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Spotify album artwork is distorted

  • 15 October 2022
  • 64 replies
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64 replies

Ken_Griffiths

Thanks, although this is really a limited AI chat forum. Surprised they don’t use a ticket system, only option is to phone I guess. Not user friendly in my opinion….

I believe it’s a ‘free’ phone number - it is in the UK at least, where I am.

You might find it easier to contact then during weekdays/working hours that are stated for your region.

R
Badge

Add me to the list. And when I play a track from my local library on my NAS I get NO artwork at all - even though it appears in the search dialog. 

After several minutes the artwork has appeared. There’s a bug lurking…

Running S2 v14.16 build 69133120.

Brent

Ken_Griffiths

Anyone at Sonos reading this? 🙂

Probably not, it’s weekend and coverage is mostly weekdays in the user community here, but there are Support Staff who respond at the LINK provided earlier.

Airgetlam

As I’ve said several times, the source server for Sonos, and hence the art,  is different than the source server for Spotify’s own app. 

Bruce
Smilja

 

I’m not sure. Audio streams CAN contain artwork within the stream. Hence without the need for an additional server.

 

Different APIs. Spotify and the other music services are making use of this API to integrate with Sonos.

»And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space, Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.« (›Windmills Of Your Mind‹ [1967]. Music by Michel Legrand ; English lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman)
A
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

I contacted Spotify support and basically they have no clue. They said to wait it out and it might be fixed with the next app update, but they don’t know. I recommend anyone else having this issue to also contact both Sonos and Spotify. 

N

Interesting, thank you. The 90-ies have called and want their SOAP back :-)

Ken_Griffiths

It gets weirder…

I had the pixelated artwork problem playing a Spotify playlist I’ve played many times.

So I cleared the cache by resetting and closing the iPhone sonos S1 app.

I then went to Amazon music within the Sonos source list and the artwork loaded fine, made a coffee and came back and now it’s pixelated, even the tracks that initially loaded fine.

So looks like a Sonos issue not a Spotify issue…

I wonder if the artwork delivered, is based on point to point network connection latency 🤔? - Anyhow the matter has been reported by @a9979, so hopefully it will get to the right people to look into the matter. 

A

Same issue here affecting my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, two iPads and my wife's iPhone, all playing Spotify tracks via the Sonos S1 app. All queued album artwork has appeared pixelated since reinstalling the Sonos app following home Internet connectivity issues and needing to reinstall all three home Sonos speakers. Hope Sonos and Spotify can resolve this and quickly - it's very annoying for a subscription service. 

Airgetlam

That certainly suggests the image being served by the Spotify Server to the Sonos system has been changed by Spotify in some way. They do use different servers to feed Sonos than they do to serve their own app. 

Bruce
T
Badge +1

You get the sense that the Sonos App should have a refresh button…..maybe automated in their algorithms? This may refresh the album artwork?

Ken_Griffiths

You get the sense that the Sonos App should have a refresh button…..maybe automated in their algorithms? This may refresh the album artwork?

The attached .gif is poor quality as the upload size to the forum here is limited to 5mb, but I find on each of the tab/displays in the Sonos App on iOS, the artwork often refreshes as I either open/scroll the tab/screens - in fact I find it a nuisance in some instances, but at least it’s fairly quick to load. (I mostly use Amazon Music).

1 Attachment
A
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

Hopefully, you’ve contacted Spotify and expressed your displeasure. Sonos is the TV set in this case, and has no control over the signal being sent to it. 

Yes Sonos is the TV set in this case, but the majority of Sonos success is dependent on the user experience of third party music providers. Nobody would buy TV sets if everything you watched on them was terrible. There’s a mutual financial benefit for both of them to deliver quality products. When one fails, the other is affected. 

T
Badge +1

Thanks Ken.

 

What happens when you are playing music on Sonos App and press Shuffle?This is when I have an issue.

Probably different for you as you use Amazon….

A
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

Interesting viewpoint. When my cable goes out, I will start complaining to Vizio.

Since there is a mutual benefit, of course. 

Hahaha, sorry Airgetlam, I didn’t mean to sound sarcastic or confrontational. I agree with your point. I’m just saying that Sonos is better off when their music service providers are functioning, so hopefully they do actually reach out to them directly. 

