I have a lot of Sonos speakers and also have a lot of Echo devices. I just signed up for Spotify to give it a try and linked it all together. I will say for example "Alexa, play Tina Turner on the Kitchen" and she'll say "Okay, playing music by Tina Turner on Spotify on the Kitchen." then nothing happens. I'll say "Alexa, play workout playlist on kitchen" and same thing "Okay, playing workout playlist from Spotify on the kitchen." and nothing happens.
If I open the Sonos app on my computer, it will show (?) beside playing on the kitchen speaker. If I go to my library and start playing a song, THEN if I say "Alexa" the Sonos goes quiet throughout the house and I can say "stop playback" etc and it works. But as soon as I try to request something she doesn't play.
The alexa.amazon.com site shows her understanding exactly what I said, and showing that she's controlling Spotify but it never actually works. This is a brand new setup, I've wiped the Echo's and set everything up from scratch.
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+21Have you asked Alexa to "Discover devices" then try again.
I have yeah and just tried again. The Alexa app clearly shows the Sonos speakers under devices. She clearly will say "Playing music by Tina Turner on the Kitchen speaker." But if I make one up like "Alexa play Tina Turner on the Bathroom speaker" she says something about "I couldn't find a device or speaker named Bathroom that has the capability to play music, use your Alexa app to yadda yadda."
Again she clearly sees the speaker because if I have music playing, she'll pause or control it, or even just saying Alexa lowers the volume of the music. She just doesn't seem to actually play anything I ask her to, whether it's a playlist etc.
Again she clearly sees the speaker because if I have music playing, she'll pause or control it, or even just saying Alexa lowers the volume of the music. She just doesn't seem to actually play anything I ask her to, whether it's a playlist etc.
imoreau,
Have you set Spotify as your Amazon Alexa default music source in the Alexa App settings?
Have you set Spotify as your Amazon Alexa default music source in the Alexa App settings?
Yes I did, it's very strange. Everything acts like you would expect it to, it just doesn't control the Sonos. I have a new Play:1 I'm going to try and set up now and will test on that. It's very weird how I can just say Alexa pause the kitchen and she does.
If you check here you'll see she seems to understand:
https://imgur.com/a/1cGnLSq
If you check here you'll see she seems to understand:
https://imgur.com/a/1cGnLSq
Not sure if this changes anything but I just said "Alexa start Spotify" and she goes "Your Spotify account does not support streaming on this device."
imoreau,
There are a few things I would try ...
1. Reauthorise the Spotify Service in the Sonos App.
If that fails then ...
2. Remove all the Sonos Rooms in the devices section of the Alexa App and then disable/re-enable the Sonos skill, link the Sonos account with the Amazon Account associated with the Alexa echo devices ..and finally rescan for devices.
There are a few things I would try ...
1. Reauthorise the Spotify Service in the Sonos App.
If that fails then ...
2. Remove all the Sonos Rooms in the devices section of the Alexa App and then disable/re-enable the Sonos skill, link the Sonos account with the Amazon Account associated with the Alexa echo devices ..and finally rescan for devices.
Thanks I'll try it again. Quick update for what I've tried since my last post:
1) I added a new Sonos speaker to the account and to Alexa.
2) I tried to control the new one, but same issue doesn't respond.
3) If I manually start playing a song on the Sonos I can say "Alexa turn up the volume" or "Alexa next track" and that all works fine.
4) If I say play this artist or this album etc, she responds saying playing on spotify in the kitchen, but then does nothing.
So it's very odd that she controls already playing music but not new stuff. I'll try your 2 suggestions in a bit to see if that might work.
1) I added a new Sonos speaker to the account and to Alexa.
2) I tried to control the new one, but same issue doesn't respond.
3) If I manually start playing a song on the Sonos I can say "Alexa turn up the volume" or "Alexa next track" and that all works fine.
4) If I say play this artist or this album etc, she responds saying playing on spotify in the kitchen, but then does nothing.
So it's very odd that she controls already playing music but not new stuff. I'll try your 2 suggestions in a bit to see if that might work.
Also I've had "confusion" issues with the naming of the echo devices names vs the sonos speakers (room name). So for instance I've used bedroom 1 for echo device and master for the sonos speaker. Haven't tried the drop-in intercom function yet.
No luck, tried both your 1 and 2 suggestions, same issue. This is disappointing as it looks like it would be a really cool feature. What I don't get is that she will control music that's already playing, she just can't make music START playing lol.
