Question

Spotify won't play on speaker when I leave home


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Just got a Sonos One. Speaker plays Spotify great but only when I am home with my iPhone. When I leave my wife can't use it. She has a separate Spotify account on her iPhone. We also have a MacBook Air which also has my Spotify account. What to do? Wife would like to use Sonos One when I'm gone!!!

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20 replies

https://support.sonos.com/s/article/2757
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Do I need to download the Sonos App on my MacBook Air for the Sonos One Speaker for my wife to listen when I am away with my iPhone?
No. Asuming your wife has the Sonos app on her phone (if not, she needs to install it and select to connect to existing system): then she just needs to add her Spotify account to Sonos, as per the link given by Bruce.
In fact, even as things are now there is nothing I can see to prevent your wife using Spotify Connect to play on the Sonos One. Or she coukd use Airplay 2 to play music on the Sonos One.

Your phone is just a remote control for Sonos. Its absence should not impair in any way her ability to play music.
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Sorry for my confusion. Wife has a separate(non Premium) Spotify account on her phone. The other Premium of mine is on the laptop. So instead of using her iPhone when I'm gone can she somehow use the laptop? If so, can we both then listen individually. Me at the gym on my phone and ear buds and her at home on the Sonos One?
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Again I apologize for my ignorance but what is Spotify Connect and Airplay 2 and where are they?
The only way a free Spotify account can be used is for your wife to use the Spotify app on her phone and cast the sound to the speaker using Airplay, if her phone is an iPhone.

You cannot use a single Spotify Premium account to play in two different places simultaneously.

When you play Spotify on Sonos using your phone do you do so using the Sonos app or the Spotify app?

It sounds like your best bet would be a Spotify Family account.
Again I apologize for my ignorance but what is Spotify Connect and Airplay 2 and where are they?
Spotify Connect allows you to play music on Sonos from the Spotify app. Airplay is a method for sending audio from an Apple device to a speaker.
And there are several ways of getting to send an AirPlay 2 signal, which depend on the Apple device you're using. On newer iPhones, you pull down from the top right corner, and it's the box in the top right of that resulting page. Click on the circles with a diamond pointing up in the top right of that box (I sense a theme here, top right, all the way...), and you get to the selection screen for AirPlay 2. It will show you all available AirPlay 2 speakers, including your Sonos, assuming that they're AirPlay 2 capable.

The other way is to...cripes, I have no idea, I never use it. Here's the Apple webpage about it all.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202809

Ah, it's a swipe up on older devices. For some reason I thought it was in settings.
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I see what Spotify Connect is. Here is the part I don't understand.....when I am out of the house at the gym and I connect my ear buds to my phone and listen to Howlin Wolf and my wife is home and wants to listen to Adele. I tried using Spotify Connect on the laptop to play from the location on the device menu but when I left the house and tried to play what I wanted on the phone thru ear buds it didn't work....I heard what she was playing in the house. Am I making any sense? Or is this the reality of Spotify and Sonos speakers?
To answer further I really need you to answer a question from earlier. Do you play Spotify through Sonos using the Spotify app? Or have you added Spotify as a music service to Sonos, and access Spotify using the Sonos app?
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Here is the sequence of events.....I had a free Spotify account. Before I purchased the Sonos One speaker I upgraded to Spotify Premium. When I got the speaker I downloaded the Sonos App(per the instructions). Then I got confused on what to do next so I called Sonos and they walked me through setting up Alexa getting Spotify to play through the speaker. I don't remember what they told me to do so I don't know which app I am using to play the music. How would I check? I do remember asking the woman from Sonos, specifically, would we be able to listen to different music if were not in the house and she emphatically said yes! So what to do I do now?
You must know which app you are using. Do you open it by tapping an icon labelled Sonos or one labelled Spotify?
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AAAHHHH! Spotify. Now that I have shown my total ignorance to the Sonos community.....how can I accomplish the goal of being able to play 2 separate songs at 2 different locations?
That is an easy question to answer. Both of you need a Spotify Premium account each, which is cheapest done by a Spotify Family subscription.

But you also should add Spotify as a music service to Sonos right now. This will remove the need for your phone to be used to play Spotify. The instructions are in the link in Bruce's original reply.

Your wife needs to download the Sonos app onto her phone and connect to your existing system.

When you get to that point please come back for further guidance.
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First, Spotify is on the SonosApp as a music service. So if I understand you.....after I download Sonos app on my wife's phone we will still need Premium Spotify Family plan for all this to work?
OK. When the app is on her phone, either of you will be able to play your Spotify on the Sonos speaker. But if your wife is playing it at home you won''t be able to listen away from home.
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OK John B....I think I finally understand.....both phones can control the speaker but 2 people cannot listen to different songs at different places. One on the speaker and another on their phone and earbuds?
You have a Spotify Premium account. This account allows one stream at a time. You phone can use it, your Sonos can use it, or your wife's phone can use it, but only one device at a time. So, if you've added it to the Sonos setup, and someone is at home using the Spotify Premium account to listen to music on the Sonos device(s), then you can not use it on your phone, or your wife's phone at the same time, since the account is already in use.

However, as John B mentioned above, you could get a Spotify Family account instead, which allows to have more than one stream going at a time. With that, you could be playing on your phone, or your Sonos, and your wife's phone all at the same time. So you can listen to music while not at home, and anyone at home can listen to music on the Sonos, and your wife can be out and listening to music as well.
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I appreciate everyone's help I finally understand. It's too bad I misunderstood the tech support person I spoke with. Since I have a 3 month free Premium trial I'll wait til that's up to go for family premium. Thanks again for bearing with someone who technically challenged!!!