Spotify & Sonos: 8 Common Questions (Answered)

Understanding how music streaming platforms and smart speakers work together is an important consideration for anybody who loves to listen to music at home.

Many potential and existing customers of both Spotify and Sonos have some common questions surrounding compatibility and capabilities when using the two together.

In this article, we’ve brought all the information that you need to know about Spotify and Sonos by answering the burning questions.

1. Is Sonos Compatible with Spotify?

When it comes to connecting our music streaming platforms with our prized speakers, compatibility is key.

Spotify prides itself on ensuring that its users can listen to the music they love on whatever speaker system they have in use – and Sonos speakers are no exception.

Sonos states that:

“Spotify and Sonos will allow access to all of your existing Spotify playlists and their entire catalogue in every corner of your home.”

[Source: Support.sonos.com]

Spotify and Sonos are, in fact, a perfect pairing. With Spotify’s enormous library of both music and podcasts, combined with the quality of sound from a Sonos speaker, connecting the two together makes a lot of sense.

This is perhaps the reason why Spotify and Sonos have also ensured that even Spotify users on a free account can listen on Sonos devices.

However, this was not always the case and this change in support will delight customers who are not yet ready to make the jump to a Premium Spotify subscription.

Remember, although Spotify Free is compatible with your Sonos device, you will be limited to only 6 skips per hour.

2. Do People Generally have Trouble using Sonos with Spotify?

Linking up your Spotify account and your Sonos speaker is usually a straightforward and problem-free process; however, sometimes users do still find themselves having issues.

Luckily, these problems can be easily resolved – it’s just a case of understanding the root cause.

Here are some of the potential issues that can cause you to have trouble using your Sonos with Spotify:

• You do not have a reliable connection to the internet.
• You need to update your device’s DNS server.
• You need to perform a reboot for your router.
• Your Sonos device requires you to remove and re-add Spotify as a service.
• You need to ensure that Spotify has ‘permission’ to use your Sonos.

For a more in-depth look at this question, head over to our article with solutions to common issues with Spotify and Sonos.

3. Does Spotify Work with Older Sonos Equipment?

Currently, all Sonos equipment should work with Spotify. However, that may begin to change as software support is coming to an end for older Sonos devices.

The devices that are having support phased out are as follows:

• Sonos Connect
• Play 5
• CR200
• Sonos Bridge

All of these products have had support for over 10 years, which aligns with Sonos’ promise to build products that last the test of time. However, Sonos has had to admit that these old products can no longer keep up with the evolution of technology, particularly of their partner’s services.

Spotify is one of those services that Sonos supports and, as Spotify evolves and updates, so too will the hardware that supports it.

Sonos has explained that the products mentioned:

“(…) have been stretched to their “technical limits” and that “over time, access to services and overall functionality will be disrupted”

[Source:Wired.me]

Once support is no longer provided to these Sonos devices they will be unable to be updated and, therefore, they may become incompatible with services such as Spotify.

4. How Hard is it to Link Sonos to Spotify?

Linking up your Spotify account to your Sonos speaker shouldn’t be too difficult if you know how. Take a read of our instructions below to complete the process with ease:

1. Launch your Sonos app on your mobile device.
2. Select ‘Settings’ (the gear icon).
3. Now choose ‘Services’ and scroll through the list until you reach the bottom.
4. Here you can tap ‘Add a Service’
5. Using the pop-up, search the list of services for ‘Spotify’
6. Tap ‘Spotify’ followed by ‘Add to Sonos’
7. Log in to your Spotify account and confirm authorization on your Sonos account.
8. You will now find Spotify on your services list.

5. Does Sonos have an App for Spotify?

As you may have noticed when reading the guide to setting up Spotify on your Sonos, the music streaming platform is a ‘Service’ that can be acquired on the Sonos app.

Your Sonos device is managed and can be controlled via the Sonos app, as are the services that you have added to the app. Additionally, you can also control Sonos speakers, and its services, with personal assistants, such as Alexa.

Spotify can be controlled by the Sonos app, as once linked, it appears as one of the available services.

If you want to use the Spotify app instead, then you can.

Once your Sonos and Spotify are linked, you can use the mobile app on your phone to control Spotify on your Sonos.

Additionally, you can also give voice commands to Alexa and Spotify can be controlled on your Sonos in this way too.

6. Can Spotify be Down on Sonos Equipment?

If you’re having problems with playback or a complete lack of connectivity between your Spotify and Sonos device, then there is a potential that Spotify could be down on Sonos.

There’s very little that can be done if this is the case, but you can be assured that the developers will be alerted and will be doing their best to resolve any technical issues that users may be facing.

If you want to check if Spotify is down on Sonos, then just head to ‘status.sonos.com’. Here you will find a complete list of all services that are compatible with Sonos and their current status.

7. Does Sonos Play Spotify Lossless?

Sonos devices do have the ability to play music in lossless quality, supporting formats such as FLAC, ALAC, and even AIFF and WAV files that are uncompressed.

DigitalTrends.com points out that:

“Sonos can handle lossless music files up to 24-bit/48 kHz, which is better than CD quality, and generally considered hi-res audio. To get this level of quality, your system will need to be running on the S2 version of the Sonos app and your music source will need to support it too.”

[Source:Digitaltrends.com]

Despite your Sonos having some powerful capabilities to play lossless formats, finding a music streaming platform that allows Sonos to play at this high quality is another matter entirely.

For now, Sonos can support a level of lossless quality with music streaming platforms such as Amazon Music, but when it comes to Spotify, you won’t have any luck.

This is because Spotify does not currently offer any lossless quality settings for any of its content.

There was an announcement that Spotify HiFi, a new tier for Spotify users, would be released with the ability to play lossless formats; however, at the time of writing, there is still no sign that Spotify is launching a high-fidelity range of content.

For now, Spotify and Sonos users will have to wait a little longer until they can play lossless music via Spotify with their speakers.

The great news is that Apple Music offers lossless audio and it’s compatible with Sonos.

8. Does Sonos One Work with Spotify?

The Sonos One is an incredibly smart speaker that has in-built personal assistance in the way of both Alexa and Google Assistant.

Crucially, it also boasts fantastic sound quality and that’s where compatibility between music streaming platforms becomes so important.

Thankfully, the Sonos One supports a range of apps, including Apple Music, Tidal, Audible, Pandora, and Spotify.

The Sonos One will work with either Spotify Free or Premium plans. Simply use the Sonos app and search for the Spotify content you wish to listen to.

Sources

Spotify on Sonos

Sonos speakers, app, and everything you need to know about wireless music

Why Won’t Spotify Connect to Sonos? Fix Guide

Sonos will soon end software support for its older speakers