Question

How do I make Sonos index my Podcasts under OSX Catalina?

  • 13 September 2020
  • 5 replies
  • 144 views
I
Badge +1

I’ve been having a problem with Sonos not being able to index my podcasts since I upgraded my OSX to Catalina.  (I’m currently running 10.15.6.)  I’m getting the error message “Sonos was unable to add the music folder.”  Under Catalina, Apple introduced the new Podcasts app and changed the location where podcast files are stored.  On my iMac, podcasts are now stored at “/Users/me/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Library/Cache”.  When I try to add that folder to the Sonos Music Library, I get the error.  My music is still being indexed just fine as far as I can tell.  My firewall is turned on and allows the “Sonos S1 Controller.app” incoming connections.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Can you tell me how to fix it?

 

 

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5 replies

Krishma M
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi @integral-alee, thanks for reaching out with the Sonos Community, and thanks for bringing this up. I’ll be happy to help you with this.

Subsequent to the release of Mac OS 10.15 Catalina and the Music application replacing iTunes, users are no longer able to index new and updated podcasts within the Music library feature on Sonos.  

Mac OS 10.15 Catalina replaced iTunes with three separate Apps, Music, Podcasts & TV.

One side effect of this is that podcasts are no longer available within the Music App and are now in their own "Podcasts" app. This means that any new episodes or new Podcast subscriptions will no longer show under the music library within Sonos.

We have two workarounds that we can share about this. You can follow Workaround 1 below and manually add Podcasts to the music library shared folder. If you want to go through with the workaround two as it’s the same on what you’re doing, the responsibility of doing that lies with you.

Workaround 1:

  • You can drag Podcast episodes from the new Podcasts app to any folder on Mac and the finder will make a copy.
  • Open the Podcasts app, and download the desired Podcast, then drag the desired Podcast to the “Music” folder on the Mac, this will make a copy of the podcast within the music folder.
  • Then reindex the Sonos music Library and should then be able to navigate to the folders container and find and play the respective Podcast within Sonos.

​6eeb1c01-85c7-4780-9057-651c1578f2be​

Workaround 2 (not recommended):

  • Podcasts downloaded with the new Podcasts app are located at: ~/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Library/Cache, technically one can add this folder to the folders to be indexed by the Sonos Music Library, however, one will need to enable sharing for the respective folder in order that Sonos can index it.

See the article about: Stream Podcasts from your computer​

Let us know how it goes. We and the community are always here to help.

Help others find useful content by clicking the like button and selecting the best answer to your question.
I
Badge +1

Can someone offer insight into what is happening with the Sonos indexing of the podcasts of my OSX iMac?  Since upgrading to OSX Catalina 10.15.7 and the latest version of the Sonos S1 controller  (11.2.3), I have been able to add to the podcasts folder (“/Users/me/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Library/Cache”) to the Sonos “Music Library” preferences window without getting the permissions error that I reported in my original post.  Maybe it was upgrading OSX, maybe the Sonos controller, or maybe it was some combination of the two, but I now have hundreds of podcasts shown in my Sonos controller.  The problem I am having is that the only way I can see newly downloaded podcasts is by searching for a podcast by name.  The screen shots show the problem.  I’ve got 5 episodes of Business Wars “Pizza Hut vs. Domino’s” that I can see when I do a search for “Pizza.”  However, none of the episodes are visible in the “All” folder or the “Business Wars” folder.  I see plenty of podcasts, but I’m guessing they are ones I downloaded before Apple introduced the new Podcasts app and folder structure.  I do see episode #1 of 5 in my OSX Music app, but not the remaining four episodes of “Pizza Hut Vs. Domino’s.”  I’m thinking that Sonos hasn’t yet caught up with a change that Apple introduced with the new Podcasts app.  If anyone has an idea about a possible remedy, I’d love to hear it.  Thanks.

 

I see 5 episodes when I search for “Pizza”
The same 5 episodes are missing from the Business Wars folder

 

Krishma M
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi @integral-alee, thanks for your response and for keeping us posted here. Nice that it’s working now. About the Podcasts not showing, it will depend on the metadata supplied like the title, artist name, album name, and more. Sonos categorizes your music files based on how they’re tagged in the metadata. You may need to check the music file’s metadata to pull it up in Sonos. You’ll need a media library management tool like iTunes to view and edit the metadata on your files. After making any changes to metadata, make sure you update the music library index. Also, more here about listening to podcasts on Sonos. You can also reach out to our phone support team for better assistance. Just let us know if you need anything. We and the community are always here to help.

Help others find useful content by clicking the like button and selecting the best answer to your question.
Krishma M
Userlevel 5
Badge +13

Hi @integral-alee, thanks for reaching out with the Sonos Community, and thanks for bringing this up. I’ll be happy to help you with this.

Subsequent to the release of Mac OS 10.15 Catalina and the Music application replacing iTunes, users are no longer able to index new and updated podcasts within the Music library feature on Sonos.  

Mac OS 10.15 Catalina replaced iTunes with three separate Apps, Music, Podcasts & TV.

One side effect of this is that podcasts are no longer available within the Music App and are now in their own "Podcasts" app. This means that any new episodes or new Podcast subscriptions will no longer show under the music library within Sonos.

We have two workarounds that we can share about this. You can follow Workaround 1 below and manually add Podcasts to the music library shared folder. If you want to go through with the workaround two as it’s the same on what you’re doing, the responsibility of doing that lies with you.

Workaround 1:

  • You can drag Podcast episodes from the new Podcasts app to any folder on Mac and the finder will make a copy.
  • Open the Podcasts app, and download the desired Podcast, then drag the desired Podcast to the “Music” folder on the Mac, this will make a copy of the podcast within the music folder.
  • Then reindex the Sonos music Library and should then be able to navigate to the folders container and find and play the respective Podcast within Sonos.

​6eeb1c01-85c7-4780-9057-651c1578f2be​

Workaround 2 (not recommended):

  • Podcasts downloaded with the new Podcasts app are located at: ~/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Library/Cache, technically one can add this folder to the folders to be indexed by the Sonos Music Library, however, one will need to enable sharing for the respective folder in order that Sonos can index it.

See the article about: Stream Podcasts from your computer​

Let us know how it goes. We and the community are always here to help.

Hi @integral-alee, thanks for your reply and the details. Above are the workarounds available to make it work with the new Podcasts app. And I’m afraid to say that with the release of Catalina and the removal of Podcasts from Music (Formerly iTunes) that Podcasts are no longer directly supported by the music library. You may need to check other workarounds that may work for you like the SonoAir you shared or our article here: Stream podcasts from your computer. Just let us know if you need anything. We and the community are always here to help.

Help others find useful content by clicking the like button and selecting the best answer to your question.

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