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 😕

[TerryZ]

Just a heads up on your bit rate statement.  Spotify maxes out at 320 VBR, which is 320 kbps. WIFI B is 11 mbps and WIFI G is 56 mbps. WIFI N is 1300 mbps. You're in no better shape using LAN over WIFI. I had mine connected to LAN so I didn't need to buy the overpriced WIFI adapter from Pioneer.

[PeteWerner]

I tweeted at them about this issue, we'll see if I hear back. I have a Pioneer car deck that had Spotify Connect and was the main reason I purchased it last year. I loved that feature. I noticed it wasn't working right anymore a few days ago. Looked online and found this thread. I found that by uninstalling the most recent Spotify app update and reverting to an older build that it started working again. Disappointing that I will be stuck on an old build of the app to keep that working.

[Nicohack]

Can you give us the download link for the older version? Thank you.

[PeteWerner]

https://spotify.en.uptodown.com/android/old

I unistalled the most recent update and then installed the 8.4.37.587 build. Works just like it used to before the most recent update.

[tull12tu]

Got e-mail like everyone else like a year ago, however it has worked until now. 

I got Pioneer VSX-824 K (Europe). Shows up in devices, however, not able to connect. 

Where can we contact Spotify to get them awareness?

[buetzel]

@Spotifycares on twitter.

But it's useless. They are aware. This is a deliberate change of either Spotify or Pioneer or both.

[Nicohack]

Thank you but it doesn't work for me 😞

[5tratocaster]

I spoke to Pioneer this afternoon. They say it was a unilateral decision by Spotify to withdraw support for their products and have no idea why it has been done, but they don't seem inclined to challenge it because it doesn't affect their newer models. They seem to have no concept of supporting past customers.

[5tratocaster]

As this is a Spotify community, doesn't Spotify keep an eye on it and perhaps feel they owe us an explanation?

[danielsoar]

Im not holding my breath, just talking to my family and getting everyone setup on another platform, what a pita. I hate Spotify so much right now. All we have left is to vote with our wallets.

[Monorail_Matt]

This is ridiculous. I just tweeted them with #shameonyou

if enough noise is made, they'll listen  

[megadro]

Shame on you spotify. My vsx44 stopped too. Why would you make such mistake as apple comes up with their own speaker? Trying to convinve people move on to apple music by being available in less devices?

don’t bother telling me to use bluetooth. We all know it is not the same convenience and different then my receiver directly connecting to your servers even if I watch smt else in my phone...

[Danpp74]

Exactly the same issue with my Pioneer VSX-923. Was working fine on Monday, as of Wendesday: it shows the device in Spotify under "Devices Available", but when I click the device it briefly says "connecting" and then nothing happens, the music just jumps back to playing on my phone. I've tried this in the spotify app on multiple devices (Android phone and tablet, iPhone, laptop with Spotify app), but all have the same behavior. Looks like Spotify has changed the API/interface to the Pioneer receivers.

@Spotify: this really **bleep**. I pay for the premium subscription and I bought a $450+ Pioneer receiver purposely because it has Spotify Connect and this setup works so well. Please provide an answer and roll this change back.

[deechtewber]

Everyone, please take your complaints to official Spotify channels, like @spotifycares on Twitter, support e-mail or phone. This is a community forum. They do not read here and will not reply here. So venting your opinion here doesn't help. Complaining to them directly might.

[Merchant]

I have sent a tweet but no reply yet. Not really expecting one.

[deechtewber]

How long go did you send it? Maybe give it some time and then retry? I've got a couple of DM's of them. No solution yet though, still "investigating".

[danielsoar]

I got a full dialogue:

Check out @danielorchard’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/danielorchard/status/959324857371537408?s=09

They then asked me to rate the interaction with @spotifycares which was hard as i know they were polite and careful but in the end ive gotten zero real explaination as to why we were all shafted.  I suspecy they are implementing multi room audio or something and cutting hardware not compliant but thats not our fault they didnt roadmap the requirements to oems properly from the getgo, my suggested solution would be to let old hardware just not be selectable in multi room casts or something - no big deal right? Nah lets make the experience consistant and screw everyone who has invested previously.

