Contributor I

Answered

Spotify: Browsing through genres not possible anymore

37 replies
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Dear Sonos team/community,

since one of the more recent Sonos Controller updates, the experience when browsing Spotify through the controller application totally changed.

Since basically the beginning of (Sonos-)time it has been possible to browse the Spotify catalogue for the featured/highlighted playlists which change throughout the day and the thousands of playlists which are available in the different genre sections. E.g. you could go to genres and choose between rock, electronic, mood playlists, rap and many many more.

I used this workflow a lot every day to play exactly the playlists of which genre I want to hear right now.

Now, as mentioned, this experience has entirely changed. As far as I can see in the iOS or Windows controller apps, it’s now only possible to browse though folders with playlists which I either recently listened to or which are recommended by the Spotify algorithm.

Like I said, this breaks a workflow I (and my entire family) was using for quite a few years already. Now I can’t find an option anymore to manually browse the Spotify catalogue as it was possible before.

Can someone maybe issue a statement on whether this is intended behavior which is not going to change anymore or it’s some kind of bug or something?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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AirgetlamAnswer

This is still a responsibility of Spotify, all Sonos does is display what the Spotify service hands them. I don’t think Spotify maintains an official presence on Sonos’ boards, you may want to send them a note directly.

Bruce

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Airgetlam

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.

Bruce

W

wintergrill

Lyricist I

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.

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?

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

Z

Zacciep

Lyricist I

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

D

dynAdZAuthor

Contributor I

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.

K

kdagnone

Lyricist I

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!

P

PalmInFace

Lyricist I

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

T

Teto

Lyricist II

Huge user experience flaw

AirgetlamAnswer

This is still a responsibility of Spotify, all Sonos does is display what the Spotify service hands them. I don’t think Spotify maintains an official presence on Sonos’ boards, you may want to send them a note directly.

Bruce

A

acinpdx

Lyricist III

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

ingoke

Contributor I

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

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