Ken_Griffiths

Also it’s only an art display issue for one of the very many MSP’s that the Sonos system supports. That’s like one TV channel, out of dozens, having a VHS video quality display. 

This is a Spotify issue (clearly) and Sonos have asked them to fix it - IMV it’s a case of waiting patiently until Spotify direct their own resources to resolve the matter and that’s why any Spotify customers seeing this problem should be encouraged to report the matter to Spotify (and Sonos too, I guess) - Spotify will then (hopefully) begin to see their own customers would like the matter fixed. 

The more customer complaints about the album art, the more likely it will receive Spotifys attention sooner, rather than later. 

There is probably not much more Sonos can do about the matter, as the message has been passed and no one should want to shoot the messenger.

I’m not a Spotify customer, but if I was …and had already reported it to their Customer Support and maybe posted about it on their forum, I would just wait patiently. Undoubtedly it will get fixed, but the fact music can still be played on all Sonos devices, ‘might’ mean that the issue is unlikely going to be on anyones urgent priority-fix list.

The music still goes on after-all.

C

I have just had this issue start today. I checked and on the Spotify app there is no issue with the album artwork. Only the Sonos app.

W

Diagnostic 1602233776

All of my Spotify artwork accessed from Sonos Playlists are distorted, or pixelated. When I browse and search for the same album that same album artwork looks fine, then that album artwork on my Sonos Playlists fixes itself. It’s almost like the Spotify Album artwork cached itself using much smaller images. Then when I access those albums manually it corrects itself. I have thousands of Spotify songs on Sonos Playlists so searching for every one is not reasonable. I have rebooted all my Sonos speakers, reauthorized my Spotify account and even removed the Spotify account then re-added it, but nothing has worked. Please help. Any ideas?

Diagnostic 1602233776

All of my Spotify artwork accessed from Sonos Playlists are distorted, or pixelated. When I browse and search for the same album that same album artwork looks fine, then that album artwork on my Sonos Playlists fixes itself. It’s almost like the Spotify Album artwork cached itself using much smaller images. Then when I access those albums manually it corrects itself. I have thousands of Spotify songs on Sonos Playlists so searching for every one is not reasonable. I have rebooted all my Sonos speakers, reauthorized my Spotify account and even removed the Spotify account then re-added it, but nothing has worked. Please help. Any ideas?

I used their chat and an agent confirmed they’re aware and are working on a fix. No ETA.

Airgetlam

Makes sense, Sonos doesn’t control Spotify’s programmers, or know when they could apply a fix to the Spotify servers. Sonos can only report the issue. 

Bruce
I

I’ve got the same issue. In addition, I’ve noticed last week during playing explicit songs the explicit words were muted during playback, now you cannot play explicit songs from, for example, Taylor Swifts newest album.

now I see today it’s been changed/recitified?
and you cannot change the parental control on this as SONOS only supports this action on Apple Music/YouTube Music and Amazon US music ??

SONOS said it was a Spotify issue 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
 

 

A
Userlevel 3
Badge +3

This is Spotify’s screwup. They changed their SMAPI presentation map, and removed the ArtworkSizeMap which is how apps find higher resolution versions, so the default low-res art is used.

For the curious the process is described here: https://developer.sonos.com/build/content-service-add-features/add-images/add-album-art/

Is it even worth reporting to Spotify and then going back and forth with them? I assume they know and will fix it. 

Ken_Griffiths

Is it even worth reporting to Spotify and then going back and forth with them? I assume they know and will fix it. 

From your earlier post…

"I opened a ticket with Sonos. They said if the problem is not on their end they will forward the issue to Spotify”. 

Hopefully the message will get passed along.🤞

T
Badge +1

I have the same issue. Can’t seem to clear sonos cache of pixelated artist artwork. Playing a new playlist is fine, but as soon as I play an old playlist, all album artwork pixelates drastically.

 

Somehow sonos app is reading artwork that was not optimized properly possibly due to an internet connection dropping. It should be able to refresh or restore itself once web connected is properly restored.

 

I am using Spotify via Sonos.

 

Reset app etc. Nothing works.Help.Please 

106rallye
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Have you tried clearing the cache of the Sonos app (though it might be in your system): https://support.sonos.com/s/article/4758?language=en_US

T
Badge +1

Yes I have. No resolution.

Had Sonos for a long tine. Never had this issue before.

Very annoying 

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