"Jukebox" Mode


I have a number of clients that have installed Sonos in their bars/restaurants. A lot of them wanted us to recess an iPad into a wall (using Sonance mounts) and use the Rhapsody service exactly like a jukebox.

The only issue is that the customers would constantly override the existing song by selecting "Play Now". Would you consider adding a "jukebox" setting that would only allow the user to "Add to Queue"?

The "Play Now" feature is also an issue at my house when there is a party. Most people do not have the patience to listen to a song picked by another individual. I would love to be able to lock down this behaviour.

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31 replies

You know, I'm as vocal a critic of the "Tap to Play" functionality as there is, from the beta right up till today. But this silly notion that Sonos is somehow "disrespecting" their community by not explaining every change they make is silly, especially when they have explained it already. They want Sonos' interface to better resemble the standalone apps of services like Spotify, Google Play Music, and Apple Music. Not so coincidentally, the change came right before Sonos released their first incantation of Direct Control from 3rd party apps, so even if they hadn't come right out and stated the reason, just from the subsequent release one could glean that they are looking for a more universal look and feel.

Now, we can (and believe me, I HAVE!) argue that the interface of a one-user personal music app does not translate well to a multi-user environment. We can (ditto) argue that the party mode is ruined by Tap to Play clearing a queue. We can argue that a "jukebox" mode that locks out the queue and only allows adding at the end is needed to counteract the horrible Tap to Play function in a party environment. What we can't argue is Sonos hasn't told us why they did what they did, nor can we argue we are entitled to know every little detail as to whys, whats, wheres, whos, and hows of the decision, or if there is anything new coming. We don't own the company, they do. Thus, they are entitled to keep their secrets, we are entitled to spend our money where we wish.
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Sonos has a long standing policy of not allowing user customizable options. They want the Sonos experience to be the same no matter where a user experiences it. Early on this may have been a good policy but the market today dictates a much higher level of personalization. I believe it is now detrimental to Sonos future in staying so Ridgid to this policy. Especially as you certainky have two camps now when it comes to the controller experience. The one button play people and the queue using people who want the queue protected over all else. So far Sonos has still held fast to not catering to both groups and this past year switched from queue centered to one touch centered alienating a large group in that process. Hopefully at some point they will add a jukebox type protection mode that can better cater to the older queue group. No indications yet they are.
Seems as if the JUKEBOX issue is over 5 years old now with no respect of the Community's suggestions to add. Just used my new Play5 in our kitchen party and quickly found the need to access a JukeBox function. Everyone wants to play DJ and although the Que function is great, it has limited features. I agree with one Community member that there should be an Admin oversight, and the ability to move songs around in the Que or delete them altogether. I found myself competing with my wife and her friend in a friendly DJ competition, which never ended; especially, with a few more drinks added. Very surprised this doesn't exist and looking through this forum, it appears as if I'm not alone. Sonos, either respect the suggestions of your Community in adding the feature, or update us on why this essential function is being ignored!
Userlevel 7
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But yes. We desperately need a jukebox mode especially now with the new one click methodology.
Userlevel 7
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Since they are using a single service. I would recommend the sonospad application. You can set it to not allow overrides and act more like a jukebox. The negative I have with it is it doesn't utilize Sonos universal search. But if your just using rhapsody they may like it a lot.
I have a number of clients that have installed Sonos in their bars/restaurants. A lot of them wanted us to recess an iPad into a wall (using Sonance mounts) and use the Rhapsody service exactly like a jukebox.

The only issue is that the customers would constantly override the existing song by selecting "Play Now". Would you consider adding a "jukebox" setting that would only allow the user to "Add to Queue"?

The "Play Now" feature is also an issue at my house when there is a party. Most people do not have the patience to listen to a song picked by another individual. I would love to be able to lock down this behaviour.
I have a number of clients that have installed Sonos in their bars/restaurants. A lot of them wanted us to recess an iPad into a wall (using Sonance mounts) and use the Rhapsody service exactly like a jukebox.

The only issue is that the customers would constantly override the existing song by selecting "Play Now". Would you consider adding a "jukebox" setting that would only allow the user to "Add to Queue"?

The "Play Now" feature is also an issue at my house when there is a party. Most people do not have the patience to listen to a song picked by another individual. I would love to be able to lock down this behaviour.
I have a number of clients that have installed Sonos in their bars/restaurants. A lot of them wanted us to recess an iPad into a wall (using Sonance mounts) and use the Rhapsody service exactly like a jukebox.

The only issue is that the customers would constantly override the existing song by selecting "Play Now". Would you consider adding a "jukebox" setting that would only allow the user to "Add to Queue"?

