Spotify users across the U.S. were reporting trouble listening to songs on Tuesday, May 12, as outage reports surged just before noon and then began to ease by early afternoon. By 12:45 p.m. CT, the peak of more than 14,500 reports had fallen to about 5,500.
Downdetector.com showed the spike in complaints as listeners tried to use the service, with more than half of the issues, or 54%, tied to the app. Another 18% of users said they were seeing server connection errors, while 18% ran into problems streaming audio.
There was no timetable for when all of the Spotify issues would be resolved, and some users said their access was briefly restored before failing again. The disruptions came on the same day Spotify announced “Spotify 20: Your Party of the Year(s),” a separate celebration of the service’s 20 years.
The app-only feature is meant to let users dig into their music history, including a list of their personal 120 top tracks, and share a card so they can compare notes with friends. That makes Tuesday a split-screen moment for the company: one product push, and one very public reminder that even a streaming giant can stumble when listeners are simply trying to press play. More information is available at spotify.com/20.
