When are Spotify stopping supporting Pioneer Receivers which support Spotify Connect?

[bradavon]

Hi,

I received an email yesterday to say Spotify are stopping support for my Pioneer Speaker soon.

- When is soon?

- Does stopping support mean Spotify just won't support it or it will stop working?
Stopping support means a company won't address issues but I believe Spotify are going to actually stop the feature from working.

- Why? There's no reason given why this is necessary.

The email rather bizzaely says:

"We want to make playing Spotify on your speaker and other devices better and easier"

How is stopping support better or easier? Why not just stop supporting it? So if it breaks too bad.

I only bought my receiver 2 years ago specifically as it supported Spotifty Connect. Spotify is in part more popular over rivals as Spotify works on so many devices, or did.

I guess like everyone else I'll need to buy a Chromecast Audio 😕

[moosi]

Received the same vague mail (using the Pioneer VSX 528). Today I contacted the support, I will let you know once I receive an update.

[slmoore]

The thing that I hope Spotify gets is that anyone using multiple sources, needs to switch those sources at one of two places - either the TV or a receiver. In either case, if the device doing the switching doesn't have Spotify Connect, then you get into issues of selecting the device in the Spotify app and it thinks it is playing, but no sound is coming out if you are on the wrong input. With Spotify Connect on the switching device, the receiver/TV can automatically override the existing input and play the music. That to me is the usability argument as to why it is a big deal to keep support on A/V receivers and not think that adding a Fire TV, Apple TV or Chromecast or whatever is a suitable alternative.

[bradavon]

How did you contact Spotify Support?

I can only find a Chat feature, not an ability to email or send a message.

[derekr2015]

I forwarded my email to a bunch of guessed emails. support@spotify.com works, though. They got back to me, but I'm just more confused now. 

First email:

Thanks for getting in touch. We understand that you wish to know more regarding the email you received.

As we look to improve the overall Spotify experience, we are removing the app from the Pioneer speaker. 

With new wireless streaming opportunities, it’s now easier to simply connect Spotify to your different devices rather than having an app for each. We believe this change will provide you with much smoother listening sessions.  
 
Don’t worry, there are still plenty of ways to stream Spotify on your speaker! Check out our guide, or head here.

We're always aiming to improve our features so we hope you’ll continue to use it and find it gets better in future.

Second email, after I said it wasn't helpful to say "you need to buy a new speaker because that other speaker that works just fine is no longer going to work because reasons":

We sent you the first email as a heads up that the Spotify support will soon be removed from your Pioneer speaker. We don't have a specific time yet on when it will be rolled out.

Since you're rocking a Premium subscription, please head here to see which Pioneer devices are compatible as a wireless music streamer.

If your speaker is listed there, it means you would still be able to listen to your awesome tunes using the Spotify Connect feature.

Hope this clears things out. Let us know if you have any other questions.

So there you have it? 

[moosi]

@derekr2015 For me it sounds like: They remove the possibility to use 3rd party apps to integrate the spotify service. I remember Denon had Spotify integrated into their AV Receiver App. So you could change inputs, control volume, play tracks over DNLA and also play music from Spotify, all within their own app. I hope that there is also an app for Pioneer out there and they stop to support of this feature. Because our receivers are streaming (Spotify Connect) compatible. 

[bradavon]

There is a Pioneer app to control the Receiver. I've no idea if it supports Spotify.

The troubled is we're speaking to 1st line support who won't be employed for their technical abilities.

We know more than they do.

p.s Did they actually use the "rocking" in a professional support email?

[bradavon]

There is a Pioneer app to control the Receiver. I've no idea if it supports Spotify.

The troubled is we're speaking to 1st line support who won't be employed for their technical abilities.

We know more than they do.

p.s Did they actually use the "rocking" in a professional support email?

[moosi]

I found the feature to control Spotify within the Pioneer App, but it looks like it is only controlling Spotify Connect.

[Matt7000]

Spotify.
This is a joke. You have pissed off genuine music fans here- the people who spend a decent amount of money on music and the entertainment systems. I suggest you reverse this decision or I, like many, will also cancel my subscription.

