I’m pretty sure this will get buried with all the other Youtube Music threads, but I could not find one that describes my situation. Now that Google Play Music is being decommissioned, I find myself with a prospect for a severely degraded experience.I have a Google Play Music / Youtube Music subscription (family plan, if that matters at all).I also have a Sonos Beam + 2x Ikea Symfonisk as surrounds.I want a very simple thing - to put a mix of music on my system, starting from a certain song. No offline playback, no personal library, no custom playlists.(As a bit of a background, I previously used a Google Home Mini speaker to which I could say “Hey Google, play X by Y” and it would play that song and continue a mix on Google Play Music - there was no Youtube Music back then) So how can I do that?In the Google Play Music App - search for song, hit the three dots → Start Radio. Then, click the “Cast” button and choose my Sonos setup This is the only way I found it to work satisfactory now Google Play Music will be decommissioned soon so this will stop working In the Youtube Musc App - In the Google Play Music App - search for song, hit the three dots → Start Radio. Then, click the “Cast” button. Sonos does not appear as a cast target. I’ve already opened a case with the Youtube Music app support team for this There’s a Google support thread from April 2019 about this, with no signs of any traction Use Google Assistant on Phone/Beam and say “Hey Google, play X by Y” with Google Play Music set as my default music provider The song starts playing but it’s a once-off, no instant mix is created Use Google Assistant on Phone/Beam and say “Hey Google, play X by Y” with Youtube Music set as my default music provider The song starts playing but it’s a once-off, no instant mix is created Also it seems to be prone to “playback is paused because your account is used in another location” (!?) In the Sonos App - search for song on Google Play Music, start playing it, and the click the three dots → Start Radio This used to be more streamlined, with the “Start Radio” option in the search results, but seems to have moved after upgrading to S2 Also, it seems this method is prone to repeating the first song (the “seed”) after a few other songs (link to relevant discussion) Google Play Music will be decommissioned soon so this will stop working In the Sonos App - search for song on Youtube Music In the song three dots menu, there is no option to Start Radio After starting to play that song (single song), in the three dots menu, there is still no option to Start Radio (like the scenario with Google Play Music above) So bottom line, the only scenarios that give me satisfactory results will stop working in 2-4 months. Google doesn’t seem too keen on fixing their Youtube Music App, and Sonos likewise doesn’t seem to care about adding more than basic functionality for the Youtube Music service.Have I lucked out with building a Google Play Music / Sonos ecosystem?I’m really tempted to switch to Spotify but I really really liked the mixes Google Play Music was providing, and its seemingly complete library (there have only been 2 or 3 albums that I could not find).

Contributor I

Answered

YouTube Music mix

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
August 11, 2020
13 replies
1348 views

I’m pretty sure this will get buried with all the other Youtube Music threads, but I could not find one that describes my situation. Now that Google Play Music is being decommissioned, I find myself with a prospect for a severely degraded experience.

I have a Google Play Music / Youtube Music subscription (family plan, if that matters at all).
I also have a Sonos Beam + 2x Ikea Symfonisk as surrounds.
I want a very simple thing - to put a mix of music on my system, starting from a certain song. No offline playback, no personal library, no custom playlists.

(As a bit of a background, I previously used a Google Home Mini speaker to which I could say “Hey Google, play X by Y” and it would play that song and continue a mix on Google Play Music - there was no Youtube Music back then)

So how can I do that?

