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frankwebby
Contributor I
August 26, 2018

Beam: switching from TV to spotify

  • August 26, 2018
  • 7 replies
  • 1894 views
Total Sonos newbie: I bought the Beam on a whim, and only getting into it now. Connected to LG TV via HDMI ARC.

Scenario: I’ve been watching TV, but decide to listen to music. I switch off the TV, and tell Alexa to play [band] on Sonos. It says “playing [band] on Sonos”, but there’s no sound.

If I use the app to go to Browse>Spotify, I can initiate music perfectly fine (although worth noting it doesn’t start outputting music requested via Alexa as above).

So I suppose it’s a question about switching from the TV output to music on the beam. Does it not have the ability to switch to play music once the TV has turned off (which I understand also turns the Beam off via ARC), without the manual change on the app?

If so, I think that’s a bit rubbish. It means that my wife can’t play music without me being with her to make the manual switch (unless, presumably, she also downloads the app and uses my log in??).
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    7 replies

    frankwebbyAuthor
    Contributor I
    August 26, 2018
    Think I’ve figured it out: you just have to say “Alexa, switch to Spotify”. 😃
    frankwebbyAuthor
    Contributor I
    August 26, 2018
    But still can’t quite get Spotify to work. I can use the Sonos app to select music from spotify, but can’t just state “Alex, play music by The Rolling Stones”. It says “playing music by the Rolling Stones”, but I get no sound.

    Any ideas?
    n_lghr
    Lyricist I
    December 27, 2018
    Hi Frank, I have a Sonos One and just also purchased a Beam. I've had this issue with the One since the summer. I can play music through either the Spotify app or the Sonos app; however, when asking Alexa, she recognises the request; but no music is played.

    After much research, the issue is apparently due to my WiFi routers settings. It needs to be set to a 2G signal rather than a 5G signal. I've read quite a few forums where others have confirmed this fixes the issue. It's a bit fiddly for me to do, so I haven't done it yet; but if you log onto your routers admin page (normally accessed through an IP address on the bottom of the router), it should then work fine.

    Hope that helps and fixes your issue 😃
    John B
    December 27, 2018
    I am afraid I am not sure what the previous post was suggesting. Have you set Spotify as the default streaming service for Alexa?

    Try disabling the Sonos skill in the Alexa app, then enable it again.
    John B
    December 27, 2018
    And I have just noticed that this thread is 4 months old.
    n_lghr
    Lyricist I
    December 28, 2018
    And I have just noticed that this thread is 4 months old.

    I was just trying to be helpful to someone with a similar issue to mine. Alexa on the One will not play music from Spotify unless I change my WiFi router signal from 5G to 2G.
    UKMedia
    UKMedia
    December 28, 2018
    And I have just noticed that this thread is 4 months old.

    I was just trying to be helpful to someone with a similar issue to mine. Alexa on the One will not play music from Spotify unless I change my WiFi router signal from 5G to 2G.

    FYI - This has nothing to do with Alexa - Sonos will only connect to a 2.4GHz wi-fi signal.
    Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
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