Spotify Connect Issues

Hi @lucast22 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

For all issues with using the Spotify app, I can only recommend that you get in touch with Spotify Support - we are not able to address any issues you have with using that app. If Spotify’s engineers need to work in concert with ours to fix a problem, they will reach out to us and do so.

Alternatively, you can use the Sonos app to control what and where music plays - the way in which the two apps connect to your Sonos system is completely different, so you should see different results. If, however, you sill see issues when using the Sonos app, I recommend you then 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 there are issues when playing using the Sonos app, it’s possible that fixing them with the assistance of our support team will also fix some issues seen with Spotify Connect.

I hope this helps.

Hi Corry,

Thanks for your reply.

I don’t agree with this being an issue for Spotify to look at - as I said this does not happen with other Spotify Connect devices… This is a bit like saying I should contact Apple because AirPlay is not working correctly on Sonos devices. Spotify Connect is an integration that is up to the device manufacturer to implement properly - and in this case there are some bugs with the implementation…

I can guarantee that if I were to take the time to contact Spotify they will provide the exact same answer as you have given me but instead flipped the other way (and I’d agree with them).

Hi @lucast22 

We can do nothing about the behaviour of the Spotify app - if it needs to be altered, Spotify need to do it. If it is a problem with how their app integrates with our systems, then Spotify engineers will need to get in touch with our engineers to resolve it.

However, we can also contact Spotify engineers if we spot a problem - so, if you’d rather contact our technical support team to report the issue, that’s fine too. Please don’t expect an immediate resolution though. Note, however, that our support agents do not receive training on the use of the Spotify app, so their ability to assist you may be hampered by this fact. Any advice you receive will probably be along the lines of “try things with the Sonos app and see how it goes”. I’m just trying to point you on the right path to get a resolution.

On the subject, how do things behave with the Sonos app?

I am hoping to see more on this issue, and will continue to scour other sources.

I am a long-time Sonos user -- and for many years recommended the product.  I stopped recommending it about four years ago and have been on the “I hate Sonos!!!” bandwagon for the last couple of years.

It used to be mildly annoying that they were constantly “updating” the Sonos software to try to suck customers into the walled garden they are clearly so focused on creating.

I was worse as they dropped basic capabilities (why can’t I stream directly from my iPhone anymore!!).  Then they tried to “brick” early products (requiring me to stay on Sonos 1 app to keep my Soundbar, 3, and 5 in the mix.

Now the virus has clearly spread to their desire to “compete” with other streaming services (particularly Spotify) by jacking around with whatever they are now doing.

For 4-6 weeks, Sonos has been virtually unusable.  Music is constantly “dropping out” from one speaker or another.  Half the time one or more of the five Sonos products in my network will just stop playing for random reasons, possibly to restart -- or maybe not.  This on a mesh network that regularly shows more than 400 Mbps downstream and at least 15 Mbps upstream -- so it is NOT a network issue.

Hopefully they will just sell the whole business to Apple or Amazon to at least save the value of the hardware.  As a “product” Sonos has become unusable.  As a “service provider” they are unbearable.

agree with Mic30Z as far as the issues with Sonos.

Very annoying when you have a party and Sonos starts ‘stuttering” and the Apple iPad with the Spotify Playlist has no control over the Sonos system whatsoever. This wk-end it happened every night and we’re now looking into alternative sound systems.

Hi @koomil01 

Before doing anything drastic, 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. I suspect it could be as easy as making a different choice as to which speaker is in charge of the group (it’s always best to delegate this task to the speaker/player with the best network connection) or reducing wireless interference (people often located other devices near their routers, which can be a problem).

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the quick reply Cory. Will reach out to tech support.

Cory, 

This is not a Spotify issue. I use Spotify with a Bose speaker and none of these issues come up. Not only does the speaker constantly fail to connect, but if I hit the 15 second skip on a podcast, it skips to the next podcast. It does this from both the Spotify app and the Sonos app. 

I have had nothing but issues with my speaker since getting it and any time I contact Sonos support they blame Spotify. But then they tell me to delete, and reinstall the Sonos device. It will work for about a day then the same issues come back. I thought using Spotify in the Sonos app would fix it but it doesn’t. 

We can easily get other speakers; I doubt anyone is changing their streaming music provider if they’ve had it for as long as most of us have.

Is there any fix to making it so I can skip song and skip time in podcasts? Or is this going to be something Sonos doesn’t care about and I have to go back to Bose?

Hi @KKenfield 

If you see the same issues when playing via the Sonos app, then I agree with you - the issue is not with the Spotify app. We do recommend that you use the Spotify app for playing podcasts over the Sonos app, but if you have issues when using either app, then the real problem probably lies with either the speaker itself or the network configuration/topology.

I recommend getting back in touch with our technical support team, but please be aware that if you do not quote an existing case number when you get back in touch (or at least indicate that you have been in touch already so the agent can find your previous cases), then you will be starting from square one each time. If, however, it becomes clear to the agents you speak to that the fixes they supply are short-lived at best, you will either be handed over to the next highest level of support, or be offered a replacement speaker if the one you have appears to be faulty in some way.

I hope this helps.

Corry,

I talked to tech support and after two calls, they finally admitted that it’s not Spotify, and it is an issue that Sonos knows about but isn’t planning to fix. The line I was told that currently you can play a podcast, but you can’t fast forward or rewind because Sonos “doesn’t have that functionality”. Basically I bought a $450 speaker that doesn’t work properly with one of the biggest streaming services, and the company has known about it for years, and hasn’t fixed it. 

Hi @KKenfield 

I presume that is why the documentation that I found recommended using the Spotify app for podcast playback - our interface is optimised for music playback. This will not have been addressed because the Spotify app is a workable alternative.

@Corry P 

Actually, it doesn’t work with the Spotify app or the Sonos app. I was told by the rep on the phone that she talked to an engineer and the ability to go back or forth in a podcast is not functional with a Sonos speaker at all. Doesn’t matter what app you use. So there is not alternative, just a product that doesn’t work with podcasts. I checked and have the same issue with Audible so I think Sonos is incapable of skipping 15 seconds with anything.

Hi @KKenfield 

Ah - apologies for the misunderstanding! I’m not personally familiar with the Spotify app and was basically following the contents of our Listen to podcasts on Sonos help page.

I notice you have a Sonos Move, however - if you connect your phone to it via Bluetooth, the audio coming from the Move will be exactly what it would be if you were just playing on your phone. The Move will neither know nor care that you are playing a Podcast rather than music, nor will it be aware of the ultimate source.

Play any music file (local or streaming) and you’ll find that this is simply not the case - there’s a playback progress indicator in the Now Playing screen that can be swiped to any position, forwards or backwards from the current playback point.

I hope this helps.

The reason I bought this was so I could play it through Wi-Fi, not bluetooth. And it’s the skip 15 seconds button that doesn’t work. 

I'm also experiencing stutter through Spotify playback. Only device I have that has this issue is a play 3 and a recent development. Have over 500mb connection in area and tried WiFi and wired into access point to see no improvement. Sonos app also reports frequently it's lost connection with Spotify. Really do need to look into this. Having been a long time advocate of Sonos, and ability to stream between rooms being a big part of that, this isn't good enough. 

Thanks F8CMF, appreciate that.

The past 4 days I just simply tried to stop Sonos from playing music in order to watch TV. Just a simple action on SONOS, right?...

Everytime it “lost connection”.

I really believe SONOS lost its Moyo and we all have to move on to a different Sound System, since they are not doing any effort to fix any of it.