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jishi
Headliner II
September 3, 2013

Spotify Connect, serious competition

Spotify today announced Spotify Connect, which will be a series of hardware from well-known hardware to seamlessly integrate spotify onto devices where the control is from the regular Spotify application on your phone or similar.

Streaming is still done directly through internet, so the phone isn't in charge of it, just controls it.

I really do hope that Sonos will follow this approach as well, I believe there are a lot more like me that primarily uses Sonos for Spotify, and being able to use the same app as always would be awesome.

Seems like there is already a feature request over at ask.sonos.com https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/support_spotify_connect_to_allow_users_to_use_the_spotify_app_as_the_controller
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      249 replies

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      jgatie
      jgatie
      September 3, 2013
      I joined Spotify Premium specifically to use with my Sonos, and convinced my father to do the same after selling him on Sonos.I am a big fan of Spotify and would love to send a message short of cancellation. Especially while there remains the hope of continued cooperation. I couldn't find anywhere to send a comment (other than just create another thread on their forum, which seems a waste.

      John M from Sonos gave this link in the Spotify Radio thread on ask.sonos:

      http://community.spotify.com/t5/ideas/v2/ideapage/blog-id/ideaexchange/article-id/16743/

      Which I suppose is their message boards, but it is better than nothing. In reality, a cancellation is the only thing which gets noticed, carping on a message board simply means you are still paying them, and any threat to leave seems idle if you haven't left yet. A sad, but true fact.
      ratty
      ratty
      September 3, 2013
      Ordinarily I would agree with you, but Spotify seems to be at a fork in the road with regards to Sonos support, and a bold statement by Sonos customers may just may sway them on which road to take. Regardless of whether Sonos is sufficient as a replacement for CDs today (and I agree it is), anyone who wishes for more from Spotify is going to be disappointed, and a cancellation may be warranted as a symbol of that disappointment.
      Users with a legitimate grievance in terms of missing functionality will now end up with a competitor service anyway. If those of us who've, in large part, been satisfied with Spotify (apart from early teething troubles) all get up and leave too then it would further undermine any incentive to maintain the current service. I fail to see what effect a mass subscription cancellation would have other than to bring forward the fateful day when the Sonos service is shuttered.

      New services will come into being, and existing services will improve. Bring on the day when we can stream lossless here! When the case is compelling I, and doubtless others, will migrate. Until such time throwing my Spotify toys on the floor feels like rather an empty gesture.
      jgatie
      jgatie
      September 3, 2013
      Users with a legitimate grievance in terms of missing functionality will now end up with a competitor service anyway. If those of us who've, in large part, been satisfied with Spotify (apart from early teething troubles) all get up and leave too then it would further undermine any incentive to maintain the current service. I fail to see what effect a mass subscription cancellation would have other than to bring forward the fateful day when the Sonos service is shuttered.

      New services will come into being, and existing services will improve. Bring on the day when we can stream lossless here! When the case is compelling I, and doubtless others, will migrate. Until such time throwing my Spotify toys on the floor feels like rather an empty gesture.

      I've no problem with your stance, and I in no way called for mass cancellation. My only point was that the days of whining to Sonos about missing functionality are over, and if one wishes a change, that change will come about due to pressure on Spotify, not Sonos.
      danc27
      Trending Lyricist I
      September 3, 2013
      And so it begins . . . Spotify Radio designated as "Not Planned" as of 5 minutes ago:

      https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/add_spotify_radios_to_sonos

      Again, the only thing Spotify will understand is cancellations. It doesn't affect me, then again I've switched services 4 times since I've owned Sonos due to dissatisfaction, and I got at least a year of $4.99/mo. Rhapsody/Napster streaming because of it.
      That was quick. Man, I really hope they can work something out.
      mannberg
      Lyricist I
      September 4, 2013
      Vote up (give kudos) to this idea on the Spotify community so maybe spotify will realese a public API/specification of Spotify Connect.

      community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Ideas/Publish-the-Spotify-Connect-Wireless-speaker-API/idi-p/520890
      danc27
      Trending Lyricist I
      September 4, 2013
      Vote up (give kudos) to this idea on the Spotify community so maybe spotify will realese a public API/specification of Spotify Connect.

      community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Ideas/Publish-the-Spotify-Connect-Wireless-speaker-API/idi-p/520890

      There's no way they are going to do this. I am sure that they are going to license out the tech/software to manufacturers and they are going to want some sort of control over what is using it.

      In general this whole thing has me looking at other subscription services though. Rdio is second best behind Spotify, I think, only because of their sometimes questionable sound quality. Great looking and fully featured service otherwise. Music selection is very close to Spotify, too.
      nicka99
      nicka99
      Local Superstar
      September 4, 2013
      Im in the UK and also now looking at Rdio.
      is there any way to establish the bitrate it uses ?
      e.g. in Sonos 'about my system' ? similar to how on the playbar it shows 5.1 or PCM ?
      danc27
      Trending Lyricist I
      September 4, 2013
      Im in the UK and also now looking at Rdio.
      is there any way to establish the bitrate it uses ?
      e.g. in Sonos 'about my system' ? similar to how on the playbar it shows 5.1 or PCM ?
      Good question - I don't think so.

      I really don't understand why they don't publish what they stream at - it just makes the consumer think that it must not be good if they're not telling us. They say that they're always experimenting with different bitrates and formats to "provide the best possible listening experience". I guess they do that because they want to provide faster streams from mobile/desktop.
      ratty
      ratty
      September 4, 2013
      Im in the UK and also now looking at Rdio.
      is there any way to establish the bitrate it uses ?
      e.g. in Sonos 'about my system' ? similar to how on the playbar it shows 5.1 or PCM ?
      This is what rather puts me off: the fact that I couldn't be certain what I'd be getting for the money.

      There's no way that I know of to determine Rdio's bitrate as seen by the Sonos Player. You could always use a bandwidth monitor in your router, if it offers one.
      danc27
      Trending Lyricist I
      September 4, 2013
      Of note as well: It has been documented that Rdio applies some sort of processing to the music too, so it isn't all about bitrate. I've had Rdio before (before I had Sonos) and while Rdio's bitrate seemed high enough, the music definitely sounded different compared to my local file.

      There were also a few albums that noticeably sounded worse (older albums).

      It does stink since I enjoy the UI and functionality of the service, but they kill it with SQ.

      Lets just all hope that Spotify and Sonos work it out.
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