Spotify Connect, serious competition

I wish sonos was "source agnostic" like the excellent Tomahawk player (tomahawk-player.org/). That way when you search for music or build playlists sonos would search your local music library and whatever other sources of music you have (Spotify for example) seamlessly without the user having to jump between sources and search each one. Then it would not matter as much if you lose a source (like spotify), you can jump to another one without all your playlist going to hell.
Too bad it requires a conceptual change, it will never happen...

It's somewhat interesting to me that I have been reading these forums for what must be almost 10 years now (I lost my first Sonos system in a divorce 7 years ago so it must be pushing that long...) and this is the first topic that has gotten me to actually post.

I've recently become quite a fan of Spotify. I am also Canadian and never bothered to figure out how to get it here. I'd try Rdio from time to time and was completely underwhelmed. I can assure you to some users the services are NOT interchangeable. I used to read the same thing about Rdio being maybe better. For me, the services aren't even close -- but others may have different needs.

Today is the first time I wonder how Sonos will fit into my future needs. Sonos is one place I listen to music. The car is another huge one for me. And the office at work. For me, Sonos is competing not just as a way to listen to music at home, but as a way to integrate into my overall music listening experience.

Spotify seems to be slowly winning this battle. It is getting full-on app access in many new cars. In fact, this will be a critical factor for me when I next buy a new car in a couple years. None of the other services are having the same kind of success.

It's easy to dismiss this threat and say, I'll just switch to Rdio. For some of you, that will work. But I suspect the number of people loyal to their services is MUCH higher than the number loyal to Sonos. And Spotify seems to be winning this battle today.

So I guess in the end, I hope they are able to do something with Spotify Connect. It would make me very happy. If they don't, it would be time for me to look at some new hardware. Cheaper than a new car!

The one thing that gives me great confidence is over the years I have found most of Sonos decisions to be quite forward thinking and proven mostly right in the long run. I am sure they recognize the changing environment they are working in, and I suspect they will find a way to give us access to the native apps of some services. (Hopefully Spotify)

I couldnt agree more.

In the UK we dont have the range of music services elsewhere. I tried Rdio as an alternative and, although the Sonos experience was better from a feature point of view, the mobile app was awful. I use the mobile app 2 hours per day in my car and Rdio's app crashes, goes silent and takes ages to buffer. I have none of these issues on the Spotify app so I have to stick with them.

Its funny how I build/extend my playlists in the car using Spotify Radio but at home on Sonos I only listen to albums and playlists I already know - I never explore new music via Sonos because the app just isnt up to it and too cumbersome.

Like you, I feel that the Sonos hardware is fantastic but the software side of it is falling behind. The trend is more towards subscription based music streaming and less about music ownership with gigabits worth of CDs stored somewhere. Unless the Sonos app keeps up with the increasing features provided by the native music service apps I fear that it will get left behind.

Same like the Playbar/DTS issue. Before long there will be TVs and film services that broadcast in DTS (remember that direct Blueray connection to a Playbar isnt a supported configuration - now you know why). Sonos decided not to bother incorporating DTS into the playbar and remain almost silent on the subject several months later - what were they thinking ?!

Its funny how I build/extend my playlists in the car using Spotify Radio but at home on Sonos I only listen to albums and playlists I already know - I never explore new music via Sonos because the app just isnt up to it and too cumbersome.

Like you, I feel that the Sonos hardware is fantastic but the software side of it is falling behind. The trend is more towards subscription based music streaming and less about music ownership with gigabits worth of CDs stored somewhere. Unless the Sonos app keeps up with the increasing features provided by the native music service apps I fear that it will get left behind.
?!
There may be an obvious (to everyone but me) reason that this is a bad idea (fidelity?), but... Wouldn't it make sense for Sonos to add a bluetooth connection - everyone has their favorite MOG, Spotify, pandora apps on their iphones/androids. Let the phone manufacturers deal with the streaming companies (more accurately, the reverse I guess) and let the phone be the source. Would the user experience be that much worse? I think the native phone apps are better than the Sonos integration. Other than not being able to mix sources into a Sonos playlist and having to use a Sonos app (volume/zones) and Streaming app, I don't see a big downside. My friends all seem pretty happy with their bluetooth speakers these days...

dahlm,

Bluetooth is a relatively short range solution. I don't think that it would roam very well.

Also, I prefer not having my music tied to a phone or computer. For me, that is the beauty of SONOS.

There may be an obvious (to everyone but me) reason that this is a bad idea (fidelity?), but... Wouldn't it make sense for Sonos to add a bluetooth connection - everyone has their favorite MOG, Spotify, pandora apps on their iphones/androids...

That's what I was using before Sonos. No, the Sonos approach is FAR superior.

Bluetooth range is marginal, at best. "Up to 30 feet" often meant 10 feet on a good day, and the cat walking between my tablet and the BT receiver would cause severe dropouts.

BT compresses the signal, and its bandwidth is sub-optimal, resulting in lower fidelity.

The streaming music competed for WiFi bandwidth with my browser, the kid's online gaming, etc, causing frequent dropouts. Sonos sets up its own WiFi mesh, doesn't rob bandwith.

I thought the recent addition of the ability to play music files directly from my tablet was pretty cool, but frankly, I never use it. With the availability of nearly unlimited, on demand, high quality tracks very cheaply from MOG, ripping tracks from CDs just doesn't make sense to me anymore. But then I'm pretty lazy. 🙂

To be honest, if i wasn't already a Sonos owner i would no longer buy Sonos gear due to these developements. The one thing that Sonos isn't very good at is creating a decent user interface, the rest i have no complaints about. Any company can stream music, but in today's market the added functions / apps / radiostations just make the difference. And Sonos can't seem to integrate these, at least not in a user friendly way.

I don't get why people knock the UI, it works, it's simple! I moved from Squeezebox last month, the other half is finding Sonos much easier to use. Personally, I think Sonos does it very well (although I wish it would do Google Music :))

Also, I prefer not having my music tied to a phone or computer. For me, that is the beauty of SONOS.

And Spotify Connect. 😉

A general solution would be for SONOS to include a streaming interface in their controller software, allowing us to use access applications (Deezer, Spotify, Songza, whatever....) that pass their music to SONOS via WiFi or Ethernet, it shouldn't matter which physical unit. We could use superior native service applications, and SONOS wouldn't get abandoned by the services' changing priorities. I haven't had Deezer service through SONOS for two days now, and I suspect the problem has nothing to do with SONOS. But does Deezer really care? My access through iOS and OSX works fine, and so far Deezer is still getting my monthly fee for their "Premium" service.

I've tried streaming Deezer from my Mac to SONOS Connect through Apple Express, but the SQ was terrible.

A general solution would be for SONOS to include a streaming interface in their controller software, allowing us to use access applications (Deezer, Spotify, Songza, whatever....) that pass their music to SONOS via WiFi or Ethernet, it shouldn't matter which physical unit. We could use superior native service applications, and SONOS wouldn't get abandoned by the services' changing priorities. I haven't had Deezer service through SONOS for two days now, and I suspect the problem has nothing to do with SONOS. But does Deezer really care? My access through iOS and OSX works fine, and so far Deezer is still getting my monthly fee for their "Premium" service.

I've tried streaming Deezer from my Mac to SONOS Connect through Apple Express, but the SQ was terrible.

If you read the thread you will realize that Spotify has effectively eliminated this option for Sonos by requiring a Spotify chip (ala Airplay) in hardware licensed for Spotify Connect.