Sonos please walk away from Alexa she's a bad girl

  • 8 October 2017
  • 26 replies
  • 2005 views

Userlevel 1
What is Sonos doing, its got a great product.
why put it in danger with a second rate voice product.
Amazon only will let you use, what it makes money from. So no NAS drive / Cloud / Pc /Phone music files.
please bring out your own simply voice to Sonos, and you make so money and keep your good name.

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26 replies

Sigh.
The only flaws in your analysis are:
1. Sonos will partner with other voice systems
2. Sonos will add other streaming services
3. There are technical reasons why launching local content with voice control is not available, and this is nothing to do with Amazon.
In other words, the only flaws in your analysis were everything you wrote.
You forgot

4. Alexa does work with Amazon cloud
Userlevel 1
John, jgatie
1: Great use one that works, look at the problems on launch
2: lets see if Amazon are backing it.
3: I see you don't work for Honda LOL
4: Amazon Cloud it's in the Name
Only time will tell
John, jgatie
1: Great use one that works, look at the problems on launch
2: lets see if Amazon are backing it.
3: I see you don't work for Honda LOL
4: Amazon Cloud it's in the Name


1. It's a beta. By definition there are going to be problems, duh.
2. Amazon already backs Spotify, the number one competitor to Amazon Music.
2. Huh? Since when is Honda a nucleus of technological achievement? Funny analogy to say the least. :?
4. You said "no cloud". Amazon Cloud is a cloud. It's in the name.

5. Did Jeff Bezos steal your girlfriend or something.
Userlevel 3
Badge +4
The only flaws in your analysis are:
1. Sonos will partner with other voice systems
2. Sonos will add other streaming services
3. There are technical reasons why launching local content with voice control is not available, and this is nothing to do with Amazon.
In other words, the only flaws in your analysis were everything you wrote.


I'm not sure that Amazon will allow Sonos to partner with streaming services they don't support, if you are doing voice control via Alexa. Why would they?

Partnering with other voice on trolley systems may be a possibility but will have similar service constraints.

No big operator is going to allow Sonos to do more than they do natively.

Local content is probably a red line for any service that has it's own storage or streaming services. Again why would they do that?

I believe that not supporting local content is ALL about Amazon not wanting to support it.
As you clearly do not understand the technical issues on local content you might read this thread.
https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/sonos-alexa-and-local-nas-stored-music-6791479/index1.html
Userlevel 3
Badge +4
Thanks John, I read the thread and you are correct to say that I didn't fully understand the technical issues and more importantly the technical options they had.

It doesn't change my view that Amazon was not a good partner choice and will not let Sonos use the partnership to do any more than their own product.

It then questions whether Sonos (using Alexa) is no different to an Amazon Echo. Once Amazon release a better audio quality product, as Google just has, I'm sure that Amazon will ensure that they win on price and voice performance.
Why can’t I play my play list through Alexa ? It me or just doesn’t allow you to do this .please help thanks .
1. Stop ‘sighing’. We are all bored of it.
2. Voice control is ok but has its limits. What did you expect as there are too many variables.
3. It is ‘beta’ apparently so let’s wait for the full release and all your worries will be solved and you will forget about the latest atrocious app update.
4. Spotify support is coming so look forward to it (year of release not guaranteed).
Double sigh.
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

4. Spotify support is coming so look forward to it (year of release not guaranteed).


Dec 21, 2017 - https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4343?_ga=2.182017959.1095743978.1506552577-1491669311.1488879254&_gac=1.49555924.1509269737.CjwKCAjw-NXPBRB4EiwAVNRLKifYB44QLgd1rqqidteMMZVgwg-Dm1c-M0Q-E7JQtze3mEMuRjFGtxoC68oQAvD_BwE
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
What is Sonos doing, its got a great product.
why put it in danger with a second rate voice product.
Amazon only will let you use, what it makes money from. So no NAS drive / Cloud / Pc /Phone music files.
please bring out your own simply voice to Sonos, and you make so money and keep your good name.


When Google Assistant is supported in 2018, this will be the only company with a Smart Speaker that is AI agnostic (As per announcements to date)

Yes, Amazon is a beast of an organisation but they are already huge in Amazon Web Services where they are co-operating with multiple organisations, both large and small, and so I don't agree with your comments about 'lack of support'.

