Paving the way for an Amazon powered Sonos?

No argument from me, but I wonder just how much sway or force Sonos has in influencing the giant Apple Corporation in how to distribute the necessary resources. It's actually one of the reasons I continue to recommend to others here in these boards to make their desire for such both here, and in boards that Apple reads/owns.

But frankly, I don't know how high it might be on Apple's priority backlog list. One hopes it's higher than not, but oddly, Apple doesn't usually announce their projects in advance, much like Sonos. Maybe I should run by there tomorrow and ask at the Corporate headquarters in Cupertino. Wonder if Mr. Cook would see me... 🙂

But frankly, I don't know how high it might be on Apple's priority backlog list.
Nowhere as high it needs to be on that of Sonos. That's why Sonos needs to do more of the running in these efforts. As it must be doing for the Echo integration, for similar reasons.

Nowhere as high it needs to be on that of Sonos. That's why Sonos needs to do more of the running in these efforts. [...]
Would you mind sharing your ideas how Sonos should cope with the task? Last time I checked shotgun weddings were considered to be a relic of bygone times. 🙂

By doing all they did to enable use of the Spotify native app would be a good example. Or even what they did to get the Sonos controller to integrate with Apple music.

Spotify Connect is a household gadget. Direct control of Apple Music, however, would set a creative precedent; a kind of collaboration for which Apple might not be ready to go.

Spotify Connect is a household gadget. Direct control of Apple Music, however, would set a creative precedent; a kind of collaboration for which Apple might not be ready to go.
I fail to understand the relevance of the household gadget comment to this discussion.
That apart, if Sonos is to be successful in its "Open to all" vision, it must persuade mainstream majors like Apple/Amazon/Google to subscribe to it as well, for it to more than just wishful thinking. "Open to all" is of little use to many if it is only to be a way for small service providers to obtain a leg up via being on Sonos.
The Echo integration is almost certainly more important for Sonos strategically, than it is for many clamouring just now for what may today be little more than a gimmicky voice control feature.

I fail to understand the relevance of the household gadget comment to this discussion.
Sonos wasn't the first Spotify gear, and it won't be the last.


That apart, if Sonos is to be successful in its "Open to all" vision, it must persuade mainstream majors like Apple/Amazon/Google to subscribe to it as well, for it to more than just wishful thinking.
Yeah, and? Sonos are tied lipped on the subject due to in-house rules, NDAs and so on, you now. Continued urging and trying to put pressure on them does not help one iota.


The Echo integration is almost certainly more important for Sonos strategically, than it is for many clamouring just now for what may today be little more than a gimmicky voice control feature.
Alexa is coming, she's on the way… as pointed out many times before. But she wasn't born with multi room capabilities, I think that's the biggest challenge.

And the poor lass has to learn her lesson well; since way too many "skills" out there are buggy as hell.
I'm cocksure she isn't keen on another one. I am not either.

With improvement in streaming service capability, broadband pipe reliability and cloud hosted owned music, multi room may lose its relevance to many users - except for those that want more dense coverage of one room at times with a multi speaker single room installation. When every room can just as easily access music from the net - music that is hired or owned - what's the Sonos multi room advantage worth? House bound NAS devices will then be obsolete as well.

There is a reason for the order of magnitude differences between play 1 sales and Echo sales, that also sent Sonos running for cover about a year ago. These reasons aren't going away in the future. Sonos runs the risk of becoming what it desperately does NOT want to be - a niche player.

Then the only remaining Sonos differentiator will be sound quality - that one isn't so hard to bridge for an Amazon if they decide that is worth doing.

With improvement in streaming service capability, broadband pipe reliability and cloud hosted owned music, multi room may lose its relevance to many users - except for those that want more dense coverage of one room at times with a multi speaker single room installation. When every room can just as easily access music from the net - music that is hired or owned - what's the Sonos multi room advantage worth? House bound NAS devices will then be obsolete as well.
Future generations may look forward to this, we will not see this happen. The technology being behind it is still in its infancy, that is why using streaming services evolves into playing a patience game most of the time.

I disagree.

I expect it to happen a lot faster than what it took for electricity to become a utility that is now taken for granted. There is no technological barrier to this now, just execution. And obviously therefore, it will not happen uniformly across the world.

Take the example of just Echo. It works a lot better in the US than it does anywhere else in the world at this time.

I have more years behind me than ahead of me, and I live in India. Nonetheless, I expect to see this happen in my lifetime. As for streaming services, Apple Music works very well in India even today - no patience needed. I haven't bought new music in the last 12 months.

Barring things like catastrophic climate collapse or nuclear war of course - those are outliers that are hard to factor in to any forecast.

PS: on the streaming service side - I installed a Connect based simple system at my daughter's home a year ago and she hasn't felt the need to have anything other than Apple Music for her home audio needs. No CD player, no NAS. Music on tap, when needed.