Anyway, this was my private comment to @spotifycares describing why i gave them a zero rating:

"Because i have been a premium member who signed up every family friend and colleague for half a decade. And i now feel I have to leave because Spotify has chosen to leave my expensive investment into hardware that natively connects to spotify in the dust. My speakers sound awesome but are useless without your software and i still have had zero explaination offered as to why you cut support. You guys just suggest i switch to something else which is insulting at best but plain rude from where i am standing. I have an extremely expensive amp with cooked in support, a car with head unit suport and speakers i have been using around the house in many rooms, in the garage and at work for years. Thousands of dollars made irrelevant by a switch you flicked 48hrs ago. That has honestly left me feeling depressed and used. I hope your plan 'pays dividends' feel free to contact me if you backflip but for now ill be looking for life after spotify and a service that can live up to the good times we have shared. -Dan"

Hope they do backflip but as i said before not holding my breath and am now shopping for a service that will fill the gap. 

Peace out my ex-spotifiens hope you all find happiness somewhere else.

[Merchant]

Response

Hey there! We don't have any info on this at the moment. Don't worry, we'll make sure to let our devs know this is something you'd like to see. Just give us a shout if you have other questions /GK

[markpettyuk]

Poor form dropping support for the very expensive receiver I bought because it had Spotify connect.

I get Amazon Music with my prime membership, never used it, but I see little point in Spotify now.

I've unsubscribed.

I have paid for premium since the start. It's the digital service I've paid for the longest by a very long shot. I feel like it is a kick in the teeth by Spotify. If we all vote with our wallets, we can kick them back.

[5tratocaster]

This is the text of a 'conversation' I had yesterday with @SpotifyCares (joke!) on Twitter.

Me

I have a Pioneer SC-LX57 AV amplifier and until yesterday was enjoying high quality music using its resident Spotify Connect app controlled from both my Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) using Android 7 and my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 using Android 4.4.2. My Pioneer has the latest firmware updated just two weeks ago. Yesterday, neither my phone nor my tablet could connect to my amplifier, despite it still appearing as an available device. Searching on line, it appears that Spotify have withdrawn support for Spotify Connect on a wide range of some quite expensive items, not just speakers but also AV amplifiers, some costing over £2000. This will have adversely affected potentially tens of thousands of users who may, like myself, have chosen their expensive equipment precisely because it supported Spotify Connect and wanted to use the music streaming facility. Surely you cannot have intended to alienate so many of your subscribers without warning or reason. Alternative means of using Spotify Connect using Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV Stick or similar devices, gives inferior results, as does Bluetooth. Can you please confirm that this action was an error and will be corrected. No reason has been given for it.

Spotify

Hi there. As we look to improve the overall Spotify experience, the app's integration is changing on some speakers. For info on how to carry on listening, check out https://support.spotify.com/article/why-cant-i-use-the-spotify-app-on-my-speaker … /JM

Me

My device is not a speaker, it is a very expensive amplifier with high quality internet streaming capabilities. At least it was until you removed that feature from it. None of the solutions put forward by yourselves to carry on listening are as effective. You must surely know that Bluetooth is a far lower quality than direct streaming, as are inexpensive alternative devices like Chromecast and the Amazon FireTV stick.

I followed the link in your reply and it eventually leads to Spotify Gear, which lists my device as still supported, which it clearly isn't.

How has removing the feature from my amp improved the overall Spotify experience? The app's integration hasn't just changed, it's disappeared. And once again, it isn't a speaker, it's an amplifier. Please let me have a proper thought out response and not just a standard reply.

Spotify

Apologies for the confusion. Yes, we've recently removed the Spotify app integration on some speakers and sound systems. Unfortunately, Pioneer SC-LX57 is included on the list. Spotify Connect is an option to control your music, but only if the device is supported. We're afraid the only methods available are the ones you can see here: https://support.spotify.com/listen_everywhere/on_speaker/why-cant-i-use-the-spotify-app-on-my-speake....

As per any other details, we're afraid we don't have any specific info to share, but we'll make sure to pass your comments on to the team /JM

I haven't taken it any further yet, but it doesn't look like they're thinking of changing their minds about it. And they've still not given any explanation as to why it was necessary.