A playback request processing method and apparatus belongs to the field of computer technologies. The method includes: receiving a playback request sent by a sound source; determining whether a sound diffusion range of the sound source is within a current receiving range of a recipient; and processing the playback request if the sound diffusion range of the sound source is within the current receiving range of the recipient. In the present disclosure, it is determined according to the received playback request sent by the sound source that the sound diffusion range of the sound source is within the current receiving range of the recipient, and whether to process the playback request sent by the sound source is determined according to a determination result.