That suggests that Sonos is having trouble reaching those files from the speakers, for some reason. Where are they stored?

Oh, more importantly (for correct interpretation), are the Sonos speakers playing the first part of the song? 

Hi Bruce

They are in the music folder (iTunes) in Windows on my laptop. The first part of each song plays and then moves on to the next song…...and so on.

Flybehinite

Hmm. That means the speakers can reach the music at the beginning, then they lose contact with the data. Without any hard data, I’d suspect an issue between your router and the PC, or the router and the speakers, with duplicate IP addresses. 

I would certainly try a network refresh, by unplugging all your Sonos devices from power, then rebooting your router, and the PC. I’d wait two minutes, then plug back in the Sonos devices. Wait another two minutes before testing. 

If that doesn’t change the issue, I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it. Don’t post the resulting diagnostic number here, they get sensitive about GDPR.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the Support staff, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.

Hi Bruce

I think I may have  solved the issue rather luckily. I noticed that some others had posted on the Community page that they were having issues relating to the playing of playlists that they had created.

Long story short, I added my playlists into Sonos Favourites and played them from there…..so far so good!!

Cheers

Flybehinite

Seems odd, but I’m glad it’s working for you. Where the playlist is accessed from should make zero difference, I’d think.