Sonos’s “no subscriptions” stance is starting to look like a smokescreen.
Sonos has ‘firmly denied’ any plans to adopt a subscription model. Yet, their recent app overhaul and financial issues make users and developers alike wonder if they’re secretly thinking about it.
Signs Hidden in Plain Sight
Sonos’s new app overhaul raises red flags about the company’s future plans. Users have noticed huge changes that go beyond simple updates, and developers like Andy Pennell have uncovered concerning shifts in how the system works.
The biggest change? Sonos moved from an open system (UPnP) to one that forces all controls through their servers. They also switched device discovery from SSDP to mDNS, causing headaches for users with older routers or mixed Wi-Fi networks.
And, despite customer backlash, Sonos stood firm on keeping the new protocol.
Now the app needs to check with Sonos’s servers just to show album artwork or manage playlists from Spotify and Apple Music, which it used to handle directly. . While local music libraries still work like before, other features have gotten worse or vanished completely.
What’s weird is how Sonos refuses to roll back these changes despite the widespread issues.
Pennell calls it a “crazy engineering decision,” suggesting hidden motives.
Basically, Sonos keeps saying no to subscription rumors, but their app tells a different story. It’s built exactly like a system ready to start charging for features.
Financial Pressures on Sonos
Sonos’ financial challenges also suggest that they might not have much choice but to find a new way to grow.
Its revenue dropped 8% in 2024, with an even steeper 16% fall in the last quarter. This follows a rough 2023, when they had to lay off employees twice as revenue fell 5.5%.
Their growth problem also appears clearly in the user numbers.
In 2024, Sonos only brought in 1 million new users, their slowest growth in 5-10 years. Even existing customers aren’t buying many new speakers, with the average household only adding 0.03 more speakers (from 3.05 to 3.08) during the year.
Sonos’s response? They’re pushing out new products faster than ever. Instead of one new device every three years, they’re now launching several each year.
But even this aggressive strategy isn’t bringing in enough money to offset their losses.
Will a Subscription Model Save Sonos?
Sonos’ hardware sales are declining, and they need new revenue streams. And, while they firmly deny subscription plans, their actions point to this solution.
So, the question isn’t whether they’re considering this move, but how they’ll handle the fallout from their most loyal customers if they ever do so.
On one side, the broader tech industry shows subscriptions can save struggling hardware companies.
GoPro showed how well this transition can work. After switching to subscriptions in 2016 when camera sales declined, they grew from 160,000 to 2.56 million subscribers by 2024. So, even as hardware sales kept falling, their subscription revenue jumped 11% in late 2024.
Xbox Game Pass provides another success story, bringing in $2.9 billion in 2021 by adding value beyond the console.
Sonos has quietly laid the groundwork for a similar transition. Their app overhaul added all the technical pieces needed for a subscription service: cloud controls, tight security, and server dependency.
Plus, they’ve already tested subscription waters with Sonos Radio HD, offering better audio quality, exclusive content, and ad-free listening for a monthly fee.
While this service hasn’t transformed their bottom line, it shows they’re open to subscription-based revenue.
But Sonos faces a unique challenge.
Unlike GoPro or Xbox, Sonos built its brand on user independence and control. Their core customers value the freedom to use their speakers without restrictions.
These same users have already pushed back against the new app’s cloud requirements and reduced features. So, asking people to pay more for something that they already enjoyed before the app revamp might not fare well.
Yet the market shows most consumers accept subscriptions for convenience. Even smart home devices like Roku regularly lock premium functions behind subscriptions. Most users barely notice anymore.
For Sonos, the challenge isn’t whether subscriptions work, other companies have already proven they do. It’s whether they can convince their loyal customers that monthly fees add real value without betraying what made people love Sonos in the first place.
Yep.
You can no longer get google assistant or alexa to find the devices.
I’ve had to abandon a huge range of products because they’ve all moved to subscription models. I have a few subs, but it’s financially unviable for me to get any more. As well as the usual commercial services most householders have, I compose and create music and make my own cover art, and I write, too. The publishing industry, digital photography industry and increasingly the DAW industry have all switched to subscription models. I’m now stuck on using increasingly outdated software. If I were to pay for them all, it would cost me thousands every single month. The market is swamped, not just saturated. A lot of companies will go under when the crunch comes for people who still have any money left. Part of the problem is that the 80s onward encouraged a model of greed and customer squeezing. Huge conglomerates are more concerned about ensuring their super rich shareholders can continue to afford their private jets and diamond encrusted iPhones. Rather than take the hit, they squeeze and squeeze their customers until there’s nothing left. Treating your customers like your enemy isn’t a sustainable model. At some point the subscription model is going to crash and it will crash hard. It’s boom and bust, the modern business model of the corporate executive. They’re clueless, but they’re greedy. Companies like Sonos who go the subscription model are basically borrowing from their own futures to sustain their own lifestyles today, unwilling to take the hit that everyone else has had to pay. When the top 5% of the world owns 95% of its wealth, I don’t have much sympathy. They can survive, but they’re too greedy to tighten their belts like everyone else has had to do. The subscription model is financial vampirism. It’s a model with no future.
if they do so I will sell all my Sonos speakers and sub and stop buying any Sonos devices