How to queue a particular song from an album without auto-starting playback

Other Questions Spotify
1

I’m working with the Spotify Web API and trying to set up a specific song from an album to be ready for playback, but I don’t want it to start playing automatically.

When I use the direct play method, everything works fine:

audioPlayer.play(selectedSong, selectedSong.albumData);

However, since I want to prepare the track without immediate playback, I’m trying this approach:

audioPlayer.track = selectedSong;
audioPlayer.context = selectedSong.albumData;

The problem is that this either fails completely or defaults to playing the album’s first track instead of my chosen song.

I also attempted this alternative method:

var albumData = m.Album.fromURI('spotify:album:2Bxkw9Z3D1UD7MVwdm12sR', function(albumData) {
   var audioPlayer = new v.Player();
   audioPlayer.track = albumData.get(2);
   audioPlayer.context = albumData;
   document.body.appendChild(audioPlayer.node);
});

But this still loads the first track rather than track number 2, and crashes when the album has only one song. Any suggestions on how to properly queue a specific track position?

2

I’ve hit this same issue with Spotify’s Web API. Setting the track property directly doesn’t work reliably - the Player needs proper initialization through the play method. Here’s what fixed it for me: use the play method with the play parameter set to false (not officially documented, but it works). Or initialize the player with your track and immediately pause it. Try this: call audioPlayer.play(selectedSong, selectedSong.albumData) then immediately audioPlayer.pause() in the callback. This loads the track properly without auto-playing. That crash with single-track albums? You’re accessing an index that doesn’t exist. Always check the album’s track count before accessing specific indices.

3

The problem is Spotify’s Player expects tracks loaded through its state machine, not by setting properties directly. Here’s what fixed it for me: use addToQueue(selectedSong.uri) first, then audioPlayer.seek(0) without calling play. This queues your track and positions it right without auto-playing. If addToQueue isn’t available in your API version, create a custom playlist with just that song and load the playlist instead of the full album. Those track index crashes? You’re forgetting zero-based indexing - track 2 is index 1, and single-track albums only have index 0.

4

Been there! Skip setting track directly and use the load() method instead. Try audioPlayer.load(selectedSong, selectedSong.albumData) - preloads without autoplay. Double-check your selectedSong object structure too, the API sometimes returns different formats depending on how you fetch it.

5

Direct property assignment won’t work here - the Player class validates context internally before setting track position. Try using the prepare() method if your API version has it, or create a modified play call with autoStart disabled. First check if your audioPlayer supports audioPlayer.prepare(selectedSong, selectedSong.albumData). If not, override the default behavior by setting player state before calling play: audioPlayer.autoStart = false; audioPlayer.play(selectedSong, selectedSong.albumData);. You’re getting crashes because of hardcoded indices - always validate with albumData.tracks.length before accessing specific positions. I’ve used this pattern consistently and it avoids the timing issues you get with pause() workarounds.

6

Been there. Spotify’s player ignores manual track/context assignment. Use audioPlayer.cue() instead - that’s what it’s for. No cue method? Initialize empty, then audioPlayer.setTrack(selectedSong, false) (false stops autoplay). Way cleaner than the pause hack.