Spotify Connect no longer working with Sonos

[2mbz]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device, OS

Reproducible on: Google Pixel 4 w/ Android 11, Windows 10 desktop, new 2019 Macbook Pro with macOS 10.15. All same behavior

My Question or Issue

As of a couple days ago I can no longer connect to my Sonos devices via Spotify Connect from within the Spotify app across all 3 devices that I've tried. However, I'm still able to browse Spotify, play songs, etc. from within the Sonos app with no problem.

It seems specifically broken when trying to use Spotify Connect from a Spotify app to Sonos. It hangs on "Connecting" forever. Has there been some regression?

Thank you!

[ed8888]

Hey Alex, 

Thanks for the input. I will try this as well. I've lost the ability to use Spotify Connect again as of this morning, both of my iPhone 8 and MackBook. This is seriously bumming me out!

Ellen

[ed8888]

Hey @Alex, 

I just made a free account with my work email, and signed out on all devices, signed in on my iPhone and desktop app using the test account, and Spotify Connect now shows my Sonos speaker on both devices...

I signed out of test and signed back into my premium account and I've lost Spotify Connect again, both on my iPhone and MacBook. 

What should I try next?

Ellen

[Strumpelina]

Exactly the same is happening with me. New account shows speakers

[Mihail]

Hey @ed8888 and @Strumpelina,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

We would recommend to use the new accounts for a couple of more days just to make sure that your able to connect to your speakers without restrictions.

If no errors come up, we can assume that the root cause of the problem lies with the old accounts. Not to worry, you can use the steps here to transfer your music collection over to the new one, so nothing gets lost 🙂 

Hope this helps. Keep us posted how you get on. 

[ed8888]

Hey Mihail, 

I read over the transfer account steps quickly - does this process only apply to playlists? All the podcasts I follow or songs I've 'liked', will this all be lost?

I've been using this Spotify account for close to 7 years. It would be a unfortunate to lose that info. 

Are you able to diagnose what the issue with my current account might be?

Ellen

[Mihail]

Hey @ed8888,

Thanks for getting back to us.

You can copy your Liked Songs to a new playlist and then share it with your new account using the steps above. You can add them also to your new Liked Songs if you chose to do so. You would however need to follow your podcasts again from your new account. We understand how this may cause some inconvenience. 

Alternatively since you mention that the issue comes up intermittently, you can also wait a couple of days and see if the situation with your old account changes. Some users in the thread reported that this got resolve in their case after waiting a while. It's also worthwhile disabling any cache clearing or battery optimization services you might have running on your devices for Spotify.

Hope you find this useful. Let us know how you get on.

[ed8888]

Thanks Mihail. I will wait a few days. 

The other thing I wanted to clarify is that Spotify Connect is only available to Premium subscribers, correct? 

So the free account I created as a test will not be able to use Spotify Connect. I don't want to be double charged. Is there a way to test this without entering payment information? 

I don't have access to another premium users account. Most of my friends use free accounts, and my close family don't use Spotify. 

Thanks, 

Ellen

[CarlosE]

Hey @ed8888,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

Don't worry, Spotify Connect is available for both free and Premium users, so you should be able to test it with the free account without trouble.

Keep us posted on how it goes. We'll be on the lookout.

[ed8888]

Thanks everyone, 

I allow Spotify to background app refresh when on Wi-Fi - should I change this? Any other caches I should clear on my iPhone? I've done a clean re-install, and cleared my Safari cache ( I don't think that matters...)

I've lost Spotify Connect on the free account as well. The greyed out text is back on my iPhone, and my desktop app says "unavailable to control" for both Sonos and my iPhone. 

I just now signed out of the free account, back into my premium account, and Spotify Connect as returned - toggling between the accounts somehow seems to 'refresh' the connect feature for an amount of time, but then I lose it. 

I'll continue to monitor both accounts throughout the week. 

Thanks for everyone's input

Ellen

[ed8888]

Ahhh. I've lost Spotify Connect on my premium account again, both iphone and desktop.

Ellen

[CarlosE]

Hi again @ed8888,

Thanks for bearing with us.

You mentioned that you have another WiFi network available - could you try using that one to see if the issue persists? This would help us narrow down the possible cause of the issue.

Also, could you try using the web player and let us know if you can use Connect from there?

Regarding the setting you mentioned, it shouldn't have an impact on this, but you could try disabling it to see if by any chance it makes a difference. Since you already performed a clean reinstall of the app, all Spotify's cache should've been removed and it shouldn't have a negative effect on the app's performance.

