Spotify Problems On Firefox? 4 Known Issues (Solved)

Like any technology-based service, things can go wrong with Spotify, and it can be absolutely frustrating trying to figure out how to fix it.

Firefox, in particular, seems not always to play so well with Spotify, but it is a supported browser that should work just fine with Spotify, in theory anyway.

That’s why, today, we’re going to take an in-depth look at the issues you might face when trying to use Spotify on Firefox, and how you can hopefully overcome them.

Widevine Decryption Permissions are not Enabled

Widevine Content Decryption Module provided by Google Inc, or in more simple terms, Widevine Plugin, is a decryption module that protects media content on your device.

This is usually installed automatically when something that uses it (like Spotify) is installed and it is embedded in your browser.

This module is necessary to translate the data sent by Spotify to Firefox into usable “human” information, in this case, music and podcasts.

A problem can arise if Widevine has not been given the permissions it needs to do its job.

To make sure all is in order, first, you’ll need to find the module

1. To do that, open the Plug-Ins/Extensions view in Firefox; there should be a button near the top right corner with the puzzle piece icon.
2. Once you’re on the relevant page, navigate to ‘Plugins” via the left-hand menu.
3. Once there, you should see “Widevine Content Decryption Module provided by Google Inc.” in the list of plugins.
4. Click the three dots on the righthand side of the listing for the module, then in the submenu that appears, select “always activate.”

If it had been previously disabled somehow, changing this setting could be all you need to make Spotify work on Firefox, so go give it a try!

Autoplay Issues: When “No Autoplay” Can Mean “No Play at All”

In theory, turning off the “autoplay” feature should not prevent you from manually playing media.

After all, autoplay is short for “automatic play,” but manual play should always be possible, in theory, even if autoplay is disabled.

Spotify is one of those cases where turning autoplay from a Firefox browser off may disable playback entirely.

Specifically, if you have autoplay disabled as a general setting in Firefox, Spotify will be unable to play media through the browser.

In order to check whether you have autoplay enabled for Spotify through Firefox, you’ll need to do a little option-menu digging.

1. First, open the Firefox menu by clicking the three horizontal bars in the upper-right corner.
2. Then, click on ‘Settings’ in the drop-down menu that appears.
3. Once you’re looking at the Settings page, click on the ‘Privacy and Security’ tab from the left-hand menu.
4. Now scroll down until you reach the ‘Permissions’ section, under which you should see ‘Autoplay’
5. Click the ‘Settings’ button next to Autoplay, this will open a new menu.

Now, you want to do either one of two things.

• If you’re okay with having autoplay on for everything, simply make sure that the dropdown menu for ‘Default for All Websites’ is set to ‘Allow Audio and Video.’
• However, if you’d prefer to block audio and/or video for most websites but make an exception for Spotify, that’s possible as well.

To do that, set the default to whatever you want it to be, then you’ll have to add an exception for spotify.com.

• You cannot directly add an exception to the list in the options menu; to do that, navigate to Spotify in your browser.
• If autoplay is preventing Spotify from functioning, you should see an icon in the address bar that looks like a play button with a line through it; click on this icon.
• This should open a drop-down menu; in that menu, click on “Allow Audio and Video.”

This will add an exception to your default autoplay rules for Spotify.com, which should hopefully resolve any playback issues.

Please also read our article about Spotify not working with Keyboard controls.

DRM Permissions are Disabled

We’re guessing you probably hadn’t thought of this one.

Buried in Firefox’s options menus is a setting that lets you enable or disable the playback of DRM-controlled content. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management and is a measure used to prevent the piracy of digital media.

Spotify utilizes DRM in its audio files, so if you have this particular option disabled, you will be unable to play media from Spotify through Firefox.

1. The first step to resolving this is to click on those three horizontal bars in the upper-right of your Firefox window and select ‘Settings’ in the options menu.
2. Once in the settings menu, you want the ‘General” tab, which should be selected by default, but if it’s not, click on it at the top of the left-hand menu.
3. In the General tab, scroll down until you see a section called “Digital Rights Management (DRM) Content” with only a single option under the heading.
4. Make sure the checkbox for this option—”Play DRM-Controlled Content”—is checked.

If this option was disabled, enabling it should hopefully allow Spotify to work as intended!

Firefox Is Out-of-Date: You Should Probably Update

An out-of-date internet browser can wreak havoc on any number of things, and optimal Spotify functionality is undoubtedly one of them.

1. To remedy this, all you have to do is, once again, open that familiar settings menu by clicking on the three bars in the top-right corner, then clicking ‘Settings’
2. Now scroll down to the ‘Firefox Updates’ section.
3. While you’re here, it could be a good idea to enable automatic updates, if you’re comfortable with them, so that you don’t need to bother doing it manually in the future.
4. Either way, click on the “Check for Updates” button.
5. If you need to install an update, follow the prompts you’re given from here to do so. If you do not need to install an update, you’ll be told Firefox is up-to-date after clicking the button.

General Pros and Cons of Using Spotify on Firefox

Pros:

• For most users, the Spotify web app functions smoothly on Firefox.
• Using Spotify in Firefox means you don’t have to download and run a dedicated desktop application.
• It’s much easier to share music with your friends through a browser link; this can be harder to do through the desktop application.
• It’s easy to close Spotify quickly through a browser and be sure that it is actually closed instead of “hiding” in the background.

Cons

• Spotify cannot function in Firefox without a decryption module being properly enabled.
• Spotify behaves poorly if autoplay is turned off, even though manual play should still be theoretically possible.
• Spotify cannot function without permission to play DRM-controlled content.
• Spotify may not function properly if Firefox is out-of-date, requiring an update.

Source

Spotify Web Player Not Working? Here Are the Fixes.