Spotify Recovers After Global Outage Affects Thousands Worldwide

Music streaming service Spotify largely restored its operations after experiencing a global outage that impacted tens of thousands of users on December 15, 2023. According to outage monitoring website Downdetector, reports of service interruptions peaked at nearly 36,000 but had significantly declined by the morning.

By 10:30 a.m. ET, the number of reported incidents in the U.S. had dropped to about 1,000. In the UK, issues fell from over 10,300 earlier in the day to around 250. Downdetector compiles these reports by aggregating data from various user submissions, indicating that the actual number of affected users may vary.

During this disruption, Spotify’s shares fell nearly 3 percent in morning trading, reflecting investor concerns regarding the reliability of the platform. Many users took to social media platforms such as Reddit and X to share their frustrations, reporting problems that included login failures, difficulties accessing the homepage, and playback issues with song queues.

In a statement on X, Spotify announced that the issues had been resolved and encouraged users still experiencing difficulties to visit its community support page. The company has not provided details on the cause of the outage, and a request for comment from Reuters received no immediate response.

This incident marks the third significant outage for Spotify in 2023, following previous disruptions in April and June. Such recurring issues may provoke questions about the platform’s infrastructure and reliability, especially as it continues to expand its user base globally.

As the music streaming industry becomes increasingly competitive, maintaining a stable service is crucial for Spotify’s reputation and user satisfaction.