Starting December 15, 2015, Apple and Sonos will be making Apple Music streaming available for the popular whole-home audio solution as a Public Beta. This will be an early preview of the service, and an opportunity for Sonos’ users to try listening to Apple Music on Sonos in their homes. It makes sense, since Sonos also offers its new Trueplay acoustic calibration tool using the Sonos app on any iPhone or iPad.
The teams at Apple and Sonos have been working hard to bring Apple Music to Sonos, and want users to provide feedback with a preview and eventually improve the integration. Apple Music streaming service adds up to virtually every other music streaming already supported by Sonos, including Spotify and Tidal. Compared to those services, Apple Music is not that great in terms of user interface and social interactions and that’s probably why Sonos wants to try the implementation as a beta service, and improve on the experience.
The public beta allows many of the features of Apple Music to be controlled directly by the Sonos app on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC and Android phones, and played in any or multiple rooms in the home. For Sonos users which are still not members of Apple Music, the two companies are also offering a free three month trial and the try the available features spread across an entire music installation and every room of their home - for those users who have it. Especially interesting is that users with family accounts - one of the most valuable features of Apple Music - will be able to share the service, up to six members of the family, directly on the Sonos installation, so everyone in the house can listen to music their way. The integration will also enable to share songs and playlists with each user in the unique way Sonos is able to deliver.
“Streaming is bringing more music into everyone’s lives—and that’s a better life. The introduction of Apple Music marks an inflection point for streaming and its mass adoption,” says Sonos co-founder and Chief Executive Officer John MacFarlane. “Now that we have access to virtually all the music on Earth, how music lovers listen to it is even more important. We are honored to bring Apple Music to Sonos listeners all over the world.”“Many of our members love Sonos and want to enjoy our service throughout their homes,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “We’re thrilled to be working with Sonos to provide the Apple Music experience in even more places fans enjoy music.”
Room calibration
Since 2002, Sonos’ family of wireless smart speakers and home audio products make it easy for everyone to listen to music in every room of their home. Recently, Sonos introduced a free software update called Trueplay, which allows to tune Sonos speakers using the Sonos app and the microphone on an iPhone or iPad. A special tone is emitted by the Sonos speaker and the system analyzes the acoustic profile of any room to determine how sound reflects off walls, furnishings, glass and other surfaces that impact how sound is heard. The Sonos app then tunes that speaker in 60 seconds or less so the music sounds it’s best. The sound profile of each speaker is changed only as much or as little as needed to sound right for the room.
In addition to both the original and the new SONOS PLAY:5 speaker, Trueplay is compatible with all SONOS PLAY:1 and SONOS PLAY:3 smart speakers, iOS devices, and will continue to be added to more of the Sonos lineup over time.
www.sonos.com
