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Sonos Spotify Not Working (Won’t Connect/Play/Show Up)

Sonos produces some pretty sweet speakers that can pump out your favorite tunes on Spotify. However, sometimes Spotify will seem to cut in and out or freeze and stop playing your Spotify playlists or radio stations altogether. These performance issues can be a real nuisance if you’re trying to groove to your music while getting stuff done or hosting a party.

Connectivity issues are likely the reasons why your Sonos’ connection with Spotify is not working. The speakers might lose their Bluetooth connection with the device running the Sonos app; Sonos can’t connect with Spotify. Also, there could be an issue with your home network.

Sonos Speaker

Before you call customer support to vent your frustration or lose your guests’ attention, you can do a few things to try to get your music playing again. The following steps will solve most possible issues that might prevent Sonos from working with Spotify.

Sonos Not Connecting to Spotify

Playing Spotify songs

Sometimes a router will have difficulty processing data packets, especially if data traffic through your router is heavy or some data packets become corrupted while in transit to your device. Heavy router traffic or a bad connection can slow things down enough that your music cuts in and out even though the router is trying its best.

Below are a few suggestions for tackling the issues:

Reboot Your Router

Rebooting your router should be the first thing you try if Sonos has trouble playing a continuous stream of music or connecting to Spotify.

With many wireless routers, rebooting only requires hitting the reset button. This button is usually on the back of the router where the Internet and power supply wires for the router are plugged in. In some cases, you may have to unplug it and let it sit for a minute before you plug it back in.

Resetting your router may also work if the wireless router has made an error in assigning IP addresses to devices connected to it. If that doesn’t work, the router’s manual should include instructions on how to get into the DHCP tables on your router.

By making tweaks, you’re ensuring that two devices aren’t trying to use the same IP address and confuse the router when it comes to which device to send data packets. Your Internet service provider may also be able to walk you through resetting the IP address on your device.

Check What’s Blocking Your Sonos Device’s Signals

Something may be blocking the signal used by Sonos devices. WiFi runs on radio signals, which comes with the risk of interference from a nearby radio-emitting device that runs on frequencies close to the ones on which WiFi operates.

The Federal Communications Commission is mandated to govern the frequencies at which radio stations and television channels can operate so that they don’t interfere with one another.

When IT professionals set up a new network, they must be constantly aware of environmental “noise” and structural components that can interfere with WiFi signals. WiFi networks typically have 3 channels labeled 1, 6, and 11 that run on different frequencies.

If Sonos is running on the same channel as your WiFi router, that means the radio frequencies are too close, causing them to interfere with one another. In that case, Sonos recommends changing the channel of either your WiFi router or the Sonos system.

You may have also noticed that Sonos only drops out when the microwave oven is in use, for instance. LCDs, computer monitors, baby monitors, and security camera systems can also block radio signals. So, it may help to move the speakers away from any other devices that might cause radio or electronic interference.

Sonos Keeps Skipping Songs Spotify

Playing Spotify songs in phone

Having your Spotify songs skipping randomly can be a bewildering experience. The most common explanation for this phenomenon is wireless interference. This means that there’s multiple devices conflicting on your WiFi network.

To fix this issue you can either modify your WiFi network so that the conflicting devices operate on different wireless channels. You can also physically separate the devices so that they are placed further apart from each other.

Other solutions you can try include checking the stability of your internet speed and connection, as well as restarting your router.

Sonos Keeps Dropping Spotify

Playing Spotify songs in phone

When Spotify keeps dropping on your Sonos device the first thing you should do is check your internet connection. A poor and unstable internet connection, perhaps due to a storm or a service provider’s maintenance and outage, is usually the reason.

Wireless interference is another common cause for Spotify dropping on a Sonos system. As mentioned before, changing your router’s wireless channels for conflicting devices can improve the situation.

One last resort you can try is to go into your router and set a static IP address for your Sonos device. This can help provide some connection stability.