In the Google Play Music App - search for song, hit the three dots → Start Radio. Then, click the “Cast” button and choose my Sonos setup
- This is the only way I found it to work satisfactory now
- Google Play Music will be decommissioned soon so this will stop working
In the Youtube Musc App - In the Google Play Music App - search for song, hit the three dots → Start Radio. Then, click the “Cast” button.
- Sonos does not appear as a cast target. I’ve already opened a case with the Youtube Music app support team for this
- There’s a Google support thread from April 2019 about this, with no signs of any traction
Use Google Assistant on Phone/Beam and say “Hey Google, play X by Y” with Google Play Music set as my default music provider
- The song starts playing but it’s a once-off, no instant mix is created
Use Google Assistant on Phone/Beam and say “Hey Google, play X by Y” with Youtube Music set as my default music provider
- The song starts playing but it’s a once-off, no instant mix is created
- Also it seems to be prone to “playback is paused because your account is used in another location” (!?)
In the Sonos App - search for song on Google Play Music, start playing it, and the click the three dots → Start Radio
- This used to be more streamlined, with the “Start Radio” option in the search results, but seems to have moved after upgrading to S2
- Also, it seems this method is prone to repeating the first song (the “seed”) after a few other songs (link to relevant discussion)
- Google Play Music will be decommissioned soon so this will stop working
In the Sonos App - search for song on Youtube Music
- In the song three dots menu, there is no option to Start Radio
- After starting to play that song (single song), in the three dots menu, there is still no option to Start Radio (like the scenario with Google Play Music above)

So bottom line, the only scenarios that give me satisfactory results will stop working in 2-4 months. Google doesn’t seem too keen on fixing their Youtube Music App, and Sonos likewise doesn’t seem to care about adding more than basic functionality for the Youtube Music service.

Have I lucked out with building a Google Play Music / Sonos ecosystem?

I’m really tempted to switch to Spotify but I really really liked the mixes Google Play Music was providing, and its seemingly complete library (there have only been 2 or 3 albums that I could not find).

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Best answer by Kyle A

Hi @vladk2k, thank you for reaching out.

Your frustration is understandable and as much as possible we want you to have the best experience.

However, changes made by Google regarding Google Music service are out of our control.

What we can offer you right now is to try other streaming services that might suit your needs.

Let us know what else we can do to improve your experience.

Show previous replies

J

jrguk

Lyricist III

GPM is finally history and the problem described by vladk2k is not solved yet.

When I realized the missing feature in YTM, I could foresee both feature requests at sonos and google’s side. Both blaming “the others” have to find a solution. Something which was possible for services previously provided by the same companies. Really sad.

What it took me a while to realise (and I mainly use Apple Music via the Sonos app, but a bit of Bandcamp, Mixcloud, Soundcloud as well) is that once you select the audio service you are using an interface provided by that service provider.

So in my case, for reasons only known to themselves, Apple have not provided a way to “favourite” a track whilst listening to it in Spotify. And, when I search for playlists in the main screen, those in my Apple Music library do not appear. Again, Apple’s choice.

It sounds like Google have chosen not to provide the view you are looking for in their YouTube/Sonos integration (or, most likely, haven’t bothered to add it since they first implemented the integration.)

As to Chromecast I don’t think that Sonos has implemented the “cast” protocol, to be a receiver of music. There’s previous Community discussions claiming that it requires specific hardware, but I’m doubtful. More likely it requires a licensing deal and commercial agreements that are either not a priority or not acceptable to one side or the other

D

drohhyn

Contributor I

You might be right with the “interface” and even with chromecast. Topic is: both were possible with google play music und with youtube music (same company) it is not working anymore. It doesn’t matter if it is on sonos’ or google’s side: they have been able to provide the feature with the same hardware just 1 day (ok, now 3 weeks) ago. So they are able to do it again.

But there is no progress beside telling the customers (both paying for sonos hardware and youtube music), the other side is responsible.

G

groove_regulator

Trending Lyricist II

I’d like to add that I find the Youtube Music implementation in Sonos S1 extremely disappointing. I generally opt for “My Discovery Mix” or one of the mood/genre Stations or Playlists, none of these are available in the Sonos YTM app. I find myself more and more using the Android YTM app on my phone and then using bluetooth to connect to speaker systems bypassing Sonos kit altogether. I do get a sense that Google (and presumably Apple) have no interest in improving their Sonos app implementations since both of those now offer physical speakers which are in competition with Sonos.

A happy compromise for me at least would be for Sonos to support chromecast on all of their legacy (S1) and current (S2) devices. It seems mind boggling that this still isn’t available.

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