iTunes Match with Sonos Voice Control

  • 12 June 2022
  • 7 replies
  • 524 views

Hello All,

Wondering if there is a way to get the new Sonos Voice Control to work with iTunes Match? Technically, iTunes Match works by matching your physical copies of songs with songs on the Apple Music Library. On the Sonos App, I’ve linked my Apple Music (iTunes Match) subscription with their services, but because it is not legitimately “Apple Music”, I can’t get Sonos Voice Control to work properly with my Match catalogue. Anyone have any suggestions here? Would be nice to be able to send music easily from Roam to Move, but you can’t do that simply with Airplay Music, so I was hoping to be able to start up music directly on the speakers with the Sonos App.


7 replies

As far as I am aware iTunes Match is available only for iOS devices, Macs and iTunes for Windows. To play your music library that’s been uploaded to the iCloud Music Library on Sonos an Apple Music subscription is required. Apple Music works with SVC.

I’m fairly confident iTunes Match and iCloud Music Library use the same technology, as they both appear in the Apple Music app and sync around on all your Apple devices. I use iCloud Music Library.

Obscure albums ripped from my CD collection are available when I browse the Apple Music service in the Sonos S2 app, but they’re very unlikely to show up in my search results when using the app and even less likely to be found when using Sonos Voice Control.

Despite the disappointment, it’s still pretty fun to hear Giancarlo say “Sorry, I can’t find an album called ‘The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Special Orchestra CD’” 😀

Apple wants their customers to subscribe to their music streaming service.^^ iTunes Match has been merged into Apple Music, one doesn’t have to pay for both services in order to upload their own music into iCloud Music Library.

 

Who’s Giancarlo, a character from a movie or a TV series?

@Smilja Apple’s intent isn’t relevant to the questions about how Sonos works iTunes Match. Regardless, I should have kept things on-topic to the original poster’s question.

Looking at other forum threads, it seems like a well-known issue that iTunes Match doesn’t work with Sonos because it “downloads” rather than “streams” to a subscriber’s Apple devices only, and can’t send the music to a Sonos speaker requesting it for playback.

My own experience with iCloud Music Library and Sonos search inconsistencies wasn’t relevant and I regret causing the distraction. Giancarlo is the name of the actor whose voice is used by Sonos Voice Control.

iTunes Match is iCloud-based, that’s the issue here. One can set up a Sonos Music Library (which doesn’t work with SVC) with downloaded purchased tracks from iCloud/iTunes Match. Whereas Apple Music’s streaming catalogue is DRM-protected, hence streaming only allowed.

Userlevel 7

This may be a bit off topic but I think a little history is needed here to fully understand iTunes Match. My apologies to those who may say “I’m preaching to the choir” 😇.

iTunes Match was developed by Apple long before there was Apple Music. The original intent for iTunes Match was to allow your ripped CD’s or music imported from other (legitimate) DRM free sources to be incorporated into your iTunes library. Of course the music was sourced to iTunes via a Mac or Windows PC with iTunes. 

When one acquires another Apple device that supports an iTunes library only the music that is purchased directly from iTunes will download to that device. iTunes Match allows music that is not purchased via iTunes to follow along and be included on Apple devices capable of supporting/accessing an iTunes library such as an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Windows PC with iTunes for Windows.

iTunes Match with its annual subscription ($24.95 or roughly $2.07 per month) allows a person not interested in streaming Apple Music to have music purchased via the iTunes Store or imported to their iTunes library available for listening at any time. No internet connection required (*). No monthly fee for Apple Music or Apple One. The person essentially owns all their music. 

(*) Apple Music allows download of music for off-line listening without purchase as long as the Apple Music Subscription is active.

(*) Apple Music allows download of music for off-line listening without purchase as long as the Apple Music Subscription is active.

 

Playback of these downloads is only possible in Apple’s music app, rather than in third-party apps and on third party platforms like Sonos resp.

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