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Derrick Kaleta
Enthusiast II
April 10, 2023
Answered

AAC audio files from apple music not "encoded correctly"

In the past week sonos has stopped playing AAC files from my Apple Music library anyone know why? This is happening at both houses so I know it isn’t a router issue. That said, I have restarted both routers to no avail. because they always they always start you off with the old did you restart ….

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    Airgetlam
    AirgetlamAnswer
    April 10, 2023

    Another reason that you might get the “not encoded correctly” is that there’s some sort of wifi interference blocking the ability of the speakers in getting the correct information from the Apple servers, but it does seem unlikely, given that you’ve gotten the same thing at two locations. Have you checked with Apple to see if they’ve made changes? I’d also be tempted to re-initialize my Apple connection in both locations, just as one of those “old” things that they’ll likely ask you to do. 

    But, all that being said, I still 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 Sonos system and network. 

    Bruce
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    30 replies

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    Derrick KaletaAuthor
    Enthusiast II
    May 16, 2023

    This has gone on now for almost 2 months and nobody at Sonos seems to give a rats tail. I am quickly going from a huge Sonos proponent to about to sell my equipment if this is going to be the new level of customer service. 

      Derrick KaletaAuthor
      Enthusiast II
      June 1, 2023

      As a follow up… I have had multiple people from Sonos reach out to me regarding this issue and confirming that it is a known issue that is being worked on. I do appreciate that, I am just surprised that it is taking this long to do because as of June 1 - it is still an issue. What really bothers me the most is that on the live status page they still show a green check next to Apple Music! I have mentioned this to at least 4 Sonos people I cannot understand how they regard Apple Music as operational. If you don't have old equipment you can’t play your Apple Music library. 

      ljennings22
      Lyricist III
      July 10, 2023

      same issues here. It’s definitely my iTunes “Matched” songs. 

      Simoek
      Lyricist I
      July 12, 2023

      I’m from Denmark, and I’ve got the same problem with my new Sonos equipment. I use Apple Music, and most of it can’t play because “the song is not encoded correctly”. But only on Sonos One and Sonos Roam.

      Play 1 still works!

      PnButler
      Lyricist II
      July 16, 2023

      I have the same problem. From the community entries it seems to be going on for over 4 months. Does anyone know if (a) it has been acknowledged by Sonos or Apple (b) a solution is on the horizon? 

      DudeDad
      Avid Contributor I
      July 28, 2023

      I’ve been dealing with a level three Sonos support engineer. He contacted me after I emailed the CEO! His response is below. I don’t see how this is a problem on Apple side when everything was working fine until a Sonos update. For me, it only happens when I use the Sonos app to access Apple Music, and I play an Apple Music playlist that I created. Most of the songs wanna play. However, if I go directly to those songs, or play them as part of the album, they play fine. it’s just the Apple Music playlist where I have this issue. If I use airplay to stream Apple Music from my phone to any of my Sonos devices, I have no issues. It’s incredibly frustrating. Here’s what the level three and Janire wrote to me last week  (I’m not sure why he refers to my problem is intermittent when it happens consistently) :

       

      ”The issue discovered with 15.2 is an Apple issue. It's something they put in a temporary fix for in late March, and have a permanent fix planned later this year. Again, this issue is a very specific issue that affects uploaded tracks, and always affects those same tracks. Whenever Apple fixes that I wouldn't expect it to help with intermittent issues, although it's not impossible that changes to fix a specific issue effect your issue.”

        So nos Support is NonExistent
        Contributor I
        July 28, 2023

        Here’s the best workaround.👇  Sonos blames this 100% on Apple; not sure I believe that.

        https://support.sonos.com/en/article/stream-airplay-audio-to-sonos

        KitFisto
        Lyricist III
        July 28, 2023

        So basically it'll never be fixed. I've purchased my last SONOS product. 

        arjb76
        Lyricist II
        July 28, 2023

        So basically it'll never be fixed. I've purchased my last SONOS product. 

        Regrettably, I think you might be right. I’m also not really a believer in the ‘it’s all Apple’s fault’ narrative being peddled by Sonos.

        There were no issues until the new Atmos upgrade to the Sonos app earlier this year. I tested it in beta and quickly removed it when the encoding bug appeared. When I reverted back, everything was fine. That was until the Atmos version went on general release.

        A botched app upgrade in order to release the Era 300 before the software was properly tested.

          Derrick KaletaAuthor
          Enthusiast II
          August 22, 2023

          4 months and no solution- nobody at Sonos cares. If you look at the status page there is still a green check mark next to Apple Music. How is that possible? It does not work properly unless you attach an old sonos speaker/old amp to your active grouping? 

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