Apple Music adding Sonos support on 15 December
It'll be a public beta before the full release next year
Sonos has been at it for a while, but the company still makes the best multiroom audio systems on the market today. However, if you have a Sonos system, the debut of Apple Music probably hasn’t made much of an impact on your world.
That’s because it wasn’t compatible at launch in late June, and now – five months later – Apple’s streaming music service still doesn’t work with Sonos, despite assurances it would happen “ASAP.” But that’s changing very soon, as the companies just announced plans to link up starting in December.
On 15 December, Apple Music will become available on Sonos as a public beta, which you’ll have to sign up for. Sonos says that all functionality will be available from the outset, although there may be issues that need to be ironed out still – thus the beta tag rather than going live right away. And then compatibility will become widely available early next year.
Why the nearly six-month delay, particularly when Beats Music – Apple Music’s predecessor, which actually closes today – was already compatible? Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, tells BuzzFeed News, "It’s important to get the integration right the first time out. Apple has a high bar for this stuff; so does Sonos. Apple Music isn’t even six months old yet, so this really did not take much time at all."
"Well over 90 percent of the music people listen to on Sonos speakers is from streaming services,” says John MacFarlane, co-founder and CEO of Sonos. "We think Apple Music is going to be a catalyst that will raise that percentage even higher."
[Sources: Sonos Blog, BuzzFeed News]
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Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
