Sonos announces Sonos Radio, a groundbreaking listening experience fueled by Super Hi-Fi’s AI

Introducing Sonos Radio, the streaming radio service only on Sonos

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Sonos Radio represents the broadest and best selection of radio available around the world today. Exclusive content, curated genre-based stations, and more than 60,000 local radio stations now available to Sonos owners for free.

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Santa Barbara, Calif. – April 21, 2020 – Sonos (Nasdaq: SONO) today launches Sonos Radio, a free, ad-supported streaming radio service, exclusively available to customers in more than 10 million homes globally. Complementing the 100+ streaming options available on Sonos, the new service introduces a holistic and cohesive way to explore radio, bringing together more than 60,000 stations from multiple streaming partners alongside original programming from Sonos.

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Handpicked by a team of curators, DJs, and artists, new Sonos Stations queue up diverse musical selections spanning customers’ favorite genres, inspired by both classics and current obsessions. Ad-free artist stations feature current influences and inspirations, starting with a personal station from Thom Yorke. In addition, Sonos Sound System will feature new artists, stories, and insights into today’s music. Customers can listen via the Sonos app starting today.

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Today, nearly half of all listening time on Sonos is dedicated to customers’ favorite stations and DJs. In the age of streaming, radio continues to evolve, inspiring and complementing on-demand music services and podcasts, connecting global audiences eager to discover and engage in shared listening experiences.

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“Sonos has always made it easy for customers to discover the riches of streaming music services by building premium products that sound great and by giving customers the freedom to use the services of their choice,” said Patrick Spence, Sonos CEO. “Sonos Radio brings together streaming radio services and a select set of curated radio stations in a simple, elegant way. This is just a beginning as we work to deliver services that provide our customers a better experience and provide our music streaming service partners an opportunity to highlight their best content.”

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Stream stations from around the world

Sonos Radio makes it easy to explore the world’s stations by integrating multiple internet radio services, including TuneIn and iHeartRadio, with more to come. Customers can listen to music, sports, news, and more from local stations based on zip code as well as access any station globally. Start the day with a local NPR station or enjoy favorites from around the world, including SomaFM in San Francisco or French radio station, RTL. Sonos Radio will be continually updated with new stations powered by partners, including integrations with the UK-based radio service Global and Radio.com for US listeners, both coming soon.

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Tap into artist’s inspiration and explore new music on Sonos Sound System

Sonos Radio introduces original radio programming from Sonos featuring a range of music handpicked by DJs and artists. Sonos’ signature ad-free station, Sonos Sound System, is curated and hosted by the Sonos team, recorded in a newly built radio studio in Sonos’ flagship store in New York City. Listeners will enjoy a stream of new, well-known, or rediscovered music, behind-the-scenes stories, as well as guest artist radio hours from the likes of Angel Olsen, JPEGMAFIA, Phoebe Bridgers, Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Vagabon, and more. Artist-hosted radio hours, released every Wednesday, will start the stream of Sonos Sound System for a 60-minute radio show with music and commentary about inspiring artists, releases, and the host’s latest work.

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Ad-free artist-curated stations feature a regularly updated stream of hundreds of songs from artists inspired by their own influences and obsessions. Thom Yorke’s station, In the absence thereof..., launches today. In Thom’s words:

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“Here in a new form is that ever rolling compilation / office chart habit of mine of putting together what I have found recently that fascinates or moves me, what obsesses me, challenges me, opens new doors, reminds me of what I might have forgotten, is insanely complex or elegantly simple, violent, funny, messy, heavy or light. Whatever has hit me over the head basically. It may be new or old or just dug up again. With all this time we have behind doors, I hope this provides a welcome connection and escape…and perhaps stops the walls closing in quite so quick.” - Thom

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Upcoming artist-curated stations from Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, David Byrne, and Third Man Records will debut in the coming weeks. New artist stations will launch regularly.

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Sonos Stations, inspired by Sonos owners’ favorite genres, feature 30+ curated ad-supported stations. For a surprising mix of music handpicked by Sonos, enjoy stations including Concert Hall, Country Outlaws, Hip Hop Archive, Kids Rock, and more.

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Sonos designed and developed custom programming and curation tools for Sonos Stations, delivering a regularly refreshed mix of new hand-curated music. For the best listening experience across all Sonos Radio streams, Sonos partnered with Super Hi-Fi, a company delivering AI for digital music, for volume leveling across songs and ads, song blending, and seamlessly mixing in voice commentary.

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Explore more of the 100+ services on Sonos

Sonos brought together long-time partners to deliver a great listening experience with Sonos Radio, from TuneIn and iHeartRadio to Napster (formerly Rhapsody), the first-ever streaming service on Sonos. Rhapsody’s “Powered by Napster,” a complete music and audio platform service, is powering the catalog for Sonos Stations.

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Sonos Radio was built to provide a source for customers to not only discover new music but also the other services on Sonos. As a platform, Sonos Radio will continue to feature and celebrate new stations and featured programming from the 100+ services available on Sonos.

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Start listening

Sonos Radio gives customers a great music experience from the moment they set up, now pre-loaded in the browse menu of the Sonos app with today’s software update.

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Global internet radio stations will be available for all customers worldwide. Sonos’ original programming will be available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia to start. Support for additional countries will follow.