Sonos Makes a Spotify Playlist for Apple's HomePod With Hidden 'We're Going to Be Friends' Message

[MacRumors]

To celebrate the official launch of the HomePod, Sonos, one of Apple's major competitors in the speaker market, made a "Welcome to the Party" playlist for the new device with a hidden message.

Shared on Twitter, the playlist features 21 songs, with each song selected for its title to send a secret note to Apple. Here's the song list:

Hello / Apple / Something About Us / Together / Feels Right / Even Though / You're Crazy / For This / Home / POD / Remember / Two Is Better Than One / Just Playing / It's a Party / Everybody's Coming To My House / Even You / Come As You Are / Fruit Machine / No Matter What You're Told / We're Going To Be Friends / Over Everything

Sending messages through Spotify playlists is a phenomenon that was popular for a brief time right around April of 2017, due to the way Spotify playlists can be arranged and displayed linearly on both the web and within Spotify's apps. The practice is less common now, and though Sonos is using it to send what appears to be a friendly message, it's also a jab at Apple.

Good luck with your #homepod launch @Apple. We made you a playlist. https://t.co/zh8KctGAJe - Sonos (@Sonos) February 9, 2018

The Sonos Spotify playlist made for Apple can't be played natively on an Apple HomePod because the HomePod is limited to content played from Apple Music or iTunes. It can, of course, be played using AirPlay from a connected Mac or iOS device, but that's less convenient than the native playback available via Sonos speakers.

Sonos hasn't had much competition in the high-end connected speaker market, and for years, it's been the go-to brand for high-quality multi-room sound, so it's not surprising that the company feels somewhat threatened by the HomePod.

The launch of devices like the Amazon Echo and the Google Home likely didn't concern Sonos because of the lack of focus on audio quality, but many new HomePod owners have discovered that the HomePod sounds just as good or better than Sonos speakers.

Back in October, Sonos launched its Sonos One, a speaker that directly competes with the HomePod thanks to the combination of Sonos sound and Amazon Alexa smarts.

Sonos kept the price of the Sonos One low at $199, and when the HomePod went on sale, as an attempt to lure Apple customers, Sonos kicked off a deal offering two of its Sonos One speakers for $349, the same price as a single HomePod.

While Sonos and Apple are now direct competitors, the HomePod and the Sonos One can peacefully co-exist once Apple's AirPlay 2 protocol officially launches. Sonos has promised to add AirPlay 2 support to the Sonos One, and with AirPlay 2, a person who owns both a Sonos One and a HomePod will be able to play music to both devices at the same time over-the-air.

Article Link: Sonos Makes a Spotify Playlist for Apple's HomePod With Hidden 'We're Going to Be Friends' Message

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

This won't end well for Sonos.

 

[Chuck Kostalnick]

Well played, Sonos, well played. I'm re-creating this on Apple Music, and will update this post with a link so you can listen to this on your new HomePod

Listen to Welcome to The Part Mix on Apple Music.

 

[budfoot]

Well played, Sonos, well played. I'm re-creating this on Apple Music, and will update this post with a link so you can listen to this on your new HomePod

Wait. Spotify won’t work on HomePod? Why would anyone buy one of these overpriced Apple Music devices again?

 

[smirking]

I like the Sonos look better. Competition is good. I don't care about Siri or smart anything. I just want good sound. If Sonos can do that for less, I'll go that way.

 

[itsmilo]

i listened to the official „life sucks“ playlist today at work

„Skinny love. It is Complicated. I am A Lost Boy. Please dont say you love me. Bitter pill. Suicide. Under the bridge. The drugs dont work. This isnt control. Why does my heart feel so bad? Gasoline. A little too much. Murder song.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Well played, Sonos, well played. I'm re-creating this on Apple Music, and will update this post with a link so you can listen to this on your new HomePod

Typical - The only way to get good playlists on Apple Music is to re-create ones from Spotify.

 

[daverso]

This won't end well for Sonos.

I’m sure this will end perfectly fine for Sonos. They already have a solid stake in the marketplace. They’ve integrated Alexa, so their speakers are dramatically ‘smarter’ than Apple’s. They’re going to be just fine.

 

[MDF314159265]

Ha! That’s awesome. Good competition and commoradre (not sure if I spelled that right...)

 

[budfoot]

This won't end well for Sonos.

Sonos is an audio company with a history of successful products and updates over the years.

Apple is a phone company (and sometimes computer company) who has finally launched a “smart speaker” 3 years and 200 dollars to late.

