Since the 15.2 release there is quite a few songs that display this error when trying to play them. These seem to be mainly songs that are not lossless. They were purchased over time from Apple Music. They will still play if I use the Apple Music app, but they will no longer play from Sonos app. I suspect some lossy codex broke with latest release. Occurs with all my Sonos products.
Is this a known issue?
Have you rebooted both your speaker and router? What service are you using to reach this station?
I would recommend that you submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of experiencing this problem, and call Sonos Support to discuss it.
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 phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your network and Sonos system.
All of a sudden this week , the Radio Station (Talk Radio) started sending error messages Music not encoded properly. Unable to listen to the radio. Radio station is WSB 95 in Atlanta, 97.5. What happened?
A change on Apple’s server that feeds your Sonos the music data?
FWIW, my Sonos devices are connected via wired ethernet (including disabling wifi on the devices) and the encoding error still occurs. I can confirm this is NOT a networking problem as there were no issues last year with the exact same playlists on the exact same network that no longer play.
As an example, a holiday playlist that is based off of iTunes Match songs that has worked on Sonos for as long as I can remember (since at least 2019 when I purchased the Sonos port to replace my Sonos Connect where it worked for years before). Now the same Sonos port can’t play the playlist displaying the ‘song is not encoded correctly’ error.
Maybe DRM is the issue on iTunes Match files? DRM is mentioned above, however this should be a pretty straightforward scenario for Sonos to diagnose - what changed that caused DRM’d files to no longer be playable that used to play on the exact same hardware?
Still exists
I thought the problem had been resolved and removed the older Play 3. Went to play Amerca’s Greats Hits History, and it skipped the first song and gave the encoding error message. I plugged the old Play 3 back in, had that play the album as the lead and grouped the other speakers and it played fine. THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTS.
The recent update seemed to improve the streaming consistency
Taking my Play:3 out of retirement resolved the issue of Apple Music and playlists getting error messages and not playing. I now start everything I play from Apple Music on my Play:3 (hardwired to my router) then group in other speakers.
This should be a priority for Sonos to resolve on newer speakers.
This is exactly right and how I have been avoiding the issue for months, well since the sonos app update broke everything. I can reproduce this error on newer speakers day after day with umpteen songs that now get skipped. It’s not interference, DRM, wifi issues or anything else other than the clunky, ill coded S2 app that’s at fault. Without streaming music providers Sonos have almost nobody to sell their speakers to, so I am truly appalled that they seek to blame all streaming services, without which their products have no purpose!
I have upgraded just about all my speakers, but until SONOS resolves this issue, I am holding onto at least one or two previous generation speakers and starting all Apple playlists and AppleMatch music on the older speakers and grouping in the newer ones to it. It’s a little annoying, but it’s been working fine for me. I just keep the older speaker tucked away and muted.
was gonna buy 2 x new move - but this problem is driving me mad - seems if its an existing sonos playlist (large one) and even when started from non airplay sonos - skips ‘encode’ incorrectly’ tracks - so re do yr entire playlists then? ffs - this is really not good
This is a simple problem to diagnose, same as the rest of the thread. Older speakers without Airplay work fine, and AirPlay enabled speakers can be “tricked” into playing songs it wouldn’t before once it’s paired with the other. Can’t believe this is still an issue.
Taking my Play:3 out of retirement resolved the issue of Apple Music and playlists getting error messages and not playing. I now start everything I play from Apple Music on my Play:3 (hardwired to my router) then group in other speakers.
This should be a priority for Sonos to resolve on newer speakers.
There is a definite issue on #spotify and sonos. Songs skipping.. going silent. Songs not encoded properly. I have been following this topic on various threads. Seems like the problems from other streaming service is less than Spotify.
#youtubemusic has terrible functionality integration with sonos app. Spotify has best integration functionality.
So leaving Spotify for #ytmusic comes at a cost of functionality.
None are taking accountability. Trying to deflect on the user's network. It's not the local WiFi network.
Hi
I refer you to my earlier post:
Hi
Thank you for reporting the issue with TuneIn Podcasts - we were able to replicate the problem and are now investigating.
For everyone else, please note that there are multiple reasons for the “not encoded correctly” error occurring:
I recommend each of you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports.
I hope this helps.
Edit: I should add that if there were an issue with our software rather than encoding/transmission issues, we would also need to you get in touch to have the issue documented and investigated.
My reply immediately before yours was in reference to
This thread relates to Apple Music/iTunes downloads in spirit, but technically it’s title shows it to be about the error message itself, so whether Amazon Music and TuneIn Podcasts are off-topic or not isn’t easy to say, but it is making the thread a little confusing, to be sure. So, please don’t be frustrated - I am not gaslighting you, I am just giving the best-chance-of-being-correct advice to particular people based on what they report. For you, the error would indeed be 100% reproduceable, and nothing to do with interference.
I hope this helps.
I appreciate this post! Has anyone found a easy process to identify and convert songs that are DRM in bulk?
As a professional studio in Nashville I purchased an Arc, Sub and 2 ERA 300s for an Atmos playback system in a client room. The Sonos App will not play 25% of the library ‘encode error’ . Tried on several devices but the exact same songs won’t play. Since the ARC doesn’t do bluetooth the system was frustrating and many complaints. Fortunately I was in 14 day return period so back to Best Buy. Returned 3k worth of gear. The same issue happens on my Move with the Sonos app same songs but I can bluetooth in fine. Until Sonos can fix this there are lots of Nashville studios opting for other manufacturers like Bose etc. I love the sound of the ERA 300s but no, a single 300 does not deliver an immersive experience. Apple AirPod Max phones better immersively. If Sonos fixes this I may reconsider but will probably bought another system since they can’t seem to do so.
