Sonos last.fm only updates after switching play back to a device and only caches 50 songs

Hi ​@japhex 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear of this scrobbling issue you are having on Last.fm.

Last.fm is only available in the US (as far as I can tell), and as such, I (in the UK) am entirely unfamiliar with it. Please be aware, however, that the information that I do have is that Last.fm is no longer actually available on Sonos, so I doubt that you will ever get scrobbling working to a satisfactory level - in fact, I am surprised you can still play Last.fm at all!

I hope this helps.

I’ve used it since 2008 from the UK and it’s worked absolutely fine. It also does work as mentioned, it only scrobbles under the circumstances mentioned though, when I stop playing music through sonos and play it on any other device, and then the sonos cache only contains the most recent 50 songs.

Are you able to explain or find out why last.fm is no longer available on Sonos? This is an important feature for many of us, and was the main reason I chose Sonos over Bluesound all those years ago.

To have this removed as a supported service is beyond frustrating and just adds to the list of things which infuriate loyal users on a daily basis since last May. 

Hi ​@japhex 

Our Last.fm info pages have been removed, so I could only guess at the availability.

Again, I cannot help you - the service is no longer available on Sonos. As a result, it is no surprise whatsoever that scrobbling does not work.

I recommend that you do not try removing the service from your Sonos system - you will not be able to add it again, and scrobbling will be the least of the issues.

Sigh. 

Hi ​@Parsnip62 

No. I only know that they have been removed. We support any service who is willing, so you will need to ask Last.fm directly.

You can still play removed services on Sonos via Bluetooth, Line-in, or AirPlay.

I hope this helps.

Last.fm is different to the streaming services though. 

As far as I know, they provide the tools / APIs etc and the hardware guys do the rest. So it would be a Sonos side update / decision and not the other way round.

Does that make sense? 

Hi ​@Parsnip62 

Not really - we have our own API, SMAPI (Sonos Music API). All services use SMAPI to play on Sonos devices, regardless of whether they have their own API or not.

Right, but last.fm is not a streaming service. You don't play music from it. I'll dig out their faq when I get a mo. 

​@Corry P  Here you go 

https://www.last.fm/api/scrobbling

https://www.last.fm/api/intro

https://www.last.fm/api

The last.fm integration predated smapi. 

It appears that Sonos removed this feature like a lot of features but will not be bringing this back. This really sucks and it’s bull sh@t we weren’t given a heads up before they removed it. They’ve promised that the app will get all features returned but this is obviously a lie  

https://support.last.fm/t/last-fm-service-not-anymore-accessible-in-sonos/93376/4
 

https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/s/g6kPcsHwo4

The actual endpoint for updating a `nowPlaying` request to last.fm is really, really simple as well...it only requires an artist and track name (obviously along with auth token):

https://www.last.fm/api/show/track.updateNowPlaying

it just feels like something that in my (naive) engineer mind is very cheap to add.

Hi ​@Parsnip62 

Thank you - it does seem that I misunderstood what Last.fm is.

It really does not change anything, however - it is no longer expected to work.

Hi ​@MyChrmicalRomance 

Sorry, but Last.fm is not a feature of the Sonos app, and as it requires work be done by a third party, we cannot guarantee continued functionality at any point. We can hardly force them to integrate.

​@Corry P

No worries, but I think you have still partly misunderstood how this works. Can this feature reinstatement be considered please?

It relies solely on Sonos development. There is no integration work required on last.fm's part.

As I say, this was a popular feature which has been discontinued, and for me personally, the reason I chose Sonos over Bluesound. 

Hi ​@Parsnip62 

I don’t see how that could be the case. The best you can do is get in touch with Last.fm and ask them to get in touch with their Sonos partner representative.

Did you read the links I posted above? They contain clear instructions on what needs to be done by Sonos. 

Hi ​@Parsnip62 

Did I, a Community Moderator, read the technical documents intended for developers for the API of a service that we don’t support? 

No, I did not.

I was being a literal as I know how.

OK, my (perhaps non-literal) point was that you don't need to be technical to understand who needs to do what with this. You can skim read it to get a reasonable idea of how this works. 

Would it be possible for you to pass this to your product team for further assessment please? It's all Sonos side work, as I keep trying to explain. 

Thanks Corey. Appreciate you raising it. 

Can you pass on the following feedback in your next meeting?

Why does everything about reinstating the old functionality with this app have to be so maddening? I feel like I'm being fobbed off here. The onus should not be on the customer to project manage this stuff.

​​​This is all super frustrating. I've already provided more information than I should have to, with this particular integration. Happily, I might add. But the next step should lie squarely with Sonos, not me. 

Hi ​@Parsnip62 

Again, Last.fm integration is not Sonos App functionality - if I fed your statement back to my colleagues, that is the answer I know I would get. I know it’s not the answer you’re looking for, but it’s the only one available.

I do understand your consternation. Music services are responsible for their own integration with our API, however - they must write the code that produces their container in the Sonos app. This is why we are able to offer so many services - if it was up to us to maintain each container, there would not be the hundreds of available services that there are today.

Last.fm used to be a music service, but I now understand it to just be a scrobbling service now. How that differs when it comes to our integration as compared to other services, I don’t know. I seriously doubt, however, that it us that is responsible for their integration - it’s just not how it works. They have said what they apparently felt they needed to say - the evidence is posted above. My internal contacts do not agree. 

I hope this helps.

​@Corry P

Again, thanks for the reply. This is an occasion where it would definitely be beneficial for your product folks to reach out directly to customers so that they can better understand the context of what is requested. Going through a conduit just isn't working despite your efforts. 

That won't happen though - Sonos has not previously demonstrated such an interest for its decision makers to engage with customers, so why now. Wishful thinking on my part, sadly. 

BTW, my job is an application Product Manager. I get the process. I get how it works. I know that decisions have to be made on priorities. I also do my work a bit differently to you guys by making the time and effort to reach out to customers directly. That's on me. It's a shame Sonos does not.

I also don't take functionality away from customers without telling them, then basically telling them to deal with it. I'd get fired if I did that. And / Or my company would lose business. 

I'll just register my disappointment once again. You'll read it and move on. And nothing will happen. 

Reread the paragraph you quoted, I never said it was part of the app. If you take a moment or two to read the links, which includes information from Sonos you would see that you have this all backwards, it requires Sonos to fix the integration. This is functionality that was part of the players when I bought my first Connect 15 years ago. Last.fm predates SMAPI. Sonos borked this with the updates and it’s bull sh@t that we weren’t warned that Sonos was  breaking this and it’s bulls*** Sonos is not fixing this. 

Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct.

I want to bump this. The issue, which is clearly on Sonos’ side, is still not implemented.

And they have made it clear that they won't. 

I know the company has more important things to do deal with right now, like stying solvent, but it's honestly not good enough that we find ourselves in this situation.