THE PARTY IS OVER FOR SPOTIFY CONNECT PRODUCTS
You get home, flop on the sofa, grab the remote for your Onkyo receiver and press the green “Play Spotify” button, deathly silence follows. You have just been made obsolete!
It is Bye Bye Spotify for owners of over 100 speakers and receivers from almost every brand including B&O, Denon, Dynaudio, Marantz, Onkyo, Pioneer, Philips, Yamaha and more.
About five years ago, lots of brands added Spotify Connect to their audio and video products, slapping Spotify stickers on the front panel and introducing the ability to stream Spotify directly without using a mobile phone.
Sadly, and showing it can be unwise to depend on third parties for features, Spotify is now removing Connect from over 100 AV products, including stalwarts such as the famous Logitech Squeezebox, multiple AV receivers, and networked systems.
The changes are due to updates in Spotify’s server back-end, and they are very blunt about it.
“The Spotify integration will be completely removed from the Squeezebox and UE Smart Radio speakers.”
Denon, Marantz, and Yamaha have stepped up and will be offering their customers free firmware updates, while other manufacturers appear to be leaving their users in the lurch. StereoNET's advice is to do your research.
Some Spotify forum users are understandably furious.
Your email was terrible, basically telling your customers "too bad how sad we don't care about you anymore" the whole reason I have Spotify over Apple Music was because of its integration with my receiver, it's where I do almost all my Spotify listening. If if it does indeed stop working on my receiver, There will be no benefit to Spotify over other choice and I will need to cancel my membership. Very disappointing!
It's hardly an earth-shattering problem as Bluetooth, Airplay, and Chromecast can still be used to stream Spotify using your mobile phone and maybe a dongle. However, it would understandably be very annoying to owners who have set up their music systems to ‘just work’.
Spotify recommends Bluetooth for most of the obsoleted products, but that, of course, reduces sound quality even further.
Related: Marantz Solves Spotify Glitch
Further Reading: Music & Streaming Services Forum
StereoNET
StereoNET is an independent global publication delivering the very latest news, reviews and information related to Hi-Fi, Home Cinema, Headphones and consumer audio-video technology to nearly 2 millions readers per month.
Posted in: Hi-Fi | Home Theatre | Music
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