+18
Hi
I refer you to my earlier post:
Hi
Thank you for reporting the issue with TuneIn Podcasts - we were able to replicate the problem and are now investigating.
For everyone else, please note that there are multiple reasons for the “not encoded correctly” error occurring:
I recommend each of you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports.
I hope this helps.
Edit: I should add that if there were an issue with our software rather than encoding/transmission issues, we would also need to you get in touch to have the issue documented and investigated.
My reply immediately before yours was in reference to
This thread relates to Apple Music/iTunes downloads in spirit, but technically it’s title shows it to be about the error message itself, so whether Amazon Music and TuneIn Podcasts are off-topic or not isn’t easy to say, but it is making the thread a little confusing, to be sure. So, please don’t be frustrated - I am not gaslighting you, I am just giving the best-chance-of-being-correct advice to particular people based on what they report. For you, the error would indeed be 100% reproduceable, and nothing to do with interference.
I hope this helps.
The fact that Wi-Fi interference keeps being mentioned by support after this long of a thread of people seeing the same issue is frustrating. For me, this happens on the exact same songs, every single time. Others work perfectly fine. It’s 100% reproducible in my case.
+18
Hi
In all likelihood, you are seeing those errors due to Wi-Fi interference.
A read of our Reducing wireless interference page may help you track down the source of the issue, but I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team who have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and what it reports, if it does not.
I hope this helps.
Well, I have the same issue with Amazon Music. It happens randomly but I was able to capture the sonos app screen.
So I don't think this is an Apple issue.
I have a very stable wifi connection that I usually use for gaming. But this happens even when no one is using the network intensely. Even is that's the case, I think if you need to be very carefull with the type of network you use to be able to enjoy the experience that should be like a deal breaker for a lot of folks.
But the thing is that I am consdering returning my Era 300 because of this issue. Even if direct BT connection solves the issue, is not the same quality that directly with the app.
As I’ve posted above, I’ve been dealing with a Level 3 Supervisor at Sonos. His latest comment:
It's definitely an issue on Apple's end. Our content partner team has regularly meetings with major content partners. We track all of these cases that we get, and present that information to Apple. When they will fix it we can't say, because the fix isn't under our control.
Got it. But if I delete the song from my library, aren’t I deleting the fact that I ever owned it and ripped it and then downloading it back down through the streaming subscription and thus don’t own it if I ever cancel that?
If you perhaps try it in iTunes Music with just one track only to begin with, you will see that you are removing the local copy and then replacing it with a DRM-free copy from the iCloud servers. Simply backup your local copy, if you are concerned.
Once you have tested the process with one track, you can go into delete all those tracks you have held in the iCloud as perhaps one huge batch and similarly remove/download the tracks in one fell swoop.
I recall doing this task some years ago, it was a case of leaving the PC running overnight etc. until all tracks had been replaced. Just to say I used an iTunes Match annual subscription - that was required all those years ago. See link: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204146
I’m not too sure what the current position is these days, I suspect that add-on annual subscription is no longer needed🤔? …I haven’t used iTunes Match for a good many years.
Hope that assists.
Good point. I think I still have that iTunes Match subscription and, if something goes wrong, I can always restore the “ownership” from my local backup copy like you suggested, I guess.
Got it. But if I delete the song from my library, aren’t I deleting the fact that I ever owned it and ripped it and then downloading it back down through the streaming subscription and thus don’t own it if I ever cancel that?
If you perhaps try it in iTunes Music with just one track only to begin with, you will see that you are removing the local copy and then replacing it with a DRM-free copy from the iCloud servers. Simply backup your local copy, if you are concerned.
Once you have tested the process with one track, you can go into delete all those tracks you have held in the iCloud as perhaps one huge batch and similarly remove/download the tracks in one fell swoop.
I recall doing this task some years ago, it was a case of leaving the PC running overnight etc. until all tracks had been replaced. Just to say I used an iTunes Match annual subscription - that was required all those years ago. See link: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204146
I’m not too sure what the current position is these days, I suspect that add-on annual subscription is no longer needed🤔? …I haven’t used iTunes Match for a good many years.
Hope that assists.
I don’t quite understand the delete from your library and redownload fix. With iTunes Match in the Cloud, I rarely have these songs locally at all. Like on my iPhone, I have very few of the Beatles songs downloaded. Some of them play fine on Sonos from a playlist I created, but some have the encoding error. I can even start playing from the Sonos app on my Android phone or Mac or ChromeBook and have the same problem and none of them have these songs downloaded. Am I misunderstanding something?
It’s not a delete / re-download. It’s a delete from your library and re-add to your library. And have fun doing that on all your albums.
Got it. But if I delete the song from my library, aren’t I deleting the fact that I ever owned it and ripped it and then downloading it back down through the streaming subscription and thus don’t own it if I ever cancel that?
I don’t quite understand the delete from your library and redownload fix. With iTunes Match in the Cloud, I rarely have these songs locally at all. Like on my iPhone, I have very few of the Beatles songs downloaded. Some of them play fine on Sonos from a playlist I created, but some have the encoding error. I can even start playing from the Sonos app on my Android phone or Mac or ChromeBook and have the same problem and none of them have these songs downloaded. Am I misunderstanding something?
It’s not a delete / re-download. It’s a delete from your library and re-add to your library. And have fun doing that on all your albums.
I don’t quite understand the delete from your library and redownload fix. With iTunes Match in the Cloud, I rarely have these songs locally at all. Like on my iPhone, I have very few of the Beatles songs downloaded. Some of them play fine on Sonos from a playlist I created, but some have the encoding error. I can even start playing from the Sonos app on my Android phone or Mac or ChromeBook and have the same problem and none of them have these songs downloaded. Am I misunderstanding something?
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