VPN no longer letting me stream music from geo-blocked websites

December 10, 2014 10:04 PM

I suddenly can't stream music from Songza, Spotify, etc despite using a VPN that shows me as being in the US.

I have for some time used a VPN (privateinternetaccess, if it's relevant) to let me stream music on my iPhone (iOS 8.1) from websites like songza and spotify. All of a sudden, songza is telling me they only have a licence for the US & Canada, while spotify says nothing but won't play anything either. What's going on?

IP lookups confirm that the VPN is working and shows me as in the US. Could these apps somehow be accessing location data on my phone? There are no location data requests under iOS for either of them... I am at a loss.

posted by modernnomad to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

They've possibly blocked the VPN ip address? I'd imagine the rights agencies are keenly aware of VPNs, so it's not farfetched to think they'd take steps.
posted by Sebmojo at 10:07 PM on December 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

There's a setting on the VPN configuration where not necessarily all traffic goes over the VPN. This may be unchecked for some reason. I honestly doubt they're blocking the VPN traffic. I'm of the opinion that most providers to the bare minimum to geoblock folks. Spotify and Songza want your business its their distributors that force the geo-fencing so I don't think they police geo-fencing circumvention methods too much.

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/pass-iphone-traffic-encrypted-vpn/
posted by bitdamaged at 10:11 PM on December 10, 2014

That being said there do seem to be some folks reporting these issues with spotify

http://www.reddit.com/r/VPN/comments/13rjki/spotify_on_vpn_troubles/

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/discussion/3415/pia-does-not-work-for-spotify
posted by bitdamaged at 10:13 PM on December 10, 2014

I honestly doubt they're blocking the VPN traffic. I'm of the opinion that most providers to the bare minimum to geoblock folks.

That used to be the case. I can confirm Hulu is now impossible to get to. And Netflix is next.

If that is what is also happening with Songza and Spotify the only solution is to use a lesser-known VPN or set up your own.
posted by vacapinta at 11:14 PM on December 10, 2014

I had this problem with Hulu in the past with some of the gateways of my VPN provider. Does yours provide multiple gateways that you can try to see if you get different results?
posted by Gomez_in_the_South at 11:20 PM on December 10, 2014

Hulu, Netflix and Pandora currently work fine with Hola Better Internet, no problem. Available for most any device and browser.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 7:16 AM on December 11, 2014

You said you use the Songza and Spotify websites to stream music; if you've tried to access them without the VPN recently, there may still be something in your browser's cache saying that you're outside the allowed area.
posted by clorox at 7:54 PM on December 11, 2014