Spotify Connect, serious competition

He thinks tying up too close to one of the music service available out there is not aligned to Sonos' beliefs to make available all the music of the world through their speaker.

Is this a joke? If not WTF!!!

I have purchased my first Sonos player only a couple of days ago.
Spotify was a major factor in my decision to purchase Sonos. I already have their premium account. I use it on my PC, iPad and iPhone.
The functionality does vary between the different uses, but they basically all seem to use the Spotify interface.
The Sonos Control varies depending on what you are controlling it with. None are actually as good as the Spotify when used on iPad or a PC. The Sonos conroller on iPhone is awkward and not particularly user friendly. iPad and desk top are far better as it's easier to navigate between what's playing and browsing for more music.
what really is missing ,especially if you use to using Spotify on a PC is the way it guides you to new music and links with Facebook etc. It's a pity the normal Spotify can't be used and just use the sonus o listen to what's being played.

I have multiple IOS devices and have tried Spotify Connect with one device plugged into Sonos and the other acting as the controller and, whilst this works OK, there is one glaring omission and that is the VOLUME CONTROL which is totally lacking. This makes it pretty much useless for me.

However, having all but given up hope, I found another solution named 'SpotQueue' (search it on the App Store). There are 2 apps - one the media player (SpotQueue) and the other the remote (SpotQueue Remote). Install them both add your login details into SpotQueue and it syncs your playlists, artists and albums from Spotify. These can be added into a music queue (same like Sonos) or alternatively used to start Radio stations exactly like they are in Spotify. Most importantly, the 'remote' device (which exactly replicates the 'media' device) can adjust the volume which is fed into Sonos.

The app is by no means perfect - for example whatever is being played on the Radio can be added to a playlist but you cannot browse the artist or album without having to search for it first. Also 'Top Tracks' are missing from the Artist plus some other bits and bobs.

This app differs from 'Sponos' on Android which, although connects directly to Sonos network, does not have any Spotify integration in terms of adding to playlists and browsing / playing from your spotify library. You do however need 2 IOS devices and a Sonos device with a line-in !

It makes me wonder if all this can be achieved with a 3rd party app, why Sonos cant do better in their own app. You dont need the Spotify app installed to use it and is not endorsed by Spotify so must use the already available API/plugins. The blurb on Itunes says 'This product uses SPOTIFY CORE', whatever that is ! Seems like Sonos are missing a trick.

All these workarounds really are a crappy experience. It is amazing how bad Spotify is on Sonos though vs. the actual application. I constantly have trouble seeing new albums and seeing new playlists in playlist folders on Sonos. It is becoming a huge pain.

I'm probably going to end up switching to Beats Music because it isn't Sonos' fault really - it is Spotify's buggy API. Beats, despite its name and headphones, is a very solid service all-around.

These services are not quite so interchangeable in EU. There's a reduced number of them compared to the US, and in quality terms Spotify has been out in front.



Actually I do think that Spotify is loosing ground vs other streaming platforms. They were one of the first in EU to offer this but I do see that for example Deezer despite not launched yet in the US (scheduled for this year 2014) they are readily available already in 222 countries. The available songs are also higher than Spotify and the launch in US will surely push them even higher in the ranking and song choices.

So Spotify might still be strong in Europe however I think we should look at others that do offer more today already.

Actually I do think that Spotify is loosing ground vs other streaming platforms. They were one of the first in EU to offer this but I do see that for example Deezer despite not launched yet in the US (scheduled for this year 2014) they are readily available already in 222 countries. The available songs are also higher than Spotify and the launch in US will surely push them even higher in the ranking and song choices.

So Spotify might still be strong in Europe however I think we should look at others that do offer more today already.
You're quoting a post of mine from 6 months ago. In Internet time that's a eon and things have moved on, both in quantity and quality of streaming possibilities.

I really don't understand now why Sonos won't support Spotify Connect (unless it is hardware issue and I really don't think it is) because of the newly announced integration with the Google Music app. It bypasses the Sonos queue and "goes against" how Sonos works.

I just have to hope that Sonos is working with Spotify on a different solution other than Connect to make the experience better because too much is missing now.

I really don't understand now why Sonos won't support Spotify Connect (unless it is hardware issue and I really don't think it is) because of the newly announced integration with the Google Music app. It bypasses the Sonos queue and "goes against" how Sonos works.

I just have to hope that Sonos is working with Spotify on a different solution other than Connect to make the experience better because too much is missing now.

me too. Ive tried all the other music services available to me (UK) which are also compatible with sonos. all fall short in some way or other compared to spotify so Id really like to stick with it but the sonos integration sucks. If spotify would add 'Play on Sonos' to the existing 'connect' function that would be the icing on the cake.

I just came across this via a post on the 'Sonos Fans' page on google+. Fon have launched a streaming music player with Spotify being the initially provider.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fon/gramofon-modern-cloud-jukebox

in the FAQ it says "Do I need to download an app to be able to play music on the Gramofon?

No. Gramofon works with the music apps you love most. It is hassle free...."

meaning that Spotify is sending directly to the Gramofon from its own app. Again, Sonos are missing a trick here.

I just came across this via a post on the 'Sonos Fans' page on google+. Fon have launched a streaming music player with Spotify being the initially provider.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fon/gramofon-modern-cloud-jukebox

in the FAQ it says "Do I need to download an app to be able to play music on the Gramofon?

No. Gramofon works with the music apps you love most. It is hassle free...."

meaning that Spotify is sending directly to the Gramofon from its own app. Again, Sonos are missing a trick here.
If you watch the video you can see that they're using Spotify Connect to play to it. The device shows up on there.

I'm definitely irritated that Sonos is ignoring Spotify Connect, especially now that they've embraced casting (well, more like the DIAL protocol) from the Google Music Android app.