Keep us in the loop.

[ed8888]

Hey everyone,

I was able to get onto the speaker at my gym (not a Sonos, different Wifi), and had Spotify Connect for most of yesterday and this morning (on my premium account, not the free account). I lost Spotify Connect on my phone about 10 minutes ago (I checked at 7am EST and it was fine). I cannot connect on the desktop app either. 

On the web player, Sonos looks available on Spotify Connect (not greyed out), however when I try to select Sonos, it simply doesn't play, and instead plays through the web player. 

I will say in my frustration yesterday, I clean re-installed Spotify again, after rebooting my router and Sonos, so that seemed to give me access up until something happened this morning. 

There doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason here...

Ellen

[Mihail]

Hey @ed8888,

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

That the issue appears and disappears with both accounts indicates that this is a device problem. You have no trouble using Connect with other devices except Sonos, correct? You can for example control the desktop app with the iPhone, right? This points to the root cause of the problem lying with the speaker itself. Could you try factory resetting it and giving it another go?

Keep us posted how things work out.

[Joeymendoza]

My problems is similar. I cannot stream from Spotify from to my Sonos speakers. While it's streaming and it shows the music playing it won't play any sound. The only way it works is via Airplay which is okay but I prefer the Sonos connect feature. 

Running on iOS with most recent updates as of today. I have tried deleting cache and from Sonos and my Spotify session even re-installing my apps. For whatever reason, the Spotify connect works and plays fine on the Sonos Move.

I have 6 additional speakers in my home that won't work when using Spotify connect.

[CarlosE]

Hey there @Joeymendoza,

Thanks for posting on this thread.

Could you let us know if this also happens when trying to use Connect from another device that isn't your phone? Is there any difference when using the web player?

We'd also like to know if you already tried unlinking your accounts, restarting your speakers, phone and router, and linking them back.

Keep us in the loop.

[Strumpelina]

Hi there,

I really don’t understand why this is an issue on one account, but isn’t on a new account. If I transfer all my data to a new account, will I still have the same people following my playlist etc.?

im a little bummed out about all this, this morning my old account, after starting up the app on my phone, showed my speakers in white and seemed to be able to play through Sonos, i got all excited and selected the option. it then was like it was thinking .....’nope’ and changed to ‘can’t play this right now’  It to me  feels like it’s a setting in my Spotify account creating this issue. 

[Jeremy]

Hey there @Strumpelina,

Thank you for your reply in this thread.

We understand, but this seems to be an account related issue which is the reason it works with your new account.

You can follow the steps here under Followers to be able to transfer your followers.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Take care!

[ed8888]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been waiting a few days to ensure Spotify Connect was consistent, but after my last post the problem seems to have gone away.

I didn’t have to factory reset the Sonos, but will keep that in my back pocket if the issue arises again.

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone’s attention and input to my questions and concerns.

Cheers

Ellen

[Bumpyfunk]

3 days ago, Spotify stopped playing on my Sonos set up. I can search just fine via the Spotify section, but when I press play on any of the Spotify songs, I get the ‘lost connection to Spotify’ message. All other services work just fine. 
I have tried everything suggested on this and other forums. I’m getting very frustrated because I am in isolation and Spotify is normally my core service. The same thing is happening over two separate devices/accounts.

I have tried:

restarting router

uninstalling all apps/reinstalling

changed mobile data settings as suggested

turned all devices and speakers off and on.

made sure both devices have latest iOS. (iPhones)

I have:

Play:1 (2 years old)

ONE (12 months old)

Beam (6 months old)

it shouldn’t be this difficult to listen to music on a speaker.

Spotify works fine in isolation, and I can Airplay it to the speakers fine, so there is obviously a clash with the Sonos app. This is a bit clunky though, and I very much want the Sonos app to work (it serves as a central interface for multiple services and ordinarily works seamlessly). Currently looking at other services to replace Spotify with. 

I have seen MANY other people talking about the same problem on other forums over the past few days.

Is Spotify aware of this issue?

[Eni]

Hi @Bumpyfunk, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this. 

We suggest checking if the firmware of your Sonos devices is up to date. 

If so and you're still experiencing this issue, you can add your vote and subscribe to this Ongoing issue. Make sure to provide us with the info we're asking for in the Status update in the comments. 

If you need help with anything else, just let us know.