Podcasts and Voice Control

Hi ​@jhamm212 

Welcome back to the Sonos Community!

Sorry to hear of this trouble you’re having with playing podcasts via voice command.

Which Voice Control service are you using, please?

Also, which music service(s) are you using with Voice Control?

​@Corry P using Sonos Voice Control. I was using Spotify but have since moved to pocket casts. At no point have I been able to start a podcast via Sonos voice control. 

Hi ​@jhamm212 

Thanks for the additional information. 

Please note that Sonos Voice Control does not yet support Pocket Casts - please see our Content services that work with Sonos Voice Control help page for a list of supported services. At the time of writing, they are:

• Sonos Radio
• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
• Deezer
• Pandora
• Spotify

As for being unable to play podcasts from Spotify either, are you able to play the desired podcasts on your Sonos speakers using the Sonos app rather than SVC? If not, SVC will not play them either.

Please note that not all services that provide podcasts will have podcast catalogues available in the Sonos app via browsing or searching (and therefore SVC, even where supported). If a podcast is not appearing in the Sonos app, you can use Direct Control (using the Spotify app) or use AirPlay/Bluetooth (also using the Spotify app in this case, but this also works for services that do not have Direct Control available) to play that content on your Sonos speakers.

I hope this helps.

​@Corry P can you tell me which of those services Sonos supports in-Sonos-app podcasts? Can you also tell me why I can’t access Spotify podcasts in the Sonos app? (Not like troubleshoot the problem, just literally the reason/limitation behind no Spotify podcasts being IN the Sonos app)

thanks

Hi ​@jhamm212

I’m afraid not - I’m not personally familiar with any of those services, nor do I listen to Podcasts myself, and our documentation does not cover available content from third parties. Hopefully, a community member who listens to Podcasts themselves will chime in and assist you with this query.

I am honestly not sure. I know we recommend the use of a service’s own app when listening to Podcasts as our own is more designed for music playback, specifically. I did find the following statement: “This limitation is due to the content service's integration and availability of podcast catalogs in the Sonos app, not a Sonos-imposed block.” So, it seems it is Spotify’s choice.

I hope this helps, and I’m sorry that it does not more so.

​@Corry P you WORK at Sonos and can’t find such a simple answer? Why does Sonos not explicitly say which ones do or do not offer podcasts in the Sonos app? Are they worried that if they were transparent about that fact it might dissuade some people from purchasing? Literally the only reason I could think of. But again, I’m not a Sonos employee…

Hi ​@jhamm212 

Because we support hundreds of different services, the specific content available (like podcasts) is managed by the providers themselves rather than indexed by us. While we realize podcasting is important to many, our primary focus has always been the music experience, which is why the integration levels can vary between services.

Ultimately, we want you to use whichever service fits your needs best—there's no financial incentive for us to push one over the other; we just want the system to work for your setup.

I hope this helps.

​@Corry P even so, there hasn’t been a single slow day at the office when someone went through and made note of which services have podcasts in the app and which don’t? Seems like a pretty simple, albeit menial, task. Heck I’d do it if you gave me the resources. In today’s age of data and diagnostics I have a sneaking suspicion this shouldn’t be too hard? And then, once you’re all caught up, with each new service y’all add you can gather that information up front so as not to create another backlog in the future. It just seems weird to be like “some of them offer podcasts in the app, some don’t, but we don’t know which ones”

Hi ​@jhamm212 

I think you misunderstand, which is likely my fault. Apologies.

Of the services that SVC supports, Spotify and Pandora will play podcasts via the Sonos app, and therefore via SVC too. With the other services listed on the SVC help page, you may get varying results. The services might not, however, always offer all of their podcast library in the Sonos app, and it is what they do offer and what they do not offer that we do not catalogue.

Note in my second reply here that the services that do not play from the Sonos app can still play through their own apps to Sonos, either directly or via AirPlay or Bluetooth (on the devices that support these). SVC will not be available for such content/services.

I hope this helps.

Edit: Information is incorrect.

​@Corry P how can I access Spotify podcasts via the Sonos app? I JUST asked SVC to play a podcast via Spotify and Giancarlo responded “sorry, that is not supported on Sonos voice control”. Am I giving the wrong voice prompt?

Hi ​@jhamm212 

I think the limitation that you are likely hitting is that Sonos Voice Control operates locally on your speaker - it cannot possibly have the resources available in order to recognise all words/artists/content that you might ask for. As the English version of SVC is meant for the USA, we program it to know the top Artists, Songs, Albums and Radio Stations currently in the USA. Unlike Alexa, which runs on datacentre mainframes with near unlimited resources, it cannot recognise every word you say to it.

I suspect that you will fare far better in this specific case by using Alexa on your Sonos speaker rather than SVC. Note that you can install both assistants on one speaker - just use the right wake word for the one you want to use. If you link the same Spotify account to your Alexa/Amazon account, it is distinctly possible you will see better results.

Set up Amazon Alexa with a voice-enabled Sonos speaker

I hope this helps.

Sure, I guess this is the “best” answer but it doesn’t change the fact that Sonos (Corry) lied by saying SVC would play podcasts via Spotify then tried to walk it back by saying I should just use Alexa. I wish companies would just be forthright about something not being possible instead of trying to say “oh just use something else” when earlier the statement was “SVC will control podcasts via Spotify” but alas…it does not. And instead of Sonos just saying that is the case, there’s some long winded answer about how it needs the cloud to figure out what I’m saying? That’s a crock. 

Hi ​@jhamm212 

I understand it’s frustrating when a feature doesn't work as expected, but I want to be clear that there was no intention to mislead. My goal is to explain the technical framework of Sonos Voice Control (SVC).

Because SVC processes commands locally on the speaker to prioritize privacy and speed, it doesn't have the "infinite" cloud-based dictionary that an assistant like Alexa uses. It is programmed to recognize the most popular content, which is why your experience may vary depending on how niche or mainstream a specific podcast is. We don't have a manual list of every supported track or podcast because that database changes by the second across global streaming services.

We’re always working to improve the local library of recognized terms, and your feedback about the podcast experience is helpful for our development teams to see where those gaps are.

I hope this helps.

This page can be used to see which services support podcasts:

https://support.sonos.com/en-us/services

However, what it needs is a checkbox for “supported by SVC”.

​@controlav the fact Spotify is one of the ones that has podcasts is also a load of bull. If you go and search any podcast (via Spotify) in the Sonos app, you will not find it. 
 

like sure, I can start a podcast IN Spotify and use Spotify connect to play it on the Sonos speakers, but that doesn’t exactly translate to native podcast support (which again, doesn’t seem to exist for any major streaming service). 

​@Corry P  can you show me where in the Sonos app I can find Spotify podcasts?