Sonos Not Showing Up

Sonos speaker

If Sonos isn’t showing up in the Spotify app, Sonos customer service personnel have suggested trying the tips from the previous section. If those steps don’t work, the following tips might help:

  • Disconnect and reconnect the Sonos speakers in your device’s WiFi settings. The Spotify app may simply have trouble recognizing that the speakers are connected, and doing this will reset the connection in a way that may make it possible for the app to recognize them.
  • Make sure the Control Sonos from Spotify setting is enabled. It’s possible to accidentally disable it while making tweaks to Sonos’ or Spotify’s settings in other areas.
  • Try logging into the device with a different account (assuming, of course, that you have more than one account on your device). If possible, check your account’s settings and ensure that the mobile apps have all the necessary permissions.
  • Unplug the Sonos speakers, wait a few seconds, and plug them back in. This is a common troubleshooting step for tech support pros that they call “power cycling.” You’d be surprised by how many issues that power cycling a device can solve.
  • Try using the Spotify app on a different device. If there are underlying issues with a device that may make it difficult to connect to other devices, having a “backup” device that you can use may help.

Sonos Not Recognizing Spotify

Sonos speaker

It can be a frustrating ordeal when you can’t get your Sonos device to recognize Spotify. The most common solution to this problem is to uninstall and reinstall the Spotify app.

One other solution that you can try is to allow Spotify to use mobile data. There are some people in the Sonos community that have reported success with this method.

Sonos Won’t Play Spotify Playlist

Playing spotify while holding the phone

When your Sonos system isn’t playing nicely with your Spotify app or playlist, the first thing you should do is check if you’re running the latest software for both Sonos and Spotify.

You can check on your Sonos by following these steps in your menu.

More > Settings > System Updates > Check for Updates.

Otherwise, you can also follow the steps in a previous section of this article “Sonos Not Showing Up” to troubleshoot the issue.

Sonos Can’t Search Spotify

Playing spotify while holding the phone

An issue with DNS settings on a router could prevent Sonos from searching Spotify. DNS is a networking protocol that allows computers to connect to the Internet to match a website address like Sonos.com with the website server’s IP address.

DNS is managed through a series of DNS servers that act as a “phone book” for the Internet that connected computers can access whenever directed to a new website. A DNS error in the router could block connected devices’ ability to access this “phone book” and find Spotify’s online service.

Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on August 30, 2021.

If Sonos has trouble searching Spotify, your router’s OpenDNS settings may need adjusting. OpenDNS makes it possible for the router to route traffic to and from the correct addresses on the Internet whenever you browse on a new website or open a new app that requires an Internet connection. Your Internet service provider should be able to walk you through troubleshooting OpenDNS if Sonos can’t search Spotify.

If the searching issue occurs on a desktop app instead of the mobile app, the problem might be solved by ensuring that Spotify is selected before attempting to search. The mobile app will automatically try to search all connected streaming services, while the desktop app will search only those you select.

Sonos Won’t Play Spotify Radio Stations

Sonos speaker

Recently reported issues include situations in which Sonos couldn’t play Spotify’s radio stations. Sonos has had issues with service outages in the past, including a possible outage that could impact users’ ability to play Spotify radio stations over Sonos speakers. Users reported seeing an error in which Sonos was “unable to get tracks.”

Suppose Sonos’ customer service staff indicates that there’s an outage. In that case, you may just have to set it aside and try an alternative like a YouTube music playlist on a device with a good ad blocker until the problem goes away. Otherwise, if Sonos won’t play Spotify radio stations, it may help to restart the device or reboot the app.

Finally, it may help to get Sonos’ customer service in the loop if you followed all these steps and Spotify on Sonos is still having issues.

Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on August 30, 2021.

When you notice Sonos Spotify not working, and you’ve tried all the above steps without any luck, submit a system diagnostic within 10 minutes of the problem occurring and get on the phone with the Sonos customer service team, who should help you troubleshoot the issue further.

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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on August 30, 2021.

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