SONOS Speakers and Spotify

kurtainsider

If you buy a Sonos wifi speaker it will not play Spotify unless you have a Premium subscription.

Why doesn't it bother people that you can spend approx €200 on a speaker that then decides what you can and can't listen to on it?

Imagine buying a TV and getting it home only to discover that it won't show the BBC for instance unless you sign up to a €10/month subscription. I imagine that this TV brand would be run out of town immediately.

Why hasn't this become a marketing catastrophe for SONOS?

massy086

kurtainsider wrote: »

If you buy a Sonos wifi speaker it will not play Spotify unless you have a Premium subscription.

Why doesn't it bother people that you can spend approx €200 on a speaker that then decides what you can and can't listen to on it?

Imagine buying a TV and getting it home only to discover that it won't show the BBC for instance unless you sign up to a €10/month subscription. I imagine that this TV brand would be run out of town immediately.

Why hasn't this become a marketing catastrophe for SONOS?

Because if you can afford Sonos you can afford spotify premium

burkey2k0

And it's not Sonos, it's obviously Spotify doing this...

Denny_Crane

Apologies for being a smart arse, but buying a TV and then finding you dont have the full range of BBC services is exactly what does happen in Ireland as we dont pay the licence fee.

kurtainsider

Denny_Crane wrote: »

Apologies for being a smart arse, but buying a TV and then finding you dont have the full range of BBC services is exactly what does happen in Ireland as we dont pay the licence fee.

Apology accepted

fred funk }{

kurtainsider wrote: »

Apology accepted

Get a hold of yourself man. You been sipping the Sherry?

kurtainsider

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Get a hold of yourself man. You been sipping the Sherry?

Well I do like a glass of sweet sherry on Christmas day.

Denny_Crane

Shes not so sweet when you can't get the Barry White playlist without the ads :pac:

Issac

The sound quality on the free version of Spotify is not as good as premium. Maybe the manufacturers don't want the speakers to play the lower quality files on the free version as it may sound like the speakers are not as good as they actually are.

dudara

Does it say this explicitly on the product labeling / packaging / description?

dmc17

Issac wrote: »

The sound quality on the free version of Spotify is not as good as premium. Maybe the manufacturers don't want the speakers to play the lower quality files on the free version as it may sound like the speakers are not as good as they actually are.

And buying an expensive speaker to listen to low quality sound doesn't really make sense anyway

kurtainsider

dudara wrote: »

Does it say this explicitly on the product labeling / packaging / description?

I didn't keep the packaging so I can't say. However, I bought it in a shop where the sales person certainly didn't mention it. I never saw the packaging until I had agreed to buy it in any event. If they had pointed out to me that the speaker would decide what it would play I wouldn't have touched it. Even if I didn't have a spotify account it's the principle of the thing that I don't like.

IamtheWalrus

I have a sonos set and you're right, only spotify premium. Would a friend let you log in under their account?

kurtainsider

dmc17 wrote: »

And buying an expensive speaker to listen to low quality sound doesn't really make sense anyway

That's as maybe but after spending a lot of money shouldn't it be the purchasers decision at the end of the day what to play?

ongarite

kurtainsider wrote: »

That's as maybe but after spending a lot of money shouldn't it be the purchasers decision at the end of the day what to play?

No, you can play any content you own or have on your phone or tablet.
If you want to play content you don't own through streaming service then Spotify Premium is required. This has been made clear for months by Sonos & Spotify.
Premium account can play all content while free account will only play certain tracks from albums with ads dropped in..
Not exactly an experience a premium brand like Sonos want to associated with.

kurtainsider

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

I have a sonos set and you're right, only spotify premium. Would a friend let you log in under their account?

Possibly, but the point I'm making is that the speaker shouldn't block me out of my free Spotify account. It's a speaker, I paid plenty for it - why can SONOS hop into bed with Spotify to coerce it's customers into taking out a premium account?
What's next - a cooker that will decide what it'll cook? - a car that will decide where it will and won't take you?

The comparisons above may sound ridiculous but a speaker that decides what it will and will not play is equally f***ed up.