[bradavon]

After 15 minutes on chat this is what they came back with. A complete waste of time. He ignored where I said it's already supported and I've been using it for 2 years:

I appreciate your patience in waiting. Looking at our references, the only Pioneer devices we currently support are the following:

1. Pioneer AVH-4100NEX Media Receiver & Touchscreen
2. Pioneer VSX-44 Wireless Hifi receiver
3. Pioneer X-CM66D HiFi Micro-system

I'm afraid, we don't support the Pioneer amplifier as of yet. My sincerest apologies for the inconvenience.

[bradavon]

As we suspected this doesn't affect the Pioneer Receiver but a Pioneer App that connects to a Pioneer Speaker. I've no idea what that is but it's not us:

"Zarah M at 16:07, Jul 28:

The depreciation of the Spotify app will only affect Pioneer speakers, as per our updates. The Pioneer amplifier will not be affected.

I called it an amplifier as I didn't think they'd know what a Receiver is.

Zarah M at 16:07, Jul 28:
You may still continue to use the Spotify Connect on your device."

[PrivJok]

I reached out to the German Pioneer support and received the following one-liner as a response:

"Spotify was shut down, but not Spotify Connect that you are using"

(Das Spotify wurde abgestellt nicht das Spotify connect was sie nutzen)

I do use Pioneer's iControlAV5 app (mainly for controlling my SC-2023 and listening to internet radio) and it does have built-in Spotify. I do interpret Pioneer's response in a way that their app is affected, but that it is still possible to use Spotify Connect together with my receiver. IF that is the case I guess we're good. 

[bradavon]

Thanks PrivJok. I interpret it this way too.

In other words... Try harder next time Spotify to send a clear message to your customers!

And stop calling everyrthing a Speaker!

[ezzer]

I will be cancelling my subscription too, I'm furious

[meyster]

Eezer, why? By the looks of it, the support of the connect feature on the amplifiers will not be affected.

[moosi]

Today I received the response of the support request, Spotify Connect will not be affected:

[...] Da wir die Erfahrung mit Spotify insgesamt verbessern möchten, steht die Spotify App in Zukunft nicht mehr auf bestimmten Lautsprechern zur Verfügung [...] Keine Sorge, es gibt noch mehr als genug Möglichkeiten, Spotify auf deinen Lautsprecher zu streamen. Du kannst Spotify Connect weiterhin nutzen, um deine Musik auf deinem Lautsprecher abzuspielen [...]

[...] Because we want to improve the Spotify experience, the Spotify App will not be available anymore for certain speakers [...] No worries, there will be plenty possibilities to stream Spotify to your speakers. You can continue to use Spotify Connect, to play music on your speakers [...]

German and english link with further information:

https://support.spotify.com/de/listen_everywhere/on_speaker/why-cant-i-use-the-spotify-app-on-my-spe...

https://support.spotify.com/us/listen_everywhere/on_speaker/why-cant-i-use-the-spotify-app-on-my-spe...

[Monorail_Matt]

The email was terrible, basically telling your customers "too bad how sad we don't care about you any more" 

the whole reason I have Spotify over Apple Music was because of its integration with my receiver, it's where I do almost all my Spotify listening. 

If if it does indeed stop working on my reciever, There will be no benefit to Spotify over other choice and I will need to cancel my membership.  Very disappointing! 

[4Grumpy]

I have 4 Pioneer receivers, that will no longer play Spotify.
I canceled. Amazon unlimetit is cheaper and better.

[OleVanman]

I came here just now noticing the same cryptic email from Spotify.
I couldn't agree more Bradavon!

How hard would it have been for a proper support team actually knowing what the heck they were talking about, to avoid this mess? That is a very, VERY bad wording!

Instead they could have written something like this and we wouldn't have been in the dark:
"Your Pioneer-RECEIVER has a dedicated app on your Iphone/Android device giving you access to a range of functionality including Spotify. We are discontinuing support for that app, but don't worry, you will still be able to listen to music through spotify connect on your RECEIVER."

See - how difficult was that? When they keep referring to our receivers as speakers, it doesn't instill confidence that they know anything about what they are saying. Calling everything a speaker reeks of them using a template for all their "discontinued" messages. ..Probably to avoid having to translate a correct worded message to all the supported languages (mine was in danish). 

I'm also guessing that it's not affecting Spotify Connect, since a change in that API would probably create havoc on a lot more than just a few Pioneer receivers.

[Zombie123]

I have a Pioneer SC-1228. Spotify stopped working with Connect as of today.