If I go to the Now Playing section of the Alexa app and pick either Sonos speaker, it shows what is playing on it which matches the Sonos app, and I can play, pause, skip tracks etc. So everything seems to be authorized, the Alexa just doesn't seem to be able to play specific music.
Sorry for the flood but one last update. If I tell her to play a song but I say "using PRIME MUSIC" it works every time, providing the song exists (hardly any do which is why I don't use this service). It's just Spotify then that won't play. At least I've narrowed down the culprit.
I think I've spent too much time as is on this so being that I'm still within my 30 days I'm going to just return everything as this is a little too difficult to make simple music control work. I'm a Google Play Music guy anyway but was only trying Spotify since it said Alexa can control it, so bought 3 of the Ecobee Switch+'s, the Ecobee 4 with Alexa and a few Dots but to have music still not work when that was the primary reason I bought all of this is just too frustrating. $1000 in Alexa hardware and 2 hours later it still won't control the music, not really a good first impression. Thank you for your help though I'm off to Best Buy!
appreciate your frustration. I've got 4 echo devices, 9 sonos speakers + connect and spotify and prime. Spotify / Alexa / Sonos works for me as advertised. can you play your sonos speakers from within the spotify app?
Imoreau,
I have sent you a personal message with some instructions, see if those help.
I have sent you a personal message with some instructions, see if those help.
Hi Ken thanks for the PM. I've tried all of that, there's no duplicate devices. I finally wiped everything, made a new Amazon account and set it all up using ONLY the Sonos, no SmartThings nothing. FINALLY that worked, but barely. For whatever reason I cannot get it to use Spotify as default. It has it selected as default music library, but under default station service only Amazon Music comes up. So it only works if I say "Play Pitbull on Spotify in the Kitchen" if I just say "Play Pitbull in the Kitchen" she says something about needing a Prime music subscription or says that song can't be found. You have to say 100% what she wants or she doesn't get it which isn't really useful.
However it still isn't properly working. Only the Kitchen Sonos works, if I say the Gym or any other room she says "Sorry, something went wrong, try again later." When you open the Alexa app it doesn't even show you asking any history, it just says "ask Alexa to play Spotify or use the Spotify app to find the music you love."
I don't know I'm still going to return it. I work in IT and I've spent 2 days on this, I've never sen such a complicated set up in my life. I have no idea how a normal non technical person can make any of this work. I don't want to put any more effort into it as 100% it will be the same "Oh it's because you're using English Canada as your language and not English US" or some nonsense about certain features not working in Canada.
However it still isn't properly working. Only the Kitchen Sonos works, if I say the Gym or any other room she says "Sorry, something went wrong, try again later." When you open the Alexa app it doesn't even show you asking any history, it just says "ask Alexa to play Spotify or use the Spotify app to find the music you love."
I don't know I'm still going to return it. I work in IT and I've spent 2 days on this, I've never sen such a complicated set up in my life. I have no idea how a normal non technical person can make any of this work. I don't want to put any more effort into it as 100% it will be the same "Oh it's because you're using English Canada as your language and not English US" or some nonsense about certain features not working in Canada.
Imoreau,
It sounds like you have the Spotify Skill missing from your Alexa skills ... wait I will post a screenshot for you to compare.
It sounds like you have the Spotify Skill missing from your Alexa skills ... wait I will post a screenshot for you to compare.
Imoreau.
In the Alexa App Settings (Music and Media) you should see these things .. see attached
In the Alexa App Settings (Music and Media) you should see these things .. see attached
I assume Spotify Skill on Alexa is authorised in your country. If so, check the country setting of your Sonos Profile at Sonos.com. Then check your Amazon profile too.
To change the Sonos country, go to your profile and click on the image of the flag in left hand margin and select country.
I assume your Amazon music services profile is straightforward to change that via you Amazon profile online.
They are both worth checking, at least.
To change the Sonos country, go to your profile and click on the image of the flag in left hand margin and select country.
I assume your Amazon music services profile is straightforward to change that via you Amazon profile online.
They are both worth checking, at least.
+26Great suggestions, Ken. Also, make sure that the Spotify account you have added to Alexa is the same one that's added to Sonos (and that they're both the Premium subscription, not the Free account).
If you want to submit a diagnostic from your Sonos system and reply back with your confirmation number we can take a look for you too.
If you want to submit a diagnostic from your Sonos system and reply back with your confirmation number we can take a look for you too.
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