Support Spotify Connect to allow users to use the Spotify app as the controller.

  • 3 September 2013
  • 366 replies
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Spotify Connect was just announced and I was surprised that I didn't see Sonos in the list of companies that would provide support. Many Spotify users have been asking for a long time to be able to use the Spotify app as the controller for selecting songs, as it provides a superior experience (you still can't even see the Top 5 songs in the Spotify view within the Sonos app, and it is difficult to look through an artist's collection to find a specific song unless you know which album it was in). Please support spotify connect. Additional details on Spotify Connect are here: http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/3/4688166/spotify-connect-launches-to-stream-music-to-compatible-speakers If you look at the post on theverge, even the first comment was one asking for Sonos support for the feature.

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366 replies

I'm pretty sure that is the verb "connect" and not the noun "Spotify Connect". Spotify Connect is explained by CNET here, and it specifically says it competes with Airplay and Bluetooth:

http://www.cnet.com/news/spotify-connect-what-is-and-how-it-works/

Spotify Connect is one of several competing methods enabling you to listen to music on your phone through a stereo system. Others include Bluetooth, Apple's AirPlay and Google Cast.

The biggest difference between Spotify and popular streaming option Bluetooth is that it uses higher-quality Wi-Fi connectivity, which is less susceptible to dropouts, sounds better and has a much wider range.

. . .

By comparison, AirPlay -- which also uses Wi-Fi -- and Bluetooth stream music directly from the phone to the receiving device, which can wear down the battery more quickly.
Oh I think I see now, so users want Sonos to support Apple AirPlay, Google Chromecast, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect... I assume next will be something like Microsoft Music-Link and Amazon Access etc. ...or something similar

Surely this moving market of 'music casting technology' has to settle first, before a company like Sonos can choose which way to proceed.

The line-in port has been the 'connect' (verb) method upto now, but perhaps some kind of 'universal standard speaker device port/adapter' needs developing to allow the customer to plugin their own chosen services.

I can't see how Sonos can be all things to all people. Nor should they have to choose. It really needs a 'meeting of minds' to sort the path ahead.

Ken Griffiths
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I just bought an induction hob. I am bitterly disappointed in the manufacturer because it does not support non-induction compatible cookware.
So I am going to hold my breath until I am blue ( because it makes me feel good) and then tear the kitchen out and replace it with something that will use my aluminium saucepans.
Should only cost around £10,000. I refuse to look at, think about, or even try anything that will work properly because the hob manufacturer is wrong and I am right.

I have read that I can buy expensive conversion plates that will allow me to use my saucepans.

My other half keeps nagging me that why not just get saucepans that will work on the hob...some people eh!
Oh I think I see now, so users want Sonos to support Apple AirPlay, Google Chromecast, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect... I assume next will be something like Microsoft Music-Link and Amazon Access etc. ...or something similar



Bose is on their third redesign in about the same number of years because of this. They recently dropped Airplay because they could never make it work with multi-room. I personally like the fact that Sonos doesn't latch onto the flavor of the day. It saves them the growing pains like Bose has/had, and it also means they can disconnect their reviews and/or support responsibilities from flawed, unreliable, or dated technology like AirPlay (streams through the phone) or Bluetooth (limited range, compressed quality, through the phone).
BoredofBalham,

Is that the top of the range induction hob with the optional line-out for your wife to use to boil the electric kettle? ha ha :-)

It's truly amazing what people expect to get for their money from some of the manufacturers these days eh?

Ken Griffiths


Bose is on their third redesign in about the same number of years because of this. They recently dropped Airplay because they could never make it work with multi-room. I personally like the fact that Sonos doesn't latch onto the flavor of the day. It saves them the growing pains like Bose has/had, and it also means they can disconnect their reviews and/or support responsibilities from flawed, unreliable, or dated technology like AirPlay (streams through the phone) or Bluetooth (limited range, compressed quality, through the phone).


'Spot on' jgatie ... I'm really quite amazed at how some people spend around £2k+ on Sonos equipment, without proper research, to get it out the box and then wonder why it doesn't use Bluetooth or have built-in AirPlay etc.

I can only repeat what one Tier 2 Sonos support engineer once said to me. "We are a multi-room wireless speaker company, and we try never to lose sight of that'.

