Apple Music & Sonos: 8 Common Questions (Answered)

How we listen to our favorite songs is an important factor for any music lover and when it comes to speakers, Sonos, and its range of products, offers more than just great sound quality.

If you’re an Apple Music subscriber and you own a Sonos, or are thinking about buying one, you’ll want to know how and they work together.

In this article, we take a look at some of the most common questions surrounding Apple Music and Sonos so that you can ensure that you have all the answers you need to get back to playing the music you enjoy.

Is Sonos Compatible with Apple Music?

Compatibility is paramount when it comes to music streaming services and your preferred device that you wish to listen to your favorite tracks.

Thankfully, when it comes to Sonos and Apple Music, compatibility is not a problem, and Sonos explains that:

“You can enjoy all of Apple Music’s main features on Sonos, with access to the entire Apple Music catalog and your library”

[Source:Support.sonos.com]

This means that, as a Sonos owner and Apple Music subscriber, you can listen away to over 100 million songs, all ad-free. Moreover, you’ll have access to Apple Music’s curated playlists, live radio stations such as the renowned Apple Music 1, and your personal library of music you love.

However, music videos, smart playlists, and posts by artists are not supported on your Sonos device.

If you want to start enjoying the Apple Music experience on your Sonos speaker you’ll need to link the two together.

Once that process is complete, you’re free to play Apple Music on your Sonos device.

Here’s How to Play Apple Music on your Sonos:

1. Open the Sonos Controller app and select ‘Browse’
2. Choose ‘Apple Music’ and then find the content you wish to play.
3. You can now choose either ‘Play’ or ‘Play All’
4. Select the mini-player banner by tapping it.
   • This can be found at the bottom of your screen.
5. Ensure that your Sonos speaker is selected from the list of devices.

Do People Generally have Trouble using Sonos with Apple Music?

Unfortunately, some users who own a Sonos device have found that they run into issues when trying to use Apple Music on their Sonos speaker.

Occasionally bugs and glitches can prevent playback or connectivity and, therefore, make using Sonos with Apple Music more difficult than it should be.

Nevertheless, these problems are not necessarily common and can usually be resolved quickly after a quick browse through the Sonos Community forums.

Issues such as limited functionality, the inability to connect, or playback errors can usually be resolved by taking some or all of the following advice:

• Deleting and re-adding the Apple Music Service from the Sonos App.
• Resetting the Sonos App – this can be done from the ‘Settings/App Preferences’ menu.
• Resetting your Sonos speakers.
• Re-connecting the Sonos App to your Sonos device.

If you’re also a Spotify user, please also check out our article with solutions for common issues with Spotify and Sonos speakers.

Does Apple Music Work with Older Sonos Equipment?

Sonos equipment is built to last, and the company has taken pride in its ability to continue to offer support for its products despite the fast and changing pace of music technology.

However, as the folks at Wired.me point out:

“Four of Sonos’ products are losing software support starting this May. These are some of the company’s most aged speakers and accessories—products that were launched between 2006 and 2007.” 

These products, referred now to as ‘legacy’ Sonos tech, can and will still work; however, they will no longer receive software updates.

This may not sound like a huge problem, but it’s important to understand that third-party services that connect with Sonos, such as Apple Music, require Sonos to update their devices in order to support them.

Devices such as the CR200 and Bridge are reportedly already experiencing crashes and reduced functionality due to the fact that they have been pushed to their maximum technical capabilities.

If you have a ‘legacy’ Sonos device, then the chances are that it may not work with Apple Music or you will begin to experience problems as the Apple Music Service changes and updates over time.

If you’ve found yourself in that position, it’s worth noting that Sonos has announced that they’ll provide a 30% discount on new speakers that are bought to replace ‘legacy’ devices.

Moreover, you can also recycle the ‘legacy’ products via Sonos or your nearest e-cycling center.

How Hard is it to Link Sonos to Apple Music?

