Music streaming giant Spotify faced significant disruption on Friday morning, with numerous users across the UK and globally reporting outages. The service's webpage was inaccessible for many, displaying a 'page not available' message, while the app also failed to load content.
Reports of issues began to surge around 8 am GMT, according to DownDetector, a platform that monitors online service problems. The widespread nature of the outage quickly led to an influx of complaints on social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), where users expressed their frustration at being unable to access their favourite music and curated playlists.
One user on X dramatically remarked, "Waking up to Spotify being down feels like waking up to a note that says ur wife left and took the kids," highlighting the level of dependency many have on the streaming service for their daily routines. Others simply questioned, "Is Spotify down?? i cannot survive without my music," or expressed exasperation with "OMFG Spotify is down AGAIN?????"
This latest incident marks the second time in less than a week that Spotify has experienced mass disruptions. Just three days prior, on Tuesday, users also reported issues affecting the Swedish company's services. At that time, Spotify acknowledged the problem, stating, "We’re aware of some issues right now with the app and are checking them out!" The problems on Tuesday appeared to be resolved relatively quickly.
Based in Stockholm, Spotify promotes itself as the world's most popular audio streaming subscription service, boasting a user base of 761 million. Beyond its extensive music catalogue, the platform also offers a wide array of podcasts, including popular titles like 'The Joe Rogan Experience', and a growing selection of audiobooks. The company recently increased the price of its premium subscription service in January.