Skip to main content
JSadd51
Contributor I
May 26, 2025
Answered

Sonos using Alexa not connecting to Pandora

  • May 26, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 248 views

Purchased Sonos One speaker 3 years ago, using Alexa voice control, connecting to Pandora.  Everything worked perfectly until 3 weeks ago.  Now, “Hey Alexa, play Thumbprint Radio on Pandora”.  Alexa repeats my request “Now playing Thumbrpint Radio on Pandora”, and then follows up immediately with “What would you like to play next”.  NO MUSIC!  If I unplug the Sonos speaker, then plug it back in, it will work for the rest of the day, but then not connect to Pandora the next day, unless I unplug the Sonos speaker again.  Another work around is “Hey Alexa, play 70s Hits on Spotify” and Sonos begins playing that station (or any other station).  And then I say “Hey Alexa, cancel music”, she cancels Spotify.  THEN, if I say “Hey Alexa, play Thumbprint Radio on Pandora”, she will play the music!  I’ve had 7 (Seven) calls in to Sonos Tech Support and they cannot figure out the problem.  I’ve gone through ALL necessary steps (disabling SKILLS, enabling SKILLS, removing Pandora app, re-downloading it, disconnect Pandora from both Sonos and Alexa, reinstalling Alexa, rebooting router, etc.) all at the direction of Sonos Tech Support, but nothing has worked.  I have found many others with this same issue and have not seen a solution.  This worked perfectly for 3 years, and overnight, it has not worked for the last three weeks.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.
Best answer by Jamie A

Hi ​@JSadd51, welcome to the Sonos Community!

I’m sorry to hear that you’re having issues playing Pandora through Alexa on your system.

You’ve done everything I would suggest on the community, so I had a look into your case and can see that most of your calls only temporarily resolved the issue, having you perform the same or similar actions to the previous call. I would think that your case would have been escalated by now, but it hasn’t, so I’ve gone ahead and done that. I don’t have a timeframe on when they will reach out to you, but it’s usually 2-3 working days. If you don’t hear back in that time please let me know and I’ll check with the team if there’s anything we can do.

4 replies

Jamie A
Jamie AAnswer
Sonos Staff
May 26, 2025

Hi ​@JSadd51, welcome to the Sonos Community!

I’m sorry to hear that you’re having issues playing Pandora through Alexa on your system.

You’ve done everything I would suggest on the community, so I had a look into your case and can see that most of your calls only temporarily resolved the issue, having you perform the same or similar actions to the previous call. I would think that your case would have been escalated by now, but it hasn’t, so I’ve gone ahead and done that. I don’t have a timeframe on when they will reach out to you, but it’s usually 2-3 working days. If you don’t hear back in that time please let me know and I’ll check with the team if there’s anything we can do.

JSadd51Author
Contributor I
May 26, 2025

Jamie,  thank you so much for escalating this issue.  After many calls to Sonos Support Team, I’m glad this is being escalated.  After doing so much research on this issue, there seems to be many out there with the same issue (through the past few years), and hopefully this fix, or software update will help many more than just me.  I love the sound of the Sonos speaker, but I have to say this has become very frustrating.  It worked perfectly for 2-3 years, then overnight (with no changes to my wifi or router), it stopped working--possibly an iPhone Apple update, or update from the Alexa app caused this issue?  Like I said before, in the morning, if I unplug my Sonos speaker and plug it back in, it’ll work mostly for the rest of the day.  Also, if I manually start Pandora from my Sonos app, the Alexa voice command then works afterward for most of the day, but each day, no matter what I do, the next morning it stops working again. 

I’m hoping your team can find a solution so that everyone involved can benefit! 

-Thanks again, Jim.

    Pumapants
    Lyricist I
    May 31, 2025

    I am also experiencing this issue on my 4 sonos speakers. It's extremely annoying. Sometimes I can get it to work after repeated attempts. I have to say, the service quality of these sonos products are now an unmitigated DISASTER! Nothing but constant problems after the whole s2 fiasco. Get your act together, Sonos! These are premium products with premium price tags that are now extremely flaky. I have 2 beams and 2 ones that I'm strongly considering getting rid of. While the sound quality is great, the constant never-ending glitchiness and inconsistent behavior is making it just not worth the effort anymore. It's truly tragic how bad these products have become because of the crappy software.

    JSadd51Author
    Contributor I
    June 1, 2025

    Pumapants, I totally agree!  The speaker itself sounds incredible, but these issues with Alexa, Hey Google, Pandora and Spotify are getting very frustrating!  “Hey Google” works, but it will not play the station I ask it to play.  I have found that if I ask Alexa to play (any selected station) on Spotify, she will connect and play that station,  Then, if I cancel music on Spotify and then ask Alexa to play (any selected station), then, and only then, will she play it!  Alexa/Pandora will then work for most of the day, but the next morning, I have to start all over.  I’ve seen many others with Sonos systems with our same problem, that also goes back a couple years.  I can’t believe Sonos hasn’t resolved this by now!  I have a JBL smart speaker in my upstairs bathroom, using Google Assistant, and it has worked perfectly, every morning, for more than 5 years!!!  -Jim

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement