Sonos Radio launched in the U.S. in November 2020 and offers CD-quality lossless music for $7.99 per month without ads.
However, this service isn’t entirely equivalent to traditional streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Instead, Sonos Radio offers playlists and curated radio shows for you to listen to. The base version makes money off ads and doesn’t allow users to skip songs.
When you pay for Sonos Radio HD, you get unlimited song skips, high-quality music and no ads. Beyond that, you also get access to a new Brian Eno curated station called The Lighthouse, Dolly Parton’s Songteller Radio, Ghostface Killah’s Blue & Cream, FKA twigs’ Main Squeeze and more, according to Sonos.
None of this is to say that Sonos Radio isn’t worth paying for. If you’ve got the cash and you like HQ music, it’s probably worth it. Beyond that, even the free tier is really great, and I often find the hosted radio stations like sound System and Break the Ceiling are a nice break from the filter bubble I’ve created for myself in Spotify.
If you have a Sonos speaker, you can access Sonos Radio inside the Sonos S2 app (the goldish/brown coloured Sonos app).
