Feature Request: Export and Import Sonos Playlists

  • 25 February 2013
  • 216 replies
  • 28930 views

Userlevel 4
Like many users, we use Sonos in two different houses. We have two NAS's of music that I'm planning on keeping synchronized with RSYNC. What doesn't sync or cant get exported are Sonos Playlists. It would be great to be able to ad-hoc export them and then to import them as well. Using the UPnP interface, I've noted a Java program that can export playlists, but importing them is a bit troublesome. It would be great to have this feature.

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216 replies

I have found theright function for getting functionality. I'm going to sell my Sonos. I'm going to buysome intelligent wireless speakers. And I'm shure those will have FMTuners to save bandwidth, Playlist Backup and export and aupport real HiFi Quality wbich I have never found with Sonos. I am done with waiting. If one needs some Play 1 or Play5 drop me an email. I send thoughout germany. CU
Userlevel 1
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Another +1.
+1
I have bad internet, so I'd purchase some stuff locally after finding it on deezer. It would be nice to be able to fix the playlist to point at new local and replace remote content ... Also I'd like to be able to down load the pl for song managemen
Would like to export and import a play list on my Sonos system pleeeeeeeeease🆒
Agree -- backing up playlists is an important missing feature. I've lost my playlists several times now. I can use playlists from the streaming services, but one of the reasons I bought Sonos was the integrated interface across all the services. Playlists I've built with music from several sources can't be backed up? That's nonsense!
I want to export a list so I can easily create the same list with iTunes for my kids iPod
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The is a python Sonos Play Lists controller on GitHub. https://github.com/stu247/spl
Userlevel 5
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Another vote for a way to back-up or export. Something that doesn't require me or my clients to become computer programmers because I have no clue what to do with Python. Sorry, but life's too short.
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A solution to exporting your Sonos native playlists, but not for the faint hearted...

I am on a MAC, but PC process would only differ by installing python on the PC. Here goes:
My requirement was to get my Sonos playlists exported and then imported to iTunes to ensure I had a backup outside of Sonos in case of system reset. I organise my music in iTunes so it makes sense to do this for me.

First install pip. Go into the Terminal app and type: sudo easy_install pip
In Terminal now cd to a new folder under Documents called soco and type: "pip install soco -t .
finally get a copy of SPL.py from Github and put it in the same folder (https://github.com/stu247/spl)
in terminal you can now type python spl.py x PLAYLISTNAME -f
the last comment will create a file PLAYLISTNAME.xspf
Open this file in TextEdit and replace all "x-file-cifs://HOSTNAME/" with "file:///Volumes/"
Note: your HOSTNAME will be the server where you store music if a NAS
save the file, open in VLC player.
if the files play in VLC, go to file, save playlist and save the playlist as an M3U file
in iTunes, import playlist and after some time, the Sonos playlist will appear in iTunes.

I hope this helps some of you. it really irritated me a long time, but i feel quite accomplished have got this to to work. I know nothing about python and very little about MACS, much of this was trial and error, but in the end, it works perfectly.

Good luck all, James
Userlevel 2
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Please consider my Dear Sonos people
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Now that iTunes has wiped out the music in most of my playlists with their latest update, but it still shows up in my Sonos controller, I would love to be able to export those Sonos playlists to iTunes to correct the problem - but I can't. You have no way to export playlists from Sonos! How could this be? I thought Apple was bad about not wanting to share. Now I can't add any more music to my library because I don't want iTunes knocking all the music out of my Sonos playlists that should be in both of them. I'm stuck with the status quo in both my Sonos and my iPod, and nothing is usable from iTunes in my PC. The files for the missing songs are still there in my iTunes Music folder, but the songs are not in the playlists in iTunes. Sonos, please come to my rescue!
Plus 1!
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Any news ...
Userlevel 1
Yes please - useful for converting itunes / media player / etc. playlists.
As per the posts by mintchop (26 Aug 16) and beynym's response on 28 Aug 16, I'd like to add myself to the request for a self-managing playlist in the Sonos app, whether it's a Windows or iOS version (both would be nice...)

There are several (dozens probably) other posts I found on the Sonos forum with clients asking for this particular feature, all of which are being ignored by Sonos, except for a few platitudes offered by Ryan S

I cannot begin to imagine why a senior Sonos employee hasn't been made aware of the level of dissatisfaction this software omission is making to their so called "valuable" customer. Come on Sonos, get your act together
Userlevel 2
Add another one looking for basic functionality / features.

Sonos seem keen to remove features (no track count etc) and offer nothing in return.
So Alexa, Spotify Connect and Airplay 2 are not free new features? Radio.com? Perhaps you mean that the particular features you want are low on Sonos' priority list?
Userlevel 2
Yes, none of which I use or have a need for.


They're that low on Sono's priority list that this request thread has been open for five years. Lost count of the number of updates they've pushed out in that time.
Out of curiosity, why do you think this is an important feature?
Userlevel 2
My music is backed up, my playlists which I've created over years are not. When I had issues with Sonos previously a factory reset was the fix; lost everything and had to rebuild what I had then. Time has moved on and the playlists are bigger.

Would also mean that I'm able to replicate these playlists in the two locations I go between (network drives and file layouts are backed up between the locations so they're identical).

I'd also like other 'stupidly basic' features which would be helpful but it seems Sonos aren't interested in those either.
e.g Actual track location (e.g. file name/directory) to be shown where it's streaming from. Would be ideal for hunting out quickly duplicate tracks, but this is not the place to bring those up.
I am sure that we can agree it is a nice to have. I have never yet come across a situation, personally or on this forum, where a factory reset of a whole system was genuinely necessary. I manage my playlists between two locations by taking a Play:1 with me. It isn't perfect but I understand why Sonos have other priorities.
It is not a 'nice to have', it is an absolute necessity given the number of users that have lost their playlists (like me) and the length of this thread, And the solution is so easy to implement, and has been proposed many times before.
Userlevel 5
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It is not a 'nice to have', it is an absolute necessity given the number of users that have lost their playlists (like me) and the length of this thread, And the solution is so easy to implement, and has been proposed many times before.

Out of curiosity, what is this "easy to implement" solution? There's no in-built Sonos ability to write to local filesystems, no cloud storage with your Sonos account, and providing raw API endpoints for the brave isn't really the Sonos style. So how would you suggest implementing an "export playlist" feature?
It is not a 'nice to have', it is an absolute necessity given the number of users that have lost their playlists (like me) and the length of this thread, And the solution is so easy to implement, and has been proposed many times before.How did you lose your playlists, please?
I'd like to add my vote for some way to export a playlist. I use Google play. Created a 3000 song playlist in Sonos . I'd like to have it available in Google play. It is frustrating. Using pc app I can scroll through the complete playlist. In the drop-down menu at the playlist level, a save/export as xml would be a nice feature.