Sonos just released the new Sonos Radio. The new app-based radio is an artists-centered platform with special contents.
The three biggest music streaming app presently are Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal. Sonos is about to challenge the big three with the release of their own Sonos Radio.
Sonos has always been famous for its smart home speakers. Yesterday, the company went beyond just providing speakers and dove into ad-free and ad-supported content creation.
The launch of the Sonos Radio comes in four phases. These phases are all artist-centered, and the special contents will be provided by the artist themselves.
Phase 1: Ad-free station created and hosted by Sonos
The contents of the station shall be a curated playlist of new and well-known music. Other than that, it shall also have an “artist hosted radio hour.” The radio hours shall be hosted by famous music artists. They will play hand-picked music with their special commentaries on the music between gaps.
Initially, the headliners of the radio hours will be Olsen, JPEGMAFIA, Phoebe Bridgers, Jeff Park, Vagabond, and several other well-known artists. The radio hours will be recorded in the Sonos’ studio in New York City and will be released weekly on Wednesdays.
Phase 2: Ad-free artist-curated stations
The curated station content might sound familiar because these are similar to Apple’s and Spotify’s content. The stations will feature the personal favorite music contents of famous artists.
The stations will be headlined by the playlists of Thom Yorke, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, and David Byrne.
Phase 3: 30 ad-supported Sonos stations
This phase a slight detour from the artist-centered approach of Sonos. Here, the owner of Sonos has handpicked his 30 personal favorite genres and converted them into radio stations.
The tracks to be played in particular stations may feature, HipHop, RnB, Blues, and other famous genres. According to the company, the contents in these stations shall be regularly updated to provide fresh new music.
Phase 4: One-stop-shop for all local internet radio stations
Sonos Radio will also be an aggregator of all local internet radio stations. The radio stations will be lifted from TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Radio.com. It will also include some internet radio stations from other countries.
Internet radio stations will be collated by genre. The designed algorithm shall ensure that the nearest station by zip code will come out on top of the list.
Sonos Radio vs. Apple Music and Spotify
There are two main differences between the new station by Sonos and its competitors. First, the music will be played at a limited rate of 128kbps. Spotify and Apple Music play their music at a higher bit per second rate.
Second, access to Sonos radio will be limited to Sonos devices only. The exclusive access to the Sonos radio may be accessed only through the Sonos app.
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