A Spotify Sonos update rolls out later this month, letting Premium users with the multi-room audio set up stream any song they like from the Swedish start up’s huge online library. Has it been worth the wait, and does it justify the high price of a Sonos system now that Apple’s AirPlay promises to do much the same for much less, with many more devices? We got early access to the update and have been testing it out all week: find out what we made of it here in our Spotify Sonos update full preview.
If you’ve used Napster with Sonos before, you’ll know just how incredible it is to be able to stream whatever music you like to your hi-fi, rather than a tinny laptop, at the drop of a hat. And in many ways, the Spotify Sonos integration is much the same. So, incredible.
On the Sonos CR200 remote (We weren’t able to test the forthcoming iPhone and iPad app updates), it treats the music collection as though it were your own: it appears in your queue like normal, and the only difference is a small Spotify logo in the corner of the album cover art. All you have to do is enter your login details once, and it’ll appear as an option on the main menu screen, just like Napster.
You can search by artist, album, or track through the Spotify Sonos menu, which is a little bit restrictive (why no unified search?), and the autofill is a bit slow. But once you line up tracks in your queue, any gripes melt away. Even over our ropey broadband, it’s instant, and we had no problems playing three different albums in three different Sonos zones – multiroom Spotify from the same account has been all but impossible via any means until now (ever tried to log in on more than one computer?), but it’s wonderfully convenient.
Sure, Spotify Sonos tracks may not match your lossless FLAC library for high fidelity (Premium tracks stream at 256kbps), but they sound fantastic considering you’re essentially only renting them, and if you’ve only ever listened to Spotify on a laptop before, it’s almost reassuring to find that the bass is in fact there on everything you’ve been listening to.
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The desktop Sonos controller also now lets you search through Spotify’s catalogue: we can’t say it looks pretty, but it does it extremely quickly, more so than the actual Spotify client on the same PC. Unfortunately, neither the app or the dedicated remote appeared to offer the promised Spotify playlist support, but that should be coming.
If you’re a Sonos owner not currently paying the tenner a month for Spotify Premium, is it worth the extra cost compared to the £5 per month Napster charges for access to its own well stocked catalogue?
If you’ve got an iPhone, iPod touch, Android or supported Symbian phone, emphatically yes, since you’ll also get mobile listening chucked into the bargain. Spotify’s desktop client is also vastly preferable to Napster. To be able to play whatever you want on the go, and then whatever you like in various different rooms at the same time at home, without dedicating a whole hard drive and thousands of pounds to the goal, is a dream come true. We can honestly see ourselves never buying music again.
For Europeans at least (Spotify is still to launch in the US), the Spotify Sonos update is very nearly the ultimate in home audio convenience. It’s certainly a reason to at least still consider Sonos in light of cheaper multi-room systems and platforms such as Apple’s AirTunes (soon to become AirPlay). If you can live without owning CDs, you owe it to yourself to try it and see.
Out September | £varies | Sonos
