Sonos Launches Paid HD Radio Streaming Service

There are many music streaming services out there, but chances are you will fall for one of the three camps: Spotify, Apple Music or Pandora. A few months ago, Sonos threw his hat in the ring, launching a free streaming radio service called Sonos Radio. Today it is expanding this service to the US and UK with a paid tier called Sonos Radio HD.

What what?

The new tier is sort of an extension of the existing Sonos Radio service, except that it adds more exclusive content and the ability to stream lossless CD-quality audio. Sonos’ press release claims that this is “the highest quality sound of any broadcast radio service,” although its 16-bit quality at 44.1kHz is essentially standard CD quality and some broadcasting of non-radio music. services now go beyond that. This includes other genre stations, sleep and relaxation stations, and ‘detailed artist content’. Sonos Radio HD in particular will also allow users to stream ad-free and gain the ability to skip and repeat songs.

It sounds a lot like Sonos which mixes aspects of Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, and Tidal. Like Apple Music and Spotify, Sonos leans heavily on exclusive content with musical artists. For Sonos Radio HD it is launching a new station from country music icon Dolly Parton called Edge plate radio, with other artist-selected stations to follow in 2021. High-resolution CD-quality streaming is reminiscent of Tidal, which is a favorite among audiophiles. (However, Tidal isn’t the only high-res audio option on the market; there’s also Amazon Music Unlimited, Primephonic, and Qobuz.)

When it comes to content, while Sonos does a decent job of attracting both mega-famous and deep performers to its artist curated stations, this kind of exclusivity isn’t unique to Sonos. Apple does. Most worthwhile streaming services these days also offer a wide variety of playlists and genre stations organized by algorithms. That, and although Sonos claims that 50% of all listening time on its platform is radio, Sonos Radio is only the fourth most watched service on Sonos. So … why do that … at all? (Money is always money.)

What stands out the most here is that Sonos Radio HD will cost $ 8 per month after a 30-day free trial. This is significantly cheaper than most high-resolution music streaming services. Tidal’s high-res tier is $ 20 / month, Primephonic’s is $ 15 / month, just like Quoboz’s. Closest to Sonos Radio HD in the price is Amazon Music HD, Which one is 13 $ for Prime members and $ 15 for non-Prime members. If you’re willing to pay the premium for Sonos hardware, chances are you care at least a little bit about audio quality. So, all things considered, this is not an unattractive offer.

Interestingly, in order to register, users will need to do so through the Sonos website and do not the Sonos S2 app. A spokesperson for Sonos declined to say if this was an attempt to bypass Apple and Google’s 30% commission, saying Sonos believes it is the “easiest way” to users to register.

Sonos has had a few other minor updates as well as of late. Earlier this week, its Dolby Atmos Sonos Arc soundbar received a software update to support multi-channel LPCM to bring “new, immersive sound experiences for games, Blu-ray discs and more.” . It also renamed its Trade Up program, which allowed users of older devices to enjoy discounts on new Sonos hardware, to the Upgrade Program. The main difference is that it expands the list of eligible products.

All of this indicates that Sonos is looking to bolster its value as the smart speaker category becomes increasingly competitive. Apple, Amazon, and Google have all launched affordable $ 100 smart speakers that deliver good sound quality in the past few months. We tested both the Fourth Generation Amazon Echo and the Google Nest Audio and can confirm that they look awesome for the price. (We’re still waiting to get our hands on a HomePod Mini.) These three speakers can also serve as a smart home hub and can be paired to work in stereo. Sonos’ cheapest smart speaker, the Sonos One SL, costs $ 80 more at $ 180, while its Sonos One costs $ 100 more at $ 200. And while Sonos speakers come with support for Alexa or Google Assistant and AirPlay 2, Is require an additional step in the configuration via the S2 application.

Given all of this, it’s no surprise that Sonos has doubled down on providing a more unique service. It doesn’t help that some Sonos customers haven’t been too happy with the company lately. Earlier this year, the company had a little kerfuffle with angry customers when he decided to withdraw its older but still functional speakers, highlighting a common problem among the makers of smart home gadgets. But if Sonos Radio and Sonos Radio HD are smart pieces, it remains to be seen whether that will ultimately pay off in a market where most people have already chosen the streaming service of their choice.

Correction, 12/11/2020, 11:28 am: This article previously stated that Amazon’s high definition music streaming level was Amazon Music Unlimited. It is actually Amazon Music HD. The prices have also been corrected. We regret the error.