Parsing error on DRM-controlled songs on Soundcloud

[ChaoTechTaken]

Checklist

• I am able to reproduce the bug with the latest version given here: CLICK THIS LINK.
• I made sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - which I could contribute my information to.
• I have read the FAQ and my problem isn't listed.
• I have taken the time to fill in all the required details. I understand that the bug report will be dismissed otherwise.
• This issue contains only one bug.
• I have read and understood the contribution guidelines.
• I have read and understood the AI policy. The content of this bug report is not generated by AI.

Affected version

0.28.6

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. Use the soundcloud tab
2. Look up a song with DRM-controlled content (examples: https://soundcloud.com/strlghtmusic/all-gas-no-breaks, https://soundcloud.com/femtanyl/nastywerkkkk)
3. Try to play it, either normally or in the background (through the long press menu)

Expected behavior

Song plays as usual.
Examples that show expected behavior (no DRM content):
https://m.soundcloud.com/kordhell/shadxwbxrn-x-kordhell
https://m.soundcloud.com/prodbydxrk/digital-ashes-1

Actual behavior

Newpipe displays a "Could not parse website" error. In a playlist, the song is skipped after a moment.

Screenshots/Screen recordings

No response

Logs

Exception

• User Action: requested stream
• Request: https://soundcloud.com/femtanyl/nastywerkkkk
• Content Country: GB
• Content Language: en-GB
• App Language: en_GB
• Service: SoundCloud
• Timestamp: 2026-05-01T18:14:34.257+01:00
• Package: org.schabi.newpipe
• Service: SoundCloud
• Version: 0.28.6
• OS: Linux samsung/a36xqnaeea/a36xq:15/AP3A.240905.015.A2/A366BXXU2AYE3_OXM2AYE3:user/release-keys 15 - 35

Crash log

org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo$StreamExtractException: Could not get any stream. See error variable to get further details.
	at org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.stream.StreamInfo.extractStreams(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:112)
	at org.schabi.newpipe.util.ExtractorHelper$$ExternalSyntheticLambda3.call(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:148)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.single.SingleAmb.subscribeActual(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:38)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Single.subscribe(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:1)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.single.SingleDoOnEvent.subscribeActual(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:17)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Single.subscribe(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:1)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeDefer.subscribeActual(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:16)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Maybe.subscribe(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:6)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeConcatArray$ConcatMaybeObserver.drain(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:87)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeConcatArray$ConcatMaybeObserver.request(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:12)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.flowable.FlowableElementAtMaybe$ElementAtSubscriber.onSubscribe(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:48)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeConcatArray.subscribeActual(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:126)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Flowable.subscribe(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:6)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.flowable.FlowableElementAtMaybe.subscribeActual(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:9)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Maybe.subscribe(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:6)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.maybe.MaybeToSingle.subscribeActual(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:9)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Single.subscribe(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:1)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.operators.single.SingleSubscribeOn$SubscribeOnObserver.run(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:5)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.core.Scheduler$DisposeTask.run(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:10)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.schedulers.ScheduledRunnable.run(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:22)
	at io.reactivex.rxjava3.internal.schedulers.ScheduledRunnable.call(r8-map-id-3c64adae0e54ba562d514cdc6b67e602e870c74c1fe7e22922ea45fabd9ccf79:1)
	at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:317)
	at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.run(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:348)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1154)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:652)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:1564)

---

Affected Android/Custom ROM version

Android 15 + OneUI 7

Affected device model

Samsung Galaxy A36 5G

Additional information

For recent songs from both artists given in the reproduction steps (the second example namely), Soundcloud states that they aren't available on mobile and refuses to play them (switching to desktop mode fixes this). This does not seem to influence the bug, as older songs do not have this requirement, yet NewPipe still fails on them. Could not find songs which do not trigger the bug and aren't available on mobile.

[absurdlylongusername]

We're aware of this bug. Soundclouds internal API is no longer returning media content for unencrypted transcodings.

Previously, tracks had opus, hls mp3 and progressive mp3, but now opus has been removed and is no longer returned in transcoding, and only hls and progressive mp3 remain but the urls provided return 404.

I presume this is propagation of full push to AAC; however after further research it's most likely due to licensing reasons.

If Soundcloud is obligated to protect licensed tracks using DRM encryption, exposing unencrypted streams is kind of a loophole as it allows anyone to listen to the track without decryption, and also makes downloading easier as it doesn't require circumventing any technical restrictions.

In any case, DRM isn't that hard to circumvent (for a developer, anyway; as browser easily plays DRM streams on Soundcloud without even being logged in), but NewPipe can't really do it without entering into a legal grey zone, as we are not "authorised" to do so.

So, until we get some big bucks or some really good legal advice, we most likely will not be merging a fix for this into NewPipe.

That probably won't stop someone just patching a fix into their own fork, though. But an individual doing it themselves has less risk than us doing it, as we're now technically a legal entity under NewPipe e.V. (someone can correct me if I'm wrong).

---

All that being said, we really need to improve the error message lol. The actual error returned is HTTP 404 in SoundcloudStreamExtractor, but that never appears in the stack trace since the exception is swallowed: it just logs the exception.