 

[69Mustang]

Wait. Spotify won’t work on HomePod? Why would anyone buy one of these overpriced Apple Music devices again?

Spotify works on the HomePod. It just relies on AirPlay. Why someone would buy one these? Cuz they want to do so.

 

[budfoot]

Spotify works on the HomePod. It just relies on AirPlay. Why someone would buy one these? Cuz they want to do so.

What kind of “smart” speaker requires my phone just to play Spotify. Does pandora at least work without AirPlay?

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Sonos is an audio company with a history of successful products and updates over the years.

Apple is a phone company (and sometimes computer company) who has finally launched a “smart speaker” 3 years and 200 dollars to late.

Bwaahahaha. How'd that attitude work for Nokia and Blackberry? How'd that attitude work for Swiss watch makers?

If you don't think the release of the HomePod will take a big chunk out of Sonos sales, you're kidding yourself.

 

[asdavis10]

Pretty clever. I think there is enough room for Sonos to be successful as well as HomePod. Especially since HomePod is a singular form factor and currently works with only one streaming service. If Apple can grab 30% of their user base who would have bought a Sonos then HomePod will be wildly successful. Meanwhile, Sonos can sell to anyone. But the threshold for HomePod’s success is very low.

 

[dan9700]

People keep moaning about homepod only working with apple music well durrr its an apple device they make things to work together 3rd party isnt the best way if people don't want homepod dont buy it simple

 

[Westside guy]

That was pretty clever. It actually hearkens back to Apple's own advert, 22+ years ago, just after Microsoft launched Windows 95:

C:ONGRTLNS.W95

 

[oneMadRssn]

People keep moaning about homepod only working with apple music well durrr its an apple device they make things to work together 3rd party isnt the best way if people don't want homepod dont buy it simple

The switch to Intel Macs was to allow more 3rd party apps.
The iPhone wasn't good until they made it work with 3rd party apps.
The Apple TV wasn't as good until they made it work with 3rd party apps.
Siri got a lot better as soon as 3rd party apps were able to integrate.

3rd party apps are what make Apple great.

Walled garden doesn't mean no third party support.

 

[crisss1205]

This won't end well for Sonos.

Why not? Can HomePod replace my SONOS setup? No, not even close.

 

[boshii]

This won't end well for Sonos.

Sonos makes more than one speaker so it’s not like Apple can put them out of business with the HomePod.

 

[69Mustang]

What kind of “smart” speaker requires my phone just to play Spotify. Does pandora at least work without AirPlay?

Nope. This speaker is primarily for someone embedded in the Apple ecosystem. For someone looking to stream Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, Tidal, etc. there are much better alternatives. The HomePod isn't for everyone. It isn't for me. Even if it played Siri controlled Spotify or Pandora it still wouldn't be for me since I use GPM. Seems to not be for you either. That doesn't mean I can't see past my own use case to understand there's an audience for the HomePod.

 

[modemthug]

Class act

 

[Fall Under Cerulean Kites]

Wait. Spotify won’t work on HomePod? Why would anyone buy one of these overpriced Apple Music devices again?

Did you happen to see this article? Apple has 36 million paying Apple Music subscribers and is predicted to overtake Spotify in total subscribers this summer.

I don’t subscribe to Apple Music, but I don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. It seems a lot of the Spotify users are living in a hole and are assuming that no one listens / subscribes to Apple Music.

36 million subscribers and soon to be the largest streaming music service is the answer to your question.

Edit: Soon to be the largest U.S. blah blah blah. Doesn’t change my answer that 36 million paying subscribers is a good enough explanation as to why people will buy the HomePod and also doesn’t change the fact that Spotify users continually write off Apple Music.

 

[jdillings]

Sonos is an audio company with a history of successful products and updates over the years.

If the products were successful, Sonos wouldn't have had all those layoffs and had the longtime CEO leave. Sonos is on very shaky ground.

 

[CarpalMac]

Sonos makes more than one speaker so it’s not like Apple can put them out of business with the HomePod.

Absolutely. I can have my whole house playing back what's on the TV (useful for urgent toilet breaks!) or have all our GPM / Calm Radio accounts streaming separately in to rooms or quickly change it about, all using a cross platform app. That's just to start.

When the iphone was first launched everyone knew they were seeing something special. Comparing Sonos to the likes of Nokia and Blackberry situation is just downright hilarious.

Apple have got a very long way to go with the homepod to even catch up, and with Siri in it's current form, it's hardly skating to where the pucks going to be.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Sonos makes more than one speaker so it’s not like Apple can put them out of business with the HomePod.

Let's watch and see.