All credit to Sonos for staying focused. I'm sure it will hold them in good stead for their planned future development of products.

Ken Griffiths
I've noticed recently that the Spotify App on my iPhone "sees" my Sonos-Connect as a Spotify-Connect destination. It cannot successfully connect, but it makes me wonder if there is some development underway to support.

Any new news here Tom?
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I've noticed recently that the Spotify App on my iPhone "sees" my Sonos-Connect as a Spotify-Connect destination. It cannot successfully connect, but it makes me wonder if there is some development underway to support.

Any new news here Tom?


certainly no luck for me. Whilst I dont have a connect, I have Play 1s, 3s, 5s, playbar and sub.
With Spotify on my phone it "sees" 1 x Panasonic ALL1C, 1 x Pioneer wifi speaker, 2 x Amazon Fire Sticks and my laptop - all Spotify Connect enabled.

How nice it would be to come home from work and just transfer whatever I was listening to in the car to whatever Sonos I wanted without having to figure out which dirty workaround to use for which speaker(s) or have to build an identical music queue on sonos if I could even figure out where I had got the tracks from in the first place !
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Oh I think I see now, so users want Sonos to support Apple AirPlay, Google Chromecast, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect... I assume next will be something like Microsoft Music-Link and Amazon Access etc. ...or something similar

Surely this moving market of 'music casting technology' has to settle first, before a company like Sonos can choose which way to proceed.

The line-in port has been the 'connect' (verb) method upto now, but perhaps some kind of 'universal standard speaker device port/adapter' needs developing to allow the customer to plugin their own chosen services.

I can't see how Sonos can be all things to all people. Nor should they have to choose. It really needs a 'meeting of minds' to sort the path ahead.

Ken Griffiths


It's actually more simple than that - if I pay for the devices (speakers, phones, computers, etc) and for the rights to play the content (spotify or another service subscription) I want to be able to play anything to anything. I think most users want that or will want that soon and companies like Sonos either give it to them, or, when enough users will want this and enough competitors will provide it, companies that refuse to do it will disappear. This is simply standardization, it happened in other fields, it will happen here as well.

In my particular case, I want to stream the native Spotify app to sonos, because the sonos spotify app does not give me what I want. Since I cannot do that, I am using chromecasts for playing music in certain rooms - Sonos has lost one sale here, because if they supported this I would have bought sonos products instead of chromecast, in spite of the price difference. When they lose enough sales, they will wake up, unless it's too late.
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Native apps and chromecast connectivity is where I want things to go. Native apps are going to rapidly change to offer ever more content for users. Who wants a limited dated sonos app for on-line streaming??
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Hi folks, There's not much to say at the moment but we'd like everyone to understand where we're coming regarding the announcement from Spotify. Sonos is a platform for music lovers and we want Sonos customers to enjoy all the music on earth from whatever source they choose. We have an excellent partnership with Spotify which is, and will continue to be, an important part of many of our customers music listening experience on Sonos. Thanks for your continued support.

this is 2 years ago. Why is Spotify still usless on Sonos. Apple music is not much better. a little better interface but Apple Muisc is way behind Spotify. and I am an aplle everthing user. But I draw the line with Apple music. I feel like going back to CDs.
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so there we have it folks - 2 years on and Spotify Connect is finally coming to Sonos next month :-)
http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/30/sonos-will-soon-let-spotifys-app-control-its-connected-speakers/
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Plus support for Amazon Alexa next year:
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/amazon-alexa-coming-to-sonos-music-systems/
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more info from spotify
https://news.spotify.com/us/2016/08/30/spotify-partners-with-sonos-to-unveil-new-era-of-connected-home-listening/
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what confuses me is how this will work if you want to have different music in different rooms. this is currently possible in the sonos app but not spotify connect (I have a couple of spotify connect devices). I wonder if something will change in spotify in future where you can select a room and choose what is playing then select another ? Presumably the spotify integration will remain in the sonos app so what happens if you start doing things in both apps ?! What about the current restriction of not being able to play on sonos and the spotify app simultaneously ? Presumably that have to be removed ?

much to be clarified !
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Hi everyone,

With the latest version of the Sonos software we've added the ability to control your Sonos system directly from the Spotify app. You can read more about this new feature here.