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LJO
October 28, 2024
Answered

Live radio doesn’t play on Beam

  • October 28, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 254 views

Recently, Beam will not play live radio stations unless I use the controls on the device or press play on app with phone. This is new- for years I’ve been asking Alexa to play a live npr station (usually defaults to Tunein or Iheart). Now, Alexa confirms my prompt and says “playing…” but then nothing happens. Also- this is *not* happening on my older Sonos One- still works as usual. 
I tried removing Alexa, re-installing it, all apps are up to date, re-booting. Help! Any suggestions would be appreciated! 

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Best answer by Jamie A

Hi @LJO, 

Sorry to hear you’re having issues with getting Alexa to play on your Sonos Beam. Since it’s working on the Sonos One, and you can still play radio by using the app, it doesn’t seem like an issue with the Beam itself. This is a common symptom of an Account Mismatch which can be resolved by fully removing the connection between Alexa and Sonos. The steps to do so are:

  1. Remove Alexa from speakers in the Sonos app by heading to Settings → Manage → Voice Assistants → Amazon Alexa → Select a Room then Remove. Repeat this for each room that has Alexa set up.
     
  2. Remove all registered Sonos devices from the Alexa app by heading to Skills & Games > Your Skills > Sonos > Disable Skill.
     
  3. Sign out of all Amazon apps on the controller. Other Amazon apps include Prime video, Amazon Music, Amazon Photos, Kindle, etc. This ensures that other Amazon accounts do not interfere with the setup process.
     
  4. Set up Alexa in the Sonos app with the correct Amazon Account by heading to Settings → Manage → Voice Assistants → Add a Voice Assistant.

After you’ve added Alexa back to the system, try a voice command to confirm it works and check if you can now play radio on the Beam. If you’re still having issues after doing the above, then I’d recommend contacting our support team for further assistance, as they have the necessary tools available to help you troubleshoot.

I hope this helps!

1 reply

Jamie A
Jamie AAnswer
Sonos Staff
November 5, 2024

Hi @LJO, 

Sorry to hear you’re having issues with getting Alexa to play on your Sonos Beam. Since it’s working on the Sonos One, and you can still play radio by using the app, it doesn’t seem like an issue with the Beam itself. This is a common symptom of an Account Mismatch which can be resolved by fully removing the connection between Alexa and Sonos. The steps to do so are:

  1. Remove Alexa from speakers in the Sonos app by heading to Settings → Manage → Voice Assistants → Amazon Alexa → Select a Room then Remove. Repeat this for each room that has Alexa set up.
     
  2. Remove all registered Sonos devices from the Alexa app by heading to Skills & Games > Your Skills > Sonos > Disable Skill.
     
  3. Sign out of all Amazon apps on the controller. Other Amazon apps include Prime video, Amazon Music, Amazon Photos, Kindle, etc. This ensures that other Amazon accounts do not interfere with the setup process.
     
  4. Set up Alexa in the Sonos app with the correct Amazon Account by heading to Settings → Manage → Voice Assistants → Add a Voice Assistant.

After you’ve added Alexa back to the system, try a voice command to confirm it works and check if you can now play radio on the Beam. If you’re still having issues after doing the above, then I’d recommend contacting our support team for further assistance, as they have the necessary tools available to help you troubleshoot.

I hope this helps!

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