Apple Music Available on Sonos Devices Starting December 15

[MacRumors]

As of December 15, Apple Music will be available on Sonos, allowing those who own Sonos speakers to use them with the Apple Music service for the first time since it launched in June. Sonos and Apple today announced a new Sonos Apple Music public beta that will go live to all Sonos users in approximately two weeks.

Sonos users will be able to access Apple Music on their Sonos speakers, streaming songs from For You, New, Radio, and My Music. The beta will allow users to access the Apple Music features through their dedicated Sonos apps on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and PC, with full support set to roll out in 2016.

"Many of our members love Sonos and want to enjoy our service throughout their homes," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "We're thrilled to be working with Sonos to provide the Apple Music experience in even more places fans enjoy music."

Since Apple Music launched, Sonos has been working on support for the service, with a promise to have the feature ready to roll out by the end of the year. Beats Music, which did work with Sonos, is shutting down as of today. Sonos has recommended its users move their Beats Music accounts to Apple Music to save their playlists ahead of the rollout of the Apple Music for Sonos beta.

Article Link: Apple Music Available on Sonos Devices Starting December 15

 

[mabaker]

You can have everything with AirTunes or AirPlay - why use Sonos? Some day Sonos will go bankrupt and you will be left with a broken set of overpriced loudspeakers.

 

[ozaz]

You can have everything with AirTunes or AirPlay - why use Sonos? Some day Sonos will go bankrupt and you will be left with a broken set of overpriced loudspeakers.

- Android support
- More stable in challenging wifi environments
- Excellent multi-room syncing.
- Some people find controlling all music sources from a single app to be preferable (admittedly, others see this constraint as a limitation)

I don't agree that the Play 1, 3, or 5 are overpriced.
The Connect is overpriced.

 

[soheilk]

You can have everything with AirTunes or AirPlay - why use Sonos? Some day Sonos will go bankrupt and you will be left with a broken set of overpriced loudspeakers.

I don't know, maybe because you don't want any interruptions while listening and enjoying music? Also, keep in mind that for Airplay to work, you NEED to have your phone in the network while playing music and you can't use it to listen/watch anything else on it.

 

[porkrind]

- Android support
- More stable in challenging wifi environments
- Excellent multi-room syncing.
- Some people find controlling all music sources from a single app to be preferable (admittedly, others see this constraint as a limitation)

I don't agree that the Play 1, 3, or 5 are overpriced.
The Connect is overpriced.

My most common use case is that I set up a playlist on my iPad, then browse the net while the music plays. Airplay chokes and stutters when I load complex pages or sometimes even when I switch apps. Even leaving the iPad alone usually results in stuttering at some point or another. That never ever happens with my Sonos speakers.

 

[gforce216]

I love my Sonos speakers. It saves a lot on battery on my devices since they aren't constantly streaming to an AirPlay speaker. It's nice to just have music playing without having to worry about battery life.

Happy to see Apple Music is coming though! Just cancelled my Rdio subscription (RIP), so this is perfect timing.

 

[HarryKeogh]

Very excited about this. Love my Sonos and loving Apple Music.

 

[peterdevries]

It's interesting how Apple is becoming ever more open. Soon many of the "walled garden" complainers need to find something new to nag about. Can't wait.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Sonos is nice, but I can't swallow their prices. Play1 should be $75. Play3 should be $100-$125. Play5 should be $200-$250. ConnectAmp should be $100.

Their prices are deep in audio enthusiast territory, but their products are objectively mass-market consumer-oriented. Enthusiasts will likely go for more niche speaker brands, while the mass-market consumers likely go for something less expensive.

 

[peterdevries]

Sonos is nice, but I can't swallow their prices. Play1 should be $75. Play3 should be $100-$125. Play5 should be $200-$250. ConnectAmp should be $100.

Their prices are deep in audio enthusiast territory, but their products are objectively mass-market consumer-oriented. Enthusiasts will likely go for more niche speaker brands, while the mass-market consumers likely go for something less expensive.

Still many seem to find the prices ok. Sonos is huge and a big part of it is their user friendliness.

 

[Gigster]

You can have everything with AirTunes or AirPlay - why use Sonos? Some day Sonos will go bankrupt and you will be left with a broken set of overpriced loudspeakers.

