJtuRPLdUaDZTAsQZkA-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="2000" height="1125" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Spotify)</span></figcaption></figure><p>My colleague Lance Ulanoff says he's still getting the error message above while trying to log into Spotify on a new phone — an issue that many are reporting.</p><p>However, the problems do seem to mostly be confined to the mobile app. He says he's able to log into the desktop app okay, and most of the reports on Downdetector (58%) are still related to the mobile app. Let me know in the comments below if you're also having issues with the desktop or browser versions.</p><p>Unfortunately, there's been no update from Spotify <a href="https://x.com/SpotifyStatus/status/2104940227190255889" target="_blank">since its post 40 minutes ago</a> that it was aware of the issues and is "checking them out", so we may need to brace ourselves for a lengthy wait on this one...</p></div><div class="live-content"><time datetime="2026-09-29T15:19:47+00:00">September 29, 2026 – 11:19 AM</time><h2 id="not-much-support">Not much support</h2><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:2000px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:56.25%;"><img id="jLsH9MxKAZPiswXfNKELn9" name="Spotifydown-3" alt="A laptop screen showing the Spotify support forum" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jLsH9MxKAZPiswXfNKELn9-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="2000" height="1125" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div><figcaption itemprop="caption description" class=" inline-layout"><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder">(Image credit: Spotify)</span></figcaption></figure><p>Unfortunately, Spotify's <a href="https://community.spotify.com/t5/Ongoing-Issues/idb-p/ongoing_issues" target="_blank">'Ongoing issues' forum</a> — which is usually helpful on days like today, if only for moral support — isn't being updated right now, so the only place to get the latest updates is the <a href="https://x.com/SpotifyStatus" target="_blank">Spotify Status account on X</a>.</p><p>Spotify also says in its <a href="https://support.spotify.com/uk/" target="_blank">Support section</a> that "the wait time to speak to an advisor is longer than usual", which isn't hugely surprising considering the scale of the outage.</p><p>On the plus side, the number of reports on <a href="https://downdetector.com/status/spotify/" target="_blank">Downdetector</a> has just dropped for the same time, to just under 17,000 in the US (and 3,200 in the UK), which suggests that a fix could be en route...</p></div> </article> ]]>