Apple Music to go live on Sonos connected speakers tomorrow

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited February 2016
After month of waiting, Apple Music subscribers who are also invested in the Sonos speaker ecosystem will finally get native access to Apple's streaming music service on Wednesday, a report said Tuesday.




Sonos confirmed tomorrow's Apple Music launch to Re/code, saying integration with its lineup of connected speakers is scheduled to go live at 9 a.m. Eastern. The announced the launch in a subsequent blog post. The development comes nearly two months after Sonos launched an Apple Music beta test program in mid-December.

"The feedback from Apple Music members on Sonos during the beta period has been great," said Eddy Cue, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue. "Sonos plus Apple Music provides an amazing listening experience at home - and we're excited to offer it to all Sonos customers starting tomorrow."

Using the Sonos Controller app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as Mac, PC and Android phones, Sonos owners will be able to stream Apple Music to multiple speakers within their home or office. Supported Apple Music features include For You, New, Radio and My Music, as well as streaming access to the entire Apple Music catalog.

Apple Music is the latest to join Sonos' list of streaming music partners. The company has long offered software support for industry heavyweights like Pandora and Spotify, while at the same time picking up smaller services like Tidal, Google Play, Deezer and many more. Apple Music integration, however, has been waiting in the wings for well over half a year.

Sonos first announced plans to build in support for Apple Music in November. At the time, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue touted Sonos hardware, saying time to integration was actually quite fast considering the two companies' high standards.

Along with broader hardware support for current Apple Music subscribers, the Sonos partnership could be a valuable driver of growth for Apple's fledgling streaming service.

"Well over 90 percent of the music people listen to on Sonos speakers is from streaming services," Sonos CEO John MacFarlane told BuzzFeed News in an interview last year. "We think Apple Music is going to be a catalyst that will raise that percentage even higher. What we've found is that as Sonos owners discover streaming services like Apple Music they use the local collections they have on their home computers and cell phones less and less."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    teejay2012teejay2012 Posts: 371member
    Apple Music is fine, but when is Sonos going to allow Airplay? Probably never, but many of us are still hoping.
    unbeliever2mike1bobroo
  • Reply 2 of 9
    matrix077matrix077 Posts: 868member
    Good news. Better news will be Phantom supports AirPlay natively through Dialog.
  • Reply 3 of 9
    felixerfelixer Posts: 34member
    Totally lame, closed ecosystem. Never should have taken this long in the first place.
    edited February 2016 unbeliever2
  • Reply 4 of 9
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Well, this is the catalyst I have been waiting for to try Apple Music, and just in time.  My favorite TuneIn station (Surf Roots Radio) is now ad-intensive and not worth listening to anymore at the office.  Fortunately though it is still reasonable at night. 
  • Reply 5 of 9
    aminorsixthaminorsixth Posts: 22member
    What if...they made Apple Music useable in the first place. I just had yet another conversation with a few friends the over the weekend about how they hated Apple Music and it messed up their playlists and so they went back to Spotify. I explained Apple was paying artists more and to give it another shot. They don't care. 1st impressions. No one cares if it works on Sonos.
    unbeliever2
  • Reply 6 of 9
    xbitxbit Posts: 390member
    I've been using the beta for a while without any issues. Sonos + Apple Music is a good match.
    booboo
  • Reply 7 of 9
    dachardachar Posts: 330member
    I have had a Sonos system for more than 6 years. For most of that time they appear to have the market for wireless music systems to themselves but this could change soon. I have noticed recently that a number of well known competitors are now introducing similar wireless systems. I have found the customer service from Sonos very good and the system works well. In many ways Sonos and Apple seem to have similar approaches to a closed eco system so this should be a good partnership. It will be interesting to see if Apple sticks with just Sonos or if they branch out to other similar systems from other manufacturers.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    booboobooboo Posts: 49member
    I signed up for Apple Music as soon as Sonos announced their beta and accepted me into the program. It's been working great---very happy with it. 

    The For You playlists have been really good. My wife can't believe she can play any song/album in iTunes: "What's the catch?" All-you-can-eat music, and we've been taking full advantage. (I signed us up for the family plan.)

    I'd read complaints about Apple Music and was wary of it. But I wanted to see how it works with Sonos and was willing to take a chance. Now I'm wondering what all the fuss was about. I haven't had any trouble with playlist glitches, music library problems, or usability. Maybe I missed all the drama from an early release? Or maybe I'm not trying to use it in ways that are problematic. I don't know. For us, it's been dead simple easy to use and just works.
    badmonk
  • Reply 9 of 9
    since84since84 Posts: 4member
    But there is one more thing!!! You can control Sonos with the Apple watch with IOS app ZonePlay. This is the crusting on the cake. Just install the iPhone app (the app is not from Sonos and I don't use it on the iPhone) and use it only on the watch. Works great and you can use independently the Sonos controller apps an all you devices. This is one of my favourite watch applications
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