First thing, why will Sonos go bankrupt? Because of AirPlay? AirPlay only works from Apple devices so AirPlay definitely won't kill it.
Secondly, people have been saying Sonos is doomed ever since AirPlay/AirTunes was announced yet in that time Sonos has grown to become the second biggest speaker manufacturer in the world based on revenue. Based on its current growth rate it will be number one in no time. Considering that there are only 40 million paying music subscribers in the world and is expected to balloon to 1 billion by 2021, I'm willing to bet that Sonos is more likely to become the biggest speaker manufacturer that has ever existed rather than go bankrupt. They have grown to second place working in a segment that is still in the early adopter phase for most of the world - that's pretty amazing.

Saying things like 'why use Sonos?' Is like asking why use iOS when Android does the same thing? It's the little things that Sonos does to create a better experience. Did you know that Sonos users listen to 70% more music than anyone else? Sonos makes just makes things easier and are guided by the principle of creating the best listening experience possible.

 

[soheilk]

Sonos is nice, but I can't swallow their prices. Play1 should be $75. Play3 should be $100-$125. Play5 should be $200-$250. ConnectAmp should be $100.

Their prices are deep in audio enthusiast territory, but their products are objectively mass-market consumer-oriented. Enthusiasts will likely go for more niche speaker brands, while the mass-market consumers likely go for something less expensive.

I agree that their prices LOOK expensive. But think of it this way:

Many people (including myself) spend $700+ for a phone every two years (or every year) and don't have ANY problems with it. Heck with all the new software updates, you have to replace your phone every two years even if you don't want to. But Sonos speakers, on the other hand, are built to last for much longer than 2 years. A good and solid multi-room Sonos system will cost you around $1500-$2000 and they claim the lifespan of their speakers is 10years. And it's not just a claim. They constantly keep updating ALL of their speakers, even the ones they made 10 years ago, via software updates and keep adding more features to them. They just updated their Play:5 speaker but are still supporting the old Play:5. So, although you are spending $2000 on a speaker system, but in reality you are investing for 10years of music listening at home. Our appreciation of music and the time we spend to listen to it at home have increased dramatically since we've entered the Sonos ecosystem.

The only problem I have with Sonos is that no matter how much you talk about its benefits, no one will understand it. They have to use it to fully appreciate it. Much like Apple, Sonos is an ecosystem. At some point you just have to trust them and let them do the work. But the problem with Sonos is its cost of entry and their not-so-good marketing. You won't really appreciate the benefits of Sonos until you have at least two of their speakers. Not many people are willing to spend $400 just to try an ecosystem. Sonos has to do a lot of marketing/branding and educate consumers if they really want people to get on board.

 

[scottwio]

While I agree with what people are saying here in that Sonos is over priced. After a lot of searching I could not find a decent competitor, a nice looking speaker, with great sound quality that allows you to group multiple speakers over a network, they have the market locked down. The only brand that even comes close is Bose with soundtouch but the UI looks terrible. I know you can group airplay speakers on your mac but I'm not willing to get out my mac every time I want to listen to music. Sonos needs a decent competitor before their prices are going to change at the moment I don't think their is one out there.

Also for those that are saying sonos should add airplay this seems to be down to licensing, where airplay can not be used on grouped speakers system. Bose removed airplay to add a grouping system.

 

[jonnyb098]

I guess that means we wont get iOS 9.2 for another two weeks then.

 

[tillsbury]

I bet there's a lot more than ten years in the Sonos speakers. That's what I'd expect from a cheap set.

But yay finally the sonos/music thing is out, will look forward to playing with this. I bought a few Sonos speakers with this as the plan (at the moment their primary source is apple music on the ATV). I hope the app is as good as I expect it to be.

And yes, the speakers aren't cheap. But once you get a few set up, and the sub in particular, you realise why. No regrets spending a few extra dollars here.

 

[ozaz]

While I agree with what people are saying here in that Sonos is over priced. After a lot of searching I could not find a decent competitor, a nice looking speaker, with great sound quality that allows you to group multiple speakers over a network, they have the market locked down. The only brand that even comes close is Bose with soundtouch but the UI looks terrible. I know you can group airplay speakers on your mac but I'm not willing to get out my mac every time I want to listen to music. Sonos needs a decent competitor before their prices are going to change at the moment I don't think their is one out there.

Denon HEOS and LG Music Flow could be considered competitors. Unfortunately, they have nowhere near the ecosystem of supported services yet.

