Spotify: Browsing through genres not possible anymore

Same problem here. Please fix ASAP. 

This is a game changer and would actually give me cause to unsubscribe from Spotify!  Please fix this!  It is still possible to search by genre through the actual Spotify app, so it seems that this change has come from Sonos.

Actually, it is Spotify who made the changes, not Sonos.  

Note that the data reflected in the Sonos search field is generated by Spotify. Sonos wrote the code that sends the request (what you typed) to Spotify, and Spotify parses the data, sends back a response, and Sonos displays what they receive from Spotify. 

You may want to voice your concerns to Spotify directly. 

I don’t think this is completely true. This change appeared with the latest update, indicating Sonos introduced the change. Other than that the redesign is also showcased here: https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/spotify-free-now-available-on-sonos-with-10-5-1-6832169

I think Sonos must understand that this is a major drawback in usability. While I understand that playlist curation based on listening habits makes sense, just breaking workflows that have been there for years is cruel. At least give us an option to switch back to the old style, please.

I’m someone who usually never complains about updates because they most often make complete sense. But the Spotify experience on Sonos has dramatically degraded because of this change. Even the free Amazon (Prime) Music allows browsing through genres. In the end, if there won’t be any changes to this experience, Spotify will have to suffer though I’m using it for over half a decade already. Because mainly I use my music streaming service together with Sonos! And the removal of all possibilities to browse the Spotify catalogue makes me want to search for a streaming service where it is still possible. This shouldn’t be necessary. Is there really no one at Sonos who selects playlist based on genres in Spotify? I can’t believe this.

While I agree with this proposition, even in an in-app notification today it was stated, that Sonos introduced this change (I won‘t paste the update here since my app Interface is in German).

And while it indeed became much more easy to select playlists one recently listened to, like I said, it got virtually impossible to select anything else.

Totally agree with the above comments. My family made great use of this feature and now it is much more difficult. It would be great to get it back.

Please ready my reply directly above yours, which explains clearly why this is a Spotify problem.

Interesting, I tried my Windows apps and sure enough the old Genre behavior is shown, as it is in SonoPad. However the official Sonos app shows a completely different experience for Spotify, so I did some digging.

Spotify are detecting the version of the Sonos app and showing the new stuff, which people on this thread hate. However 3rd party apps (like mine and SonoPad which behave like “old” Sonos apps) get the older, preferred experience.

TL;DR this is a deliberate change by Spotify and if you don’t like it, use a 3rd party app and/or complain to Spotify.

I am very disappointed by this backward step. It makes me think about finding another music steaming services. Please can we go back to easy access to genres?

Meanwhile I ended up in unsubscribing Spotify Premium Family and moving to Amazon Music Unlimited. It’s a shame since I was Spotify Premium member for many years already, but in my oppinion it became unusable in combination with Sonos. With Amazon Music, at least a more or less normal browsing experience is still given.

Because I am right.

SMAPI is Sonos’ API specification, yes. But they define the API, each music service implements it as they deem fit.

If you want to Browse genres on Spotify, use my Windows app, or SonoPad/SonoPhone on iOS. These apps still use the old Spotify endpoint. More recent official Sonos apps use the newer Spotify endpoint, which does not include genres.

At some point i will update my app for the modern Spotify experience, and will lose that ability.

Agreed. I hate this change. I have actually gone back to using the Spotify app and then selecting the speaker on “available devices”. Please change it back!

How can you possibly think taking away the ability to browse all genres is a positive use experience?

Huge user experience flaw

Solution is to use the Spotify app & port it to the Sonos player

The sound isn’t the same, but it gets the music playlists you want.

Sonos, please work with Spotify to make this change back to get Genres on the Sonos app.

I totally agree with all that is written above. The solution for me at the moment is to use the iOS app SonoPhone instead - hoping, that Sonos will fix this soon.

Ingo

What is the status of this? I can still easily browse genres through the Spotify desktop application. There is no such option via the Sonos interface. So how exactly is this a Spotify problem?

Thanks for the reply but you’re misinformed. Spotify’s genres can be read at the “https://api.spotify.com/v1/recommendations/available-genre-seeds” enpoint.  If you take one of those genres and use it as a seed for “ https://api.spotify.com/v1/recommendations” endpoint, then you have the exact functionality that used to exist in the Sonos controller.

This is a design decision by Sonos, not Spotify. So I’ll restate my question: Why was the functionality of a product I purchased reduced?

No, this was a decision by Spotify, not Sonos. Sure, Spotify’s own API exposes Genres, as does the older SMAPI endpoint they exposed, but the newer SMAPI-json endpoint does NOT expose Genres. This was a deliberate decision by Spotify, no question about that.

@controlav Why do you keep arguing this point? Did you need me to write you some sample code that proves that Spotify genres can be walked via their API?

“SMAPI” is Sono’s API. Are you claiming that Sono’s API doesn’t support Spotify genres and it’s somehow Spotify’s fault?

I’ve also found this change extremely annoying. Sonos, please speak to Spotify and fix it!

I fully agree. The functionality to choose genres is absolutely crucial so bring it back please. 

Please express this to Spotify. It was not Sonos who removed the feature, it was Spotify. I don’t believe Spotify reps read this forum.