Artist Radio (Tidal) fix in Sonos app?

‘Closed for comment’ is an automated process, depending on time and activity in the thread. As far as I’m aware, there is no ‘human’ closing topics because they’re uncomfortable.

I’m not a Tidal user myself, but I’m interested in your comment about how ‘Artist Radio’ works in the Sonos ecosystem. There is a mix between what the Sonos API (known as SMAPI) allows in terms of what can be sent by the controller to the Tidal server. Sonos doesn’t write anything but the SMAPI, the implementation is done by Tidal. They choose what tools to use, and how to implement them on their local servers, and all Sonos doesn’t write anything is provide a place/end point for the data to be applied. You can, if you’re interested, see more information at the Sonos partners page.

But ultimately, how the controller interacts with the Tidal servers is up to Tidal, more so than Sonos. Have you contacted them, to ask about their implementation to the SMAPI relationship with their servers? 

Another sometimes useful thing is to submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it. That way, they have some concrete data that they can pass on to programmers, either from Sonos, or from Tidal, which likely makes finding an issue much easier. I feel comfortable in saying the engineers from Sonos don’t have access to the code running on their local servers Tidal servers, but the Sonos folks did write the SMAPI, and I assume maintain it. Passing on your concrete concerns is probably best. Anecdotal data tends to be difficult, and consequently not often paid attention to, due to difficulty in reproduction / ability to ‘see’ the issue. 

Thanks for the thorough response.

I perfectly understand that anecdotal information is difficult. But Sonos already has more than anecdotal information on this problem from me and from other users.

I refer for example to this thread and information provided by a member called “The Duck” in one of his latest posts in the thread:

So you see that Sonos already spent some time investigating this issue and there must be some record of this in your tech support archive.

It was proven that the issue lies not with Tidal but with Sonos.  (Besides, this is a functionality which worked perfectly before the app update of spring 2024) It also works without any issue when we use a 3rd party app called SonoPhone to control the Sonos system.

We sorely miss Artist Radio of Tidal from the Sonos app and it would be great if you could chase this in the Sonos archive and move this ahead!

Regarding Play All, try the desktop app. If it doesn’t shq up there either than it is Tidal’s problem, but if it does then its a mobile app bug (and there are several in this area already).

Note that I am a user like yourself, and don’t have a ‘Sonos employee’ badge next to my name.

All I can tell you is that every programming group, much less QA group, I’ve been associated with were never comfortable with ‘enough anecdotal information’. If they couldn’t reproduce the issue or see it for themselves in hard data, they’d move on to something they felt was more tangible. 

However, it’s your choice if you prefer not to give Sonos the opportunity to see your data. I do hope they’re able to ‘fix’ the issue for you. 

Sorry about that. Your response was thorough enough so that I assumed you were an employee, my mistake.

I am not at all against sharing information with Sonos and I already did that last year.  However, as “The Duck” described very well, it takes enormous time to get past the different layers at Sonos and I´m not prepared to make that investment.  It has been fruitless until now.

So that´s why I just thought of asking whether someone knew where this stands, it´s not just a “fix” that I need.

controlav, thanks for your response.

The “Play all” is actually also missing from the desktop app and that should then be Tidal´s issue according to you.

However, I don´t really think that a user should be concerned with that. The  user interface in question is from Sonos and it has lost a feature which worked flawlessly prior to the disastrous app upgrade last year. Artist Radio also works without any issues on 3rd party apps (f.ex. SonoPhone) that control Sonos systems.

So it’s logical that Sonos acts on this and if Tidal has to work with them to adapt to the new Sonos apps then Sonos should be the one coordinating that, not a user.

(Come to think of it, it is a bit ridiculous to offer Artist Radio without “Play all” :-))

Artist Radio with Tidal does work now!

Instead of looking for the play button just double tap the first song in the list and low and behold the song list is fully populated for that speaker. 

GazzaJD. 

I should add, I can only confirm this works for the android version of the App. I've not tried it for IOS.

GazzaJD. 

Thanks GazzaJD,

Unfortunately, this doesn’t work on the iOS app.

This looks like a long-standing bug tied to the Sonos app update rather than Tidal itself. The best steps right now would be: Update both apps → make sure Sonos app and Tidal are on the latest versions (sometimes hotfixes roll out silently). Try casting directly from Tidal → use the Tidal app’s “Connect” feature to play through Sonos; this often bypasses the bug in the Sonos controller app. Use Sonos S1/S2 desktop controller (if available) as a workaround until mobile is fixed. Open a support ticket with Sonos → reference the issue ID from older threads so they log another case. More reports = faster priority. Unfortunately, until Sonos releases an app patch, the only reliable workaround is to start playback from the Tidal app itself and hand off to Sonos.

Hi harrie05715

My workaround is to use the SonoPhone app which can launch Artist Radio on the Tidal service through the Sonos system (as the Sonos app could do prior to the big update).  It works fine.

That way the system is not depending on the Tidal app running on my phone for playback.

Since I can live with this I’m not willing to invest the time to start another support ticket. Judging from the details from “The Duck” as well as my own experience from Sonos support, their default position is that any issue is a setup issue or user mistake and it takes enormous time and effort to prove otherwise.