One possible advantage of the LG is Google Cast support, opening it up to control via 3rd party apps. Lack of such a feature is often a complaint directed at Sonos. However, having owned Sonos for over a year now, I'm getting less and less bothered by this limitation.

 

[npmacuser5]

You can have everything with AirTunes or AirPlay - why use Sonos? Some day Sonos will go bankrupt and you will be left with a broken set of overpriced loudspeakers.

To answer your question, Sonos sounds great, just works, easy to use, has plenty of music apps, perfect size to name a few. As far as the business aspect, you may have to worry more about Airplay being dropped in future releases as development cost vs users continues to widen. At least a successful product like Sonos has a good chance of being assumed, like Beats for example.

 

[zubikov]

Sonos has decent sound quality, but I really don't like the idea of being locked into one brand of speakers for the sake of convenience. They're also really, really overpriced. Many here confuse "overpriced" with "unaffordable". They're overpriced because you can spend $100 on a really nice plugin speaker and $25 on an Airplay adapter (eBay). Or you can spend $100 - $300 on dozens of AirPlay speakers of varying size and quality....Or you can drop $300 and get locked into one brand, Sonos, for your whole house. This makes no sense. How about Apple focuses on making AirPlay perfect instead?

I have 5 AirPlay devices throughout the house, all different brands and setups (ATV, DLNA adapter, old AirPort Express and built into iHome speaker). It's very convenient and I'd really like to see Apple build on its own infrastructure). Only caveat, it currently requires really strong WiFi.

 

[tillsbury]

Also for those that are saying sonos should add airplay this seems to be down to licensing, where airplay can not be used on grouped speakers system. Bose removed airplay to add a grouping system.

You can use Airplay to Sonos easily if you have an ATV4. My TV is connected to a Playbar and if I select airplay on an iOS device it will turn the TV on and switch to ATV input and send the audio through whatever group of Sonos speakers I choose, without having to do anything.

 

[ggibson913]

I can't wait, it will be awesome. As far as complaints on Price the Play 1 doesn't cost anymore than a decent Bluetooth speaker and sounds tons better and far more reliable.

 

[logicstudiouser]

Interested to see how it will work out. I have been a Sonos user for 5 years now. Top of the line customer service, great reliability.

 

[aajeevlin]

I see all the argument, but I'd like to ask won't Sonos with Airplay actually be better? I'd like if I can Airplay youtube, or when I'm playing games on the phone or iPad. Or maybe even connect my laptop to it so I can move around in my room while still get good sound from it.

I'm game if they can do Airplay. I'm okay with the $200+, but I'd like it to do a bit more.

 

[BrentD]

99% of the people who complain about or attempt to discredit Sonos have never used or lived with Sonos products.

 

[MacSlut]

You can use Airplay to Sonos easily if you have an ATV4. My TV is connected to a Playbar and if I select airplay on an iOS device it will turn the TV on and switch to ATV input and send the audio through whatever group of Sonos speakers I choose, without having to do anything.

While you can do that, or any other AirPlay receiver with audio-out (Mac, AirPort, etc...), it's still a two-hop and two-step process, further, the meta-data obviously can't transfer.

It would be nice if Apple changed the licensing to have better terms for systems like Sonos. In the end, the licensing revenue is trivial compared to Apple's hardware revenue.

 

[codydale]

First thing, why will Sonos go bankrupt? Because of AirPlay? AirPlay only works from Apple devices so AirPlay definitely won't kill it.
Secondly, people have been saying Sonos is doomed ever since AirPlay/AirTunes was announced yet in that time Sonos has grown to become the second biggest speaker manufacturer in the world based on revenue. Based on its current growth rate it will be number one in no time. Considering that there are only 40 million paying music subscribers in the world and is expected to balloon to 1 billion by 2021, I'm willing to bet that Sonos is more likely to become the biggest speaker manufacturer that has ever existed rather than go bankrupt. They have grown to second place working in a segment that is still in the early adopter phase for most of the world - that's pretty amazing.

Saying things like 'why use Sonos?' Is like asking why use iOS when Android does the same thing? It's the little things that Sonos does to create a better experience. Did you know that Sonos users listen to 70% more music than anyone else? Sonos makes just makes things easier and are guided by the principle of creating the best listening experience possible.

Not to mention the fact that Apple is spending their time with Sonos. I am not saying that Apple is the end-all-be-all, but they are not historically ones to waste their time collaborating with companies that are "doomed".