Music streaming giant Spotify has been hit by a major worldwide outage, leaving millions of users unable to access their playlists and podcasts. The service disruption began on the afternoon of Monday, 15 December 2025, sparking a flood of reports from frustrated subscribers across the globe.
Widespread Reports of Streaming Failure
The scale of the problem became rapidly apparent through outage tracking services. In the United Kingdom alone, the Downdetector website recorded a significant spike in user reports. The peak number of problem reports in the UK reached 10,359, indicating a severe and widespread failure of the service for British listeners. Users described encountering playback errors and being unable to load content on both mobile and desktop applications.
Spotify's Response to the Crisis
Facing a growing wave of complaints, Spotify officially acknowledged the issues via a post on the social media platform X. The company stated, "We're aware of some issues right now and are checking them out!" This brief message, posted around 15:00 GMT, confirmed the team was investigating but provided no immediate cause for the blackout or an estimated time for a full restoration of service.
Global Impact and User Frustration
The outage was not confined to the UK, with users from multiple continents reporting identical problems. The timing of the disruption during daytime hours in Europe and the morning in the Americas meant it affected a vast number of people during their daily routines, whether at work, commuting, or at home. The incident highlights the growing dependence on always-available streaming platforms and the significant disruption caused when such a centralised service fails. As of the latest updates, Spotify engineers continue to work on resolving the problem, but a definitive solution has yet to be announced.
