Spotify Podcasts can't be played on Sonos devices

[user-removed]

Plan

Premium

Country

Germany

Device

Samsung Galaxy A40

Operating System

Android 11, Windows 10

My Question or Issue

Hi there,

Since december my Sonos devices no longer recognize podcasts played from Spotify. When I'm connected to a sonos device via spotify connect and try to play a podcast from Spotify, the device icon is flashing but then nothing happens. When I try to select a device from my phone or desktop Spotify app while playing a podcast, nothing happens, almost like the app didn't even recognize the input.

• I have uninstalled and logged out of Spotify on all of my devices.
• I have unlinked and relinked the Spotify skill fromSonos
• I have removed and reset all of my Sonos devices.
• I have reset my network.
• I've toggled allowing only local devices.
• I've tried playing maybe 30 different podcasts in case my usual podcasts stopped being supported, but NONE of the podcasts would play.

[dparnell]

Thanks for the reply Joan.  So I will continue to not use Spotify for any podcasts until this is fixed.  Maybe the Spotify revenue team would like to weigh in on this?  

[globnomulous]

Pretty sure that if they're frank they'll tell you they've already run the
numbers and can say confidently that the problem is small enough that it
isn't worth the dev time it would cost to fix.

[qed007]

Hello

I have this same problem and have tried everything recommended here except for migrating to a new Spotify account. This is because I have a family premium account, and it is a major hassle to migrate everyone's preferences and histories to a new Spotify account.

System info follows, then description of the issue with photos.

Sonos OS  S1, version 11.7, build 571437030 (the latest as of 7 Mar 2023), on Android 13, OnePlus 9 Pro.

Windows 11 professional, latest version, latest Sonos controller there too (both Android and Windows work exactly the same).

Spotify the latest sofware on both Android and Windows (not that it really matters).

Sonos equipment Play1s and Play3s with Bridge, software version 11.7.1, same build as above.

Now the problem:

(1) selecting the Spotify service, I can see the MUSIC filter ONLY -- i.e., cannot search for podcasts (see top figure below)

(2) I can see Recently Played MUSIC playlists but NO podcasts

(3) however, one of those MUSIC playlists, the Daily Drive, contains also podcast material, e.g., the 'Morning briefing' (see middle figure below)

(4) but when I look at the content of the Daily Drive playlist, I can play only the MUSIC and no podcast material, which is shown as grey (see Figure 3).

So, any podcast material is systematically blocked, even in playlists that mix music and podcast content.

My Tesla is able to see and play podcast material, as is my computer. But not Sonos.

Can you please help me fix this? 

[BubbaDFatCat]

That is the worst thing I've ever heard. If the issue is that it's flagged as mixed media (despite being only audio) than fix it. I pay for this service, DO BETTER.

[guioconnor]

HI, I have just migrated back to spotify from Deezer and the main motivator was listening to podcasts on my Sonos. Music seems to work ok but with podcasts the following error flashes on the screen every time I try to play:

Unable to play [PODCAST], access denied

I have removed and re-added spotify to Sonos, I have tried logging in and out, and although I didn't reinstall the Sonos App, I have tried it from 3 different devices.

I thought for a moment it could be some latency since I literally just upgraded my account some 15 minutes ago, but then again, music seemed to work immediately.

Is there a solution to this problem that doesn't involve migrating accounts (which I'm not willing to try, this doesn't seem acceptable to me as a solution).

[phwadsworth]

I have the same thing.  There is no way to choose a spotify podcast via the Sonos App, it will filter music only.
When I try to use Spotify to play the podcast and choose my sonos system as the output it will not connect.  It will connect for music though.

[MS6603]

Had I known that I couldn’t play podcast on Spotify through my Sonos speaker, I absolutely would not have purchased. I’m switching to another vendor

[leewoolfall]

I have a iPhone 15 Pro with the latest Spotify and Sonos app. I have to start playing the podcast on Spotify then start up the Sonos app where it picks up the stream. This is the only way I can listen to Podcasts and use the sleep timer as they simply don’t appear in the Sonos app and the sleep timer doesn’t work on Spotify when listening through the Sonos speakers. This is poor with such seasoned technology!