The "Play Now" feature is also an issue at my house when there is a party. Most people do not have the patience to listen to a song picked by another individual. I would love to be able to lock down this behaviour.
Where's the JUKEBOX mode, SONOS?
Jukebox-mode is all I miss on my Sonos-system
Badge +2
I've purchased a few more Players, but this hasn't moved forward at all. It appears as though I will have to start looking for some other options. Jukebox and/or Intercom are the two things I have been keeping an eye on. Neither of them have gained any headway.
Badge +2
I'm assuming by the lack of posts in this thread that the "jukebox" option hasn't gained any momentum? I thought there may have been an update, but I guess not.
Userlevel 2
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A huge +1 from me

This would be brilliant in the home (parties etc), but it's very odd that Sonos have not looked into this from a commercial angle - ie if I owned a bar/cafe I would be all over a Sonos touchscreen jukebox. Or perhaps they are looking into it (?)
Userlevel 7
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Haven't seen a thing - I was hoping for it with the new interface ... but no such luck!

Especially as it seems it would be a pretty quick fix (a menu option for party mode that would lock out several options for playback).
Badge +2
Has there been any more talk about adding a Jukebox option? I have used TouchTone Audio for the longest time for any party I had, and it worked great. The only limitation is that it has control from one interface, and only plays in one location. I could lock the interface down to "party mode" and set permissions as to what users could do and see too. Stopped users from jumping their song to first, controlling the volume, etc. I would LOVE to see something like that one Sonos, and I would even pay extra if it were some sort of add on.
Userlevel 7
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While you can't currently lock out options. You can lock iPad or iphone to the app. Use the guided access option and you can lock the unit to the sonos program when needed.
Userlevel 2
+1
Exactly what I'm looking for with a great cross sell to get more customers for Sonos. I would love to have the party manage the music. However they always do something stupid, exit out, play next, go on facebook, etc... I want to be able to display it just like a jukebox, mount a touch screen/ipad and go.

Once others start using it the more they want Sonos...
Userlevel 7
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reminds me back when I had squeezebox I used iPeng as the interface and they had an Iphone app called iPeng Party which was the limited version.

Another thing the iPeng Party limited version did was also not allow volume control by the person adding songs.
Userlevel 2
+1

Access Control with Groups permissions and users is a VERY wanted feature as it would solve so much things if it is solved.

Yes the party/jukebox mode is very wanted.

Also for locking down functionality and playlists for Children. It would be great to just give my Children some playlists and only controling volume on some speakers/rooms etc.
Userlevel 2
I'm not too concerned about my friends enqueuing the complete works of Meshugga, but should someone do that it would have been in place to have an adjustable volume limit, especially if the song before that was composed by Éric Satie :D

It could definitely be implemented as a third-party application, but that would then be a topic for the Unsupported section of the forum and it wouldn't be available on the CR200 either.
+1

twd
Userlevel 2
the other feature of Silverjuke is that it remembers what has been played, and if nothing is queue will pick a popular song and play it after a programmable quiet time. So if you're too busy as the host to buidl the queue (or you've hidden the controller), you still get music.
Any queued track interrupts and plays immediately.
I'm sure that commercial Jukeboxes in bars have a similar feature.
Userlevel 2
Until I installed SONOS, I used a PC program called Silverjuke running on a diskless PC with a USB drive with all my music.
This had a very nice "Kiosk" mode for parties, that
- only allowed "add to queue"
- would not add the same track twice
- could be configured to not play tracks form the same artist consecutively (stops someone loading up all of James Blunt :-))
- dropped tracks off the queue once played.

So it worked just like a barroom Jukebox. Everyone seems to intuitively understand how it works.

So if you get a chance, I'd be very keen to see that mode, and even pay something for it.
Userlevel 2
I would also like to see this jukebox feature.
Userlevel 2
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Along with locking out the "Play Now" and "Play Next" features, it would be nice to add volume locks both on the mobile and desktop Controllers as well as on the Sonos devices themselves.

It would be nice to be able to limit the volume or disable changing the volume entirely on each device.

Without these features, it can be difficult to use Sonos during parties as there are always a few people who can not quite comprehend that my neighbors can only stand so much loud music after midnight.
Userlevel 5
Badge +3
+100

I posted this last year and nobody was interested. Glad to see some supporters now. This is also really useful for parties where inevitably a guest will always hit "play now" instead of adding to the queue.
Userlevel 2
Definitely love the idea.

But one issue that you might encounter is abuse. Someone playing 45 tracks in a row or playing the same song over and over.

I would make the suggestion to offer more access features as well - how many songs can a client request? request delays? things of that nature.