Spotify API stopped working (for free accounts?)

[eliluong]

I saw Spotify was not connected today, and was unable to get any authentication done in multi-scrobbler. I did some investigations.

From the app logs:

[2026-03-09 16:16:54.442 -0700] INFO   : [App] [API] Redirecting to spotify authorization url
[2026-03-09 16:17:16.149 -0700] INFO   : [App] [API] Received auth code callback from Spotify
[2026-03-09 16:17:16.251 -0700] INFO   : [App] [Sources] [Spotify - spotify-source] Got token from code grant authorization!
[2026-03-09 16:17:16.336 -0700] WARN   : [App] [Sources] [Spotify - spotify-source] Request failed but retries (0) less than max (1), retrying request after 2 seconds...
[2026-03-09 16:17:18.415 -0700] ERROR  : [App] [Sources] [Spotify - spotify-source] Request failed on retry (1) with no more retries permitted (max 1)
Error: Request failed on retry (1) with no more retries permitted (max 1)
    at SpotifySource.callApi (CWD/src/backend/sources/SpotifySource.ts:535:31)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async SpotifySource.doAuthentication (CWD/src/backend/sources/SpotifySource.ts:339:13)
    at async SpotifySource.testAuth (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:245:27)
    at async SpotifySource.initialize (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:58:13)
    at async SpotifySource.tryInitialize (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:90:20)
    at async SpotifySource.poll (CWD/src/backend/sources/AbstractSource.ts:326:17)
caused by: WebapiError: [object Object]
    at _toError (CWD/node_modules/spotify-web-api-node/src/http-manager.js:47:10)
    at CWD/node_modules/spotify-web-api-node/src/http-manager.js:71:25
    at callback (CWD/node_modules/superagent/src/node/index.js:925:3)
    at IncomingMessage.<anonymous> (CWD/node_modules/superagent/src/node/index.js:1166:18)
    at Stream.emit (node:events:518:28)
    at Unzip.<anonymous> (CWD/node_modules/superagent/src/node/unzip.js:54:12)
    at Unzip.emit (node:events:518:28)
    at endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1698:12)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:82:21)
[2026-03-09 16:17:18.417 -0700] ERROR  : [App] [Sources] [Spotify - spotify-source] Cannot start polling because Source is not ready
Error: Cannot start polling because Source is not ready
    at SpotifySource.poll (CWD/src/backend/sources/AbstractSource.ts:328:35)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
caused by: Error: Initialization failed
    at SpotifySource.initialize (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:70:19)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async SpotifySource.tryInitialize (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:90:20)
    at async SpotifySource.poll (CWD/src/backend/sources/AbstractSource.ts:326:17)
caused by: Authentication Check: Authentication test failed! Due to a network issue. Will retry authentication on next heartbeat.
    at SpotifySource.testAuth (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:251:19)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async SpotifySource.initialize (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:58:13)
    at async SpotifySource.tryInitialize (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:90:20)
    at async SpotifySource.poll (CWD/src/backend/sources/AbstractSource.ts:326:17)
caused by: Error: Request failed on retry (1) with no more retries permitted (max 1)
    at SpotifySource.callApi (CWD/src/backend/sources/SpotifySource.ts:535:31)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async SpotifySource.doAuthentication (CWD/src/backend/sources/SpotifySource.ts:339:13)
    at async SpotifySource.testAuth (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:245:27)
    at async SpotifySource.initialize (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:58:13)
    at async SpotifySource.tryInitialize (CWD/src/backend/common/AbstractInitializable.ts:90:20)
    at async SpotifySource.poll (CWD/src/backend/sources/AbstractSource.ts:326:17)
caused by: WebapiError: [object Object]
    at _toError (CWD/node_modules/spotify-web-api-node/src/http-manager.js:47:10)
    at CWD/node_modules/spotify-web-api-node/src/http-manager.js:71:25
    at callback (CWD/node_modules/superagent/src/node/index.js:925:3)
    at IncomingMessage.<anonymous> (CWD/node_modules/superagent/src/node/index.js:1166:18)
    at Stream.emit (node:events:518:28)
    at Unzip.<anonymous> (CWD/node_modules/superagent/src/node/unzip.js:54:12)
    at Unzip.emit (node:events:518:28)
    at endReadableNT (node:internal/streams/readable:1698:12)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:82:21)

And then getting the token and trying to hit the API:

me@me:~/maloja$docker compose exec multi-scrobbler sh -lc 'cat /config/currentCreds-spotify-source.json''
{"token":"redacted",""}
me@me:~/maloja$ curl -is https://api.spotify.com/v1/me -H "Authorization: Bearer redacted"
HTTP/2 403
cache-control: private, max-age=0
access-control-allow-origin: *
access-control-allow-headers: Accept, App-Platform, Authorization, Content-Type, Origin, Retry-After, Spotify-App-Version, X-Cloud-Trace-Context, client-token, content-access-token
access-control-allow-methods: GET, POST, OPTIONS, PUT, DELETE, PATCH
access-control-allow-credentials: true
access-control-max-age: 604800
content-length: 62
strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000
x-content-type-options: nosniff
alt-svc: h3=":443"; ma=2592000,h3-29=":443"; ma=2592000
alt-svc: h3=":443"; ma=2592000,h3-29=":443"; ma=2592000
vary: Accept-Encoding
date: Mon, 09 Mar 2026 23:26:33 GMT
server: envoy
via: HTTP/2 edgeproxy, 1.1 google

Active premium subscription required for the owner of the app.

Additionally, Spotify API changes: https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/web-api/tutorials/february-2026-migration-guide

So does this mean we cannot get access to Spotify plays anymore if we do not have premium subscription?

[FoxxMD]

Yes, unfortunately it looks like you are partially correct. I initially thought that

Existing apps are grandfathered

meant that existing apps from non-premium users would still work but that seems to not be the case.

It's still feasible to use an app as a non-premium user. You just need to know someone with a premium account. From the guide/blog post:

All Development Mode apps require the app owner to have an active Spotify Premium subscription.

So if you know someone with premium:

• get them to create an app
• add your non-premium account as an authorized user (under User Management at https://developer.spotify.com/dashboard/YOUR_APP_ID/users)
• Authenticate with Spotify in MS normally

I will update the docs with this new information,