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Apple Music Radio - encoding error

  • November 19, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 33 views
J
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This issue is limited to the live Apple Music radio stations - Apple Music 1, Club, Chill, etc. 

I haven't been able to get them to play for a few weeks now. They used to work fine.

The track ID comes through as “unknown content” and nothing plays. Sometimes I get an error saying that it is not encoded properly, but not always. 
 

Today when I tested, Apple Music 1 played through one of my Play 5s, but not through any other speaker, while the app filled with error message pop ups. The other stations refused to play at all. 
 

Is this a known issue? 

Best answer by Corry P

Hi ​@Jarrodbooth 

Thanks for your post!

I’m sorry to hear of this issue you are having with streaming Apple Music radio to your Sonos speakers.

Typically, the “Not encoded correctly” message is seen in either of two cases - either the source data actually has an error in it, or the transmission of said data failed in such a way that the speaker ended up with a corrupted version of that data. With music services, the latter is much more likely, which means that the most likely reason that you are seeing that error message is that there are transmission errors between the router and the speaker.

If there are any devices within 1m (3 feet) of either your Sonos speaker(s) or your router, then I recommend that you move them away. I also recommend a read of our Reduce wireless interference help page for some similar pointers.

That you only see this issue with radio in particular is a little puzzling, but my assumption would be perhaps that those stations have a higher bandwidth requirement than some of your alternate content.

If you follow the help page to the best of your ability but still can’t see an improvement, then I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports - they will be able to see evidence of transmission failures.

I hope this helps.

1 reply

Corry P
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  • Corry P
  • Sonos Staff
  • Answer
  • November 19, 2025

Hi ​@Jarrodbooth 

Thanks for your post!

I’m sorry to hear of this issue you are having with streaming Apple Music radio to your Sonos speakers.

Typically, the “Not encoded correctly” message is seen in either of two cases - either the source data actually has an error in it, or the transmission of said data failed in such a way that the speaker ended up with a corrupted version of that data. With music services, the latter is much more likely, which means that the most likely reason that you are seeing that error message is that there are transmission errors between the router and the speaker.

If there are any devices within 1m (3 feet) of either your Sonos speaker(s) or your router, then I recommend that you move them away. I also recommend a read of our Reduce wireless interference help page for some similar pointers.

That you only see this issue with radio in particular is a little puzzling, but my assumption would be perhaps that those stations have a higher bandwidth requirement than some of your alternate content.

If you follow the help page to the best of your ability but still can’t see an improvement, then I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports - they will be able to see evidence of transmission failures.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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