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flytzen
Contributor I
May 1, 2020

Google Assistant does not play Radio Stations

  • May 1, 2020
  • 66 replies
  • 7451 views

When I ask my Sonos: "Hey, Google! Play Heart 80s". It replies with: "Playing Heart 80s on TuneIn". However, it then says: "Sorry I can't find what you asked for". This is really disappointing, because Alexa plays radio stations without any issues. Any suggestions on how to fix this? 

 

Exactly the same issue reported 

https://en.community.sonos.com/google-assistant-and-sonos-229109/google-assistant-does-not-play-radio-stations-6833977

and

https://en.community.sonos.com/google-assistant-and-sonos-229109/google-assistant-has-problem-playing-tunein-station-6825633

Weirdly Sonos seems to just keep closing the issues so you can’t comment on. Very poor customer service.

 

As described in the other issues - this is 100% a Sonos issue. The error comes after control is handed back from Google to Sonos and the exact same voice commands work on google home devices on the same network.

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    66 replies

    Doug Ames
    Headliner I
    May 2, 2020

    This particular issue with radio stations applies to TuneIn as well, and seems to be a Sonos-specific GA bug. It recognizes the station, says it’s playing it now, then says it can’t find it. While Google Home or Alexa or even the Sonos app can find it and play it just fine.

    But I have noticed with other music services including Spotify, Amazon, and Deezer, that Google Home seems to be able to find music titles that neither Alexa (on Echo) or Google Assistant (on Sonos) can find. I’m guessing that Google Home does its own search to refine the request before passing it to the music service, and that Google has not extended that capability to Google Assistant - or Sonos isn’t using it.

      Jean C.
      Jean C.
      Retired Sonos Staff
      May 16, 2020

      Hello @flytzen & @Doug Ames,

      Have you noticed any odd behavior using any other commands in Google Assistant such as asking the time or the weather?

      If you change the command syntax to be more specific by including call letters or frequency or specifying Tune-In as the service, is there any change in the google assistant behavior? 

      Can you submit a diagnostic report from your Sonos app after one of these playback failures so that we can take a look at the data in your Sonos system?

      If you can include the confirmation number in your response we will be happy to look it over.   

       

       

      Help others find useful content by clicking the like button and selecting the best answer to your question.
      Doug Ames
      Headliner I
      May 17, 2020

      Google Home: “Hey Google, play News 1130” “News 1130...” station plays

      Alexa (set to use Sonos as media player): “Alexa, play News 1130” “News 1130, playing on Sonos...” station plays

      Sonos app: search for News 1130 under Stations, finds it under TuneIn, plays when selected

      Sonos running GA: “Hey Google, play News 1130” “Ok, playing CKWX on TuneIn...Sorry, I can’t find what you asked for” (CKWX is the official station ID of the news station calling itself News 1130)

      Sonos running GA: “Hey Google, play CKWX from TuneIn” “Ok, playing CKWX on TuneIn...Sorry, I can’t find what you asked for”

      and, the next 2 commands to Sonos to play any media fail, the 3rd succeeds normally again.

        Jean C.
        Jean C.
        Retired Sonos Staff
        May 17, 2020

        Hello @Doug Ames,

        Thank you for your detailed post outlining this issue. 

        Can you follow these steps to submit a diagnostic report from your system after testing these commands?

         Settings > Help&Tips > Submit Diagnostic

        I’d like to see if there is anything under the hood that could be preventing this playback.

        Is your Sonos account still linked to your Amazon Alexa while you are trying to trigger playback via Google Assistant?

        Help others find useful content by clicking the like button and selecting the best answer to your question.
        johnson.sam.r
        Lyricist II
        May 31, 2020

        Hello @Doug Ames,

        Thank you for your detailed post outlining this issue. 

        Can you follow these steps to submit a diagnostic report from your system after testing these commands?

         Settings > Help&Tips > Submit Diagnostic

        I’d like to see if there is anything under the hood that cold be preventing this playback.

        Is your Sonos account still linked to your Amazon Alexa while you are trying to trigger playback via Google Assistant?


        Has there been any progress with this? It’s really annoying. 

          johnson.sam.r
          Lyricist II
          June 1, 2020

          Google Home: “Hey Google, play News 1130” “News 1130...” station plays

          Alexa (set to use Sonos as media player): “Alexa, play News 1130” “News 1130, playing on Sonos...” station plays

          Sonos app: search for News 1130 under Stations, finds it under TuneIn, plays when selected

          Sonos running GA: “Hey Google, play News 1130” “Ok, playing CKWX on TuneIn...Sorry, I can’t find what you asked for” (CKWX is the official station ID of the news station calling itself News 1130)

          Sonos running GA: “Hey Google, play CKWX from TuneIn” “Ok, playing CKWX on TuneIn...Sorry, I can’t find what you asked for”

          and, the next 2 commands to Sonos to play any media fail, the 3rd succeeds normally again.

          @Doug Ames have you heard anything from Sonos on this one?

            Doug Ames
            Headliner I
            June 2, 2020

            @Doug Ames have you heard anything from Sonos on this one?

             

            No progress since I first reported it almost a year ago. At best all I ever get is a request to submit a diagnostic, even for things that are clearly at the Sonos end.

              johnson.sam.r
              Lyricist II
              June 2, 2020

              Thanks @Doug Ames 

               

              @Jean C. is there likely to be any progress on this? Seems a reasonably simple fix and fairly key part of having google assistant incorporated in the product. 

              BenInUK
              Avid Contributor I
              June 15, 2020

              I just posted on this same issue too…

              https://en.community.sonos.com/google-assistant-and-sonos-229109/google-assistant-and-tune-in-6842854?postid=16440848#post16440848

              and then I found this thread, so bumping ;-) 

                Anonymous
                June 16, 2020

                Im also having this issue. Can’t get bbc radio . The main reason I have a smart speaker. I’m going to find an alternative brand if this doesn’t work soon. 

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