If you’ve never connected a Sonos to your Apple Music account, then you may be a little apprehensive about how to proceed. However, linking your Sonos device to Apple Music is not difficult.

In fact, all you need to do is follow the steps listed below.

Here’s How to Link your Sonos to Apple Music:

1. First, you need to download the Sonos Controller app onto your device.
   • For iOS, head over to the App Store. For Android, use the Google Play Store.
2. Once the app is installed, launch the app on your device.
3. Now select the ‘More’ tab followed by ‘Add Music Services’
4. Select ‘Apple Music’ and tap ‘Add to Sonos’
5. Now you’ll need to enter your Apple ID and associated password in order to log in to your Apple Music account.
6. Finally, select ‘Open’ followed by ‘Continue’, and the process will be complete.

If you want to know how to play songs on Apple Music on your Sonos device, refer to our step-by-step guide found earlier in this article.

Does Sonos have an App for Apple Music?

There is no Apple Music app per se for your Sonos.

Instead, you use the Sonos app to first link your Apple Music account, and then access Apple Music content via the Apple Music service.

In other words, the Sonos app allows users to use the features found in the Apple Music app, such as listening to the entire Apple Music library, listening to Apple Music radio stations, and accessing personal and curated playlists.

Can Apple Music be Down on Sonos Equipment?

A full shutdown of the Apple Music service is rare, but not impossible. Apple Music does, however, have outages in functionality from time to time, and this can lead to Apple Music being ‘down’ temporarily on Sonos devices.

You can use sites such as isdown.app to check to see if Apple Music is down on Sonos.

At the time of writing, the last issue occurred 238 days ago, with the most recent issue only lasting less than a minute and the longest issue lasting a total of 12 days. However, these issues may not have completely rendered Apple Music down on all Sonos devices.

Moreover, if you believe Apple Music is down on your Sonos device, you should verify that online.

If there are reports that Apple Music is experiencing issues on Sonos devices, you can be assured that Apple and Sonos will want to resolve the problem as quickly as they can.

Does Sonos Play Apple Music Lossless?

Sonos devices will play Apple Music songs using the AAC codec, which is Apple Music’s standard streaming quality. Apple Music’s standard quality is, however, nothing to be sniffed at and provides listeners with a great listening experience.

Nevertheless, Apple Music’s ALAC format, which provides lossless sound quality similar to CDs and above is not available for Sonos devices.

Although Sonos users cannot listen to Apple Music in lossless formats, the same cannot be said for subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited.

Sonos does support Hi-Res audio quality for Amazon Music Unlimited, proving that Sonos devices have the capability to provide lossless playback.

Apple Music subscribers will have to wait until Sonos supports Apple Music’s lossless audio formats or, as some users have suggested in Apple’s support forums, when Apple Music can provide the rights to Sonos to use them.

Until then, there is a way that some users can experience Apple Music lossless playback whilst using their Sonos speaker, as TheGadgetBuyer.com explains:

“Sonos users who subscribe to Apple TV have found a workaround for listening to Apple’s lossless audio by streaming directly through Apple TV.” 

However, if you don’t have Apple TV, then you’ll be restricted to using the Sonos app to play Apple Music and, therefore, restricted to playback in standard quality.

Does Sonos One Work with Apple Music?

Apple Music has great compatibility with Sonos devices, and the Sonos One is unsurprisingly no exception.

The Sonos One can connect to multiple music streaming services, including Spotify, Tidal and of course, Apple Music.

If you’re interested in owning a Sonos product, then the Sonos One is a great option and one in which you can be safe in the knowledge that you can take your Apple Music listening experience onto your new Sonos device.

If you’re a Google Home user, check out our easy answer guide to Apple Music and Google Home.

Sources

Apple Music on Sonos 

How to Listen to Apple Music on Sonos Speakers

Sonos will soon end software support for its older speakers

Can Apple Music Play Lossless Via The Sonos S2?