jamesver716
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Will Apple Music subscription allow streaming of DRM protected ITunes songs on Sonos?

Does Apple Music allow streaming of DRM protected ITunes songs on Sonos?

 

For several years I have been unable to play a large number of songs that I purchased from ITunes on my Sonos system due to the DRM protections.  In the past the only option was to manually delete individual songs or albums and then re-download them through ICloud.  Because I have a couple thousand songs with DRM protection this option was and remains completely impractical.  Does anyone know if the new Apple Music on Sonos announcement will allow playback of all of your ITunes music (DRM protected and even burned/ripped from CDs) across Sonos platform?  Thanks!

Posted on Feb 13, 2016 8:39 AM

by KGriff,Apple recommended
KGriff KGriff
Level 2 (280 points)
A:

I subscribe to both iTunes Match and Apple Music and I have Sonos speakers and I can confirm it will play any iTunes Match DRM Free track .. Available through the 'My Music' link in the Sonos controller app (within the Apple service) - see screenshot 1 below. Also I can confirm it will play any Apple Music track (containing DRM) via the Sonos search facility ... See second screenshot.


So the answer is YES, the Sonos controller allows a user to play both their own DRM FREE music and all of the tracks available via Apple Music. Obviously the user needs to subscribe to the Apple services to get these features.


Screenshot 1 - select My Music to browse/play DRM free music in your iTunes Match cloud:

image.jpeg


Screenshot 2 - select Sonos Search to browse/play any DRM encoded music from the Apple Music Servers:

image.jpeg


Posted on Feb 29, 2016 3:29 PM

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jamesver716

Q: Will Apple Music subscription allow streaming of DRM protected ITunes songs on Sonos?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by dwb,Helpful

    dwb dwb Feb 19, 2016 4:36 AM in response to jamesver716
    Level 7 (24,038 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 19, 2016 4:36 AM in response to jamesver716

    Yes and no. Apple Music is like iTunes Match in that all your music is matched by Apple’s servers. Any music that is matched by the server doesn’t get uploaded. Only the music that isn’t matched will be uploaded. Sonos will play your music from Apple’s server not your computer so any music with DRM that was successfully matched can be played. Any music that cannot be matched will be uploaded and when Sonos tries to play it - it will fail. Google iTunes Match and DRM for more information.

  • by jamesver716,

    jamesver716 jamesver716 Feb 19, 2016 4:38 AM in response to dwb
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 19, 2016 4:38 AM in response to dwb

    Thanks for your answer - very helpful.  Although not perfect, the Apple Music option did increase the number of songs that I could play via Sonos to around 95% of my ITunes library.  It's ridiculous that one has to spend $10 - $15 month just to play songs that you've purchased on a piece of hardware, but at least it's an option.

  • by dwb,

    dwb dwb Feb 19, 2016 4:59 AM in response to jamesver716
    Level 7 (24,038 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 19, 2016 4:59 AM in response to jamesver716

    Long ago I subscribed to a music service that no longer exists and downloaded a lot of tracks that were ripped at a relatively low bitrate. The quality didn’t match today’s higher quality but was okay for the car and earbuds. Not so great for a home stereo. When Apple’s iTunes Match went live several years ago we discovered that music Apple matched with our libraries, when downloaded to another computer, wasn’t the low bitrate file but rather an MP4 file of the type Apple uses. In no time at all I got rid of nearly all my old low quality tunes and replaced them with new high quality tunes. It also let me get rid of some tunes that had DRM. This only works if Apple has the tune in its library and Apple can recognize. I don’t know if Apple Music’s match works the same was as iTunes Match.

  • by curiousswitcher,Helpful

    curiousswitcher curiousswitcher Feb 24, 2016 1:59 PM in response to jamesver716
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 24, 2016 1:59 PM in response to jamesver716

    Hello James ,

     

    I came across this issue as well the other day , but after adding my Apple Music account to Sonos , I could listen to the songs .

  • by jamesver716,

    jamesver716 jamesver716 Feb 24, 2016 2:00 PM in response to curiousswitcher
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 24, 2016 2:00 PM in response to curiousswitcher

    I had success with Apple Music as well.  Again, its a shame one has to spend $10-$15 per month just to play songs you already own (yes, I know there are other features of Apple Music, but I wouldn't need it necessarily if I could just stream all of my Itunes songs across other platforms).

  • by KGriff,Apple recommended

    KGriff KGriff Feb 29, 2016 3:29 PM in response to jamesver716
    Level 2 (280 points)
    Feb 29, 2016 3:29 PM in response to jamesver716

    I subscribe to both iTunes Match and Apple Music and I have Sonos speakers and I can confirm it will play any iTunes Match DRM Free track .. Available through the 'My Music' link in the Sonos controller app (within the Apple service) - see screenshot 1 below. Also I can confirm it will play any Apple Music track (containing DRM) via the Sonos search facility ... See second screenshot.


    So the answer is YES, the Sonos controller allows a user to play both their own DRM FREE music and all of the tracks available via Apple Music. Obviously the user needs to subscribe to the Apple services to get these features.


    Screenshot 1 - select My Music to browse/play DRM free music in your iTunes Match cloud:

    image.jpeg


    Screenshot 2 - select Sonos Search to browse/play any DRM encoded music from the Apple Music Servers:

    image.jpeg