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The smart speaker maker follows in Apple’s footsteps.
Sonos
, the leading provider of smart speakers, wants to expand its business model with its own radio programs. On the company’s devices, 30 advertising-funded channels with music of various genres, among other things, will be available on the Internet, as Sonos announced. For the Californian company, this is a change of strategy: until now, Sonos has only dealt with hardware and left the content business to others. With innovation, the group follows in Apple’s footsteps. The iPhone maker also has a smart speaker (HomePod) and its own music streaming service (Apple Music) that includes radio stations up front.
No dedicated streaming service planned
However, according to Sonos Radio chief Ryan Taylor, the speaker company currently has no plans for a paid ad-free offer or even a full music streaming service. Although Sonos is involved in the content business for the first time, he wants to continue working with his specialized partners. They should have more space on the new Sonos radio platform in the future. One focus will be local radio stations.
© Sonos
People instead of algorithms
The 30 genre stations program is compiled exclusively by a team of around ten employees and not automatically. Commercial breaks currently occur every 20 minutes. Some stations do not have advertising, such as those where the music is compiled by artists like Thom Yorke or David Byrne. Sonos did not secure the necessary licenses for the music groups themselves, but through the appropriate service provided by Napster’s streaming service. The speaker provider also recently experimented with other service models: a rental subscription for its devices in the Netherlands and a music service for shops and restaurants.
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