Also, if Sonos can piggy back on their R&D budget (Which Sonos can never hope to match) and integrate with Google and their R&D budget, (Again, which Sonos can never hope to match) then this product roadmap gets very interesting.
At this time I can use my bought for Sonos Echo/Dot only in standalone mode, and I am impressed with how much progress Amazon has made with voice control. She is a good girl and will only get better.
I will also bear in mind that when I am able to extend use to Sonos control, on the Sonos side that add on is a freebie to units bought from 2011 to 2014.
Whenever people suggest that Sonos should not have integrated with Amazon, then never really give any thought out alternatives. So Sonos should have spent a lot more money on developing their own voice assistant? Really now. People are going to be ok with a voice assistant that only does music, no smart skills or other features. How much do you think that was going to cost their customers. If it costs more than nothing, which is what Sonos customers are paying for Alexa integration, it's going to cost too much.

Even if you think Sonos should have talked with Google or Apple, does that really make sense. First off, Apple doesn't even have their product out yet, and there's nothing to indicate they'd be interested in an integration. I'd also be surprised is more flexible in the design of the integration, since Apple has a history of wanting to control the entire experience. Google may have been a good option, but we don't know if they wanted to talk with Google yet, they are not the market leader like Amazon is, and again, we don't know if they'd be any more flexible. It's not like you can play Amazon or Apply music through a Google Home.

It might have been interesting to see Sonos work with microsoft or samsung, since they don't have a home voice assistant yet and could be interested in getting into the market. I can see both of them being much more interested in a better integration with Sonos. I could even see them sending money Sonos way in order to make the integration work. It could end up being a big selling point for them.
After listening to my brothers inbuilt Alexa voice Sonos I was very impressed. We bought Amazon Echo dot to go with our 12 month all Sonos systems after being assured that the integration would be simple easy and brilliant with Spotify. We are very disappointed. All we can do is skip songs, (can't even change the volume). The integration took several hours with lots of tube videos, swearing and more bad language.

Please would you advise if I should take the Echo back, or are you going to make improvements and if so when?
Userlevel 7
Badge +20
Hi Clive

So there are a few things to check:

1/ Do you or your family have multiple Amazon accounts signed in on your mobile device? This can cause problems and if this was the case when your linked your Amazon and Sonos account, then I suggest you follow the steps I've listed within this post: https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/sonos-one-alexa-issues-6796539/index1.html#post16180399
2/ Can you check in the Alexa App>Smart Home>Devices that you don't have multiple devices with the same name? I use the naming convention Room Name + Device Name. e.g. Kitchen Sonos, Kitchen Echo Dot, etc. If you change the name of any devices, then please open the Alexa App on a PC https://alexa.amazon.co.uk and select Smart Home>Devices>'Forget All' followed by 'Discover'.
3/ If these two points don't resolve you issues than please follow the steps in the Answer to this post to reset your Voice Control: https://en.community.sonos.com/amazon-alexa-and-sonos-229102/sonos-one-not-responding-to-alexa-comands-6793239

Edit: Are you using Spotify or another streaming service? If so, have you set this as your default Music Service in Alexa App>Settings>Music & Media>'Choose default music service'?
Userlevel 1
Badge +1
What a muppet, i love Alexa and Sonos, this decision alone has so far taken £600 out of my wallet, and no doubt more when play 3 and 5's get the Alexa treatment, so very good marketing decision i think.
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
Clive, regarding Spotify. I have it set as default music but sometimes it still wont play unless I add "from Spotify" to my command.
Hi Rainbow child, will that work with a Sonos 5?
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
Hi Rainbow child, will that work with a Sonos 5? No reason why it should not. Have you set up your spotify account in both Amazon Alexa and Sonos.
Yes all I can do is skip songs!
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
So the command
"Alexa, Play the Album [xxx] by [xxxx] in the [room name] from Spotify"
doesn't work?

Also have you asked Alexa to discover devices?
No the echo dot still seems not to recognise Spotify I will try discover devices
and Thanks for your help so far.