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 😕

[buetzel]

I have a Pioneer SC-1223. Spotify still working with Connect as of a minute ago. 
Just went checking.

[newaxeman]

it has stopped working on my Pioneer VSX70 AVR, whic is only 3 years old with lots of remaining life. i had to purchase a usb-inerted adapter to make it work from the beginning so I will be out both a receiver and the "upgrade" cost as well. very disappointed. have begun to investigate the new Pandoro Premium to decide if switch is in best interest.

[deechtewber]

Pioneer vsx529 here, less than 2 yrs old. My av receiver isn't listed anymore in the Android Spotify app. Can anyone confirm that Spotify connect is still working or not anymore?

[Edit] never mind. My receiver's Wi-Fi was faulty.

Nevertheless, has anyone official confirmation that Spotify connect on our Pioneer receivers will keep working? I still have warranty on mine, so I could still take it to Pioneer.

[Merchant]

Ok, the Spotify Connect app on my phone or desktop is no longer recognising my LX57 as of today. Not happy is an understatement after switching from Pandora because they pulled support.

What is the solution? Is there a streaming adaptor available somewhere i can connect to the LX57 and stream from my phone or computer?

[meyster]

The new connect feature seems to be a little bit problematic recognizing supporting devices. I use a LX57 and at least it was working until yesterday. Need to check later. I need to plug power cable sometimes to restart the receiver and get Spotify support. This is new for some weeks. Have also issues connecting Spotify to my Echo Dot for some weeks now.
It looks they have changed something not for good.
If it really stops support, the Amazon fire TV stick could be the easiest solution.

[meyster]

Update: Just checked. Still works on LX57 here. What I need to do is to go to Media (net) input setting. After that the receiver still appears in the connect menu and works fine.

[Merchant]

Excellent. I'll have a look when I get home.

Did you need to change anything in the settings or purely just open it up
so it resets?

[meyster]

I have not changed anything in Spotify. What you can do is to play around the setting "only show local devices" in spotify. But all I did was to restart the receiver by plugging the power cable and then go the "net" input setting. After that, the receiver showed up again in connect menu and plays music. Also, sometimes and need to skip to the next track. It is a little bit strange but at least it works.

Btw. Apple users can alternatively use AirPlay. 

[Merchant]

I did the same and it's now back up and running.

Happy days

Cheers.

[jppearce]

My Pioneer XW-SMA1 stopped working with Spotify Connect today.  It's there in the Devices menu, but if you try to connect to it, it says "Spotify not active on this device" and won't connect.

[Nicohack]

My XW-SMA3 Pioneer receiver today stopped working with Spotify Connect. It appears in the list but when I click on its name, it does nothing.

I'm very, very angry. I think I will cancel my Premium subscription.

People, can you tell us if your devices stopped working too?

Thank you!

[Merchant]

Mine also. Not connecting. Showing in the device list but when i select it, nothing. 

[5tratocaster]

Same here on my Pioneer SC-LX57. Was working fine yesterday. What is going on and why?

[TerryZ]

My VSX 70 just stopped working  yesterday.

Edit: Glad I spent hours troubleshooting it... At least I can connect to my Amazon Fire TV. It didn't really work that great to begin  with. Having to reset my receiver so often because it was hung up on something. I'm going to miss this feature though.

[TerryZ]

It specifically states that Spotify Connecticut will no longer support receiver models.  Mine is on the list.

[danielsoar]

I didnt even get the email.

I was troubleshooting why I could see it but not 'cast' to my Pioneer XW-SMA4 and just found the list: I stopped your hardware working because I can

And sure enough its there, I think we deserve an answer.  Its not a technical limitation, was it too expensive to support our devices even though we pay you monthly for the privelage? 

We need to take this to social media and get everyone effected onboard.  Logitech did the same thing with their remote hubs recently and backflipped after the bad PR.

Honestly I can understand no more updates, but unless something changed on the backend that you can no longer support then you really are just disrespecting paying customers by trashing the usefulness of expensive hardware. 

If I have to put a chromecast audio in the back of it to get it working again I will be taking my subscription to google play music / youtube red as its better **bleep** for money anyway.

[5tratocaster]

1. It says 'We're removing the built-in Spotify app from some speakers and devices' and it lists my receiver amongst them. But further down the page it says I can use Spotify Connect instead, and my receiver is on the list of supported devices, but it still doesn't work . 
2. My Pioneer SC-LX57 is less than 4 years old and cost in excess of £1500. I'm not planning on reolacing it for another few years yet. It isn't a speaker, which Spotify keep referring to it as. It is a Home Cinema Amplifier with built-in network streaming capabilities.
3. Spotify haven't offered any reason for this move. It's not as if we've been getting the service for nothing. It only works if you're a member of Spotify Premium or Family (as I am ) and we're paying Spotify handsomely for a service which they've now unilaterally withdrawn.
4. I agree we need to kick up a stink about this and get them to change their minds. It's not enough to just threaten to leave; they won't  be bothered if a few of us do that. They need to be publicly discredited for disrespecting  their customers this way without giving good reason.

[Merchant]

What are the alternatives?

[meyster]

Also stopped working here on LX-57. It is a pity.

Apple users can switch to AirPlay on most Pioneer devices, Anroid TV users can stream and remote control through television (Google Cast or Spotify Connect). Google Chromecast for around 40 EUR/USD should also do the work, but I have not tested it. 

Anyway. Very annoying as this was of the most used features and now another device is required incl. input selection every time.

Regards

[Nicohack]

In the meantime I'm using airparrot to stream audio from PC via AirPlay. But there's no solution for Android yet. Moreover I can't keep listening to music without an active streaming device (i.e. pc). I sent an email to the technical support but no answer yet. What a shame.