Cabaal

kurtainsider wrote: »

Possibly, but the point I'm making is that the speaker shouldn't block me out of my free Spotify account. It's a speaker, I paid plenty for it - why can SONOS hop into bed with Spotify to coerce it's customers into taking out a premium account?
What's next - a cooker that will decide what it'll cook? - a car that will decide where it will and won't take you?

The comparisons above may sound ridiculous but a speaker that decides what it will and will not play is equally f***ed up.

You can stream content from your phone, so you can play the free low quality content via your phone or tablet. It's sonos product, they can restrict or make agreements with whichever content providers they wish, customers are free to go elsewhere if they don't agree.

Who shells out money on an expensive speaker without doing basic research?

kurtainsider

ongarite wrote: »

No, you can play any content you own or have on your phone or tablet.
If you want to play content you don't own through streaming service then Spotify Premium is required. This has been made clear for months by Sonos & Spotify.
Premium account can play all content while free account will only play certain tracks from albums with ads dropped in..
Not exactly an experience a premium brand like Sonos want to associated with.

This is a crude commercial deal by Sonos and Spotify to coerce people to sign up for a premium account. Nothing to do with those awful ads polluting their lovely speakers.

kurtainsider

Cabaal wrote: »

You can stream content from your phone, so you can play the free low quality content via your phone or tablet. It's sonos product, they can restrict or make agreements with whichever content providers they wish, customers are free to go elsewhere if they don't agree.

Who shells out money on an expensive speaker without doing basic research?

Do you know what? You're correct. Sonos sees its customers as mugs and there is a school of thought that says that it's OK to behave as cynically as you like so long as you can find a mug. I was a mug in this occasion and was treated by Sonos as such.

It's my view that this is unethical and underhanded.

Paulw

The Sonos website say that it plays music from over 30 online streaming services.

But, it does say that it requires Spotify Premium.

http://www.sonos.com/en-ie/streaming-music

Maybe a little research would have been useful before buying an expensive speaker.

kurtainsider

Paulw wrote: »

The Sonos website say that it plays music from over 30 online streaming services.

But, it does say that it requires Spotify Premium.

http://www.sonos.com/en-ie/streaming-music

Maybe a little research would have been useful before buying an expensive speaker.

You're dead right.
If I had done my research I'd have discovered that there was 2 products involved in the deal - the speaker AND myself.

IamtheWalrus

You have my sympathy man. Although my 2 sonos produce great sound quality, they are a bit restrictive (BBC5 Live games are not allowed). The music I listen to is all on my laptop so it suits me ok.

fred funk }{

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

You have my sympathy man. Although my 2 sonos produce great sound quality, they are a bit restrictive (BBC5 Live games are not allowed). The music I listen to is all on my laptop so it suits me ok.

That's not Sonos restricting it, it's whatever service you're listening to it on.

Dodge

Yeah BBC 5 live streams don't allow live EPL commentary in Ireland (it's a rights issue)

Not sure I see any consumer issue here?

kurtainsider

fred funk }{ wrote: »

That's not Sonos restricting it, it's whatever service you're listening to it on.

Sonos restricts it.

Guy:Incognito

kurtainsider wrote: »

Sonos restricts it.

5live won't play pl games in Ireland . Doesn't matter whether you're playing it through a Sonos speaker, the phones speaker or hooking it up to a 30 year old technics .

UsedToWait

kurtainsider wrote: »

You're dead right.
If I had done my research I'd have discovered that there was 2 products involved in the deal - the speaker AND myself.

So are you selling it?
How much you looking?

IamtheWalrus

Dodge wrote: »

Yeah BBC 5 live streams don't allow live EPL commentary in Ireland (it's a rights issue)

Not sure I see any consumer issue here?

It was the UK.

IamtheWalrus

kurtainsider wrote: »

Sonos restricts it.

Just checked and it's the Beeb that restricts it

kurtainsider

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Just checked and it's the Beeb that restricts it

The points have become mixed up. I was referring to Spotify and Sonos.

Nervous Wreck

Company sells product with certain usage restrictions that they advertise openly and honestly. What's the consumer issue here?