Sonos Welcome Apple to the Smart Speaker Party Via a Playlist

Sonos throws some shade at the HomePod via a Spotify playlist

By Lulu Chang February 10, 2018

sonos pandora — Image used with permission by copyright holder

When it comes to throwing shade, no one does it quite so well as Sonos. To celebrate the arrival of the Apple HomePod onto the long existing connected speakers market, the rival brand is offering some cheeky commentary by way of — what else — music. You can now check out a playlist that welcomes Apple to the party, with plenty of sass thrown in. The playlist may seem innocuous enough at first, but upon closer inspection, listeners will find that each song serves as a greeting to Apple. And if you put some of the song titles together, you may just find some hidden messages.

Anyone can check out the playlist on Spotify, but ironically, given that the HomePod does not in fact support Spotify, you can’t listen to the particular lineup of songs on your HomePod. But when Apple gets with the times and adds one of the most popular streaming services in the world to its platform, that will certainly change.

This isn’t the first time that Apple has been kindly castigated by competitors for its relatively late entry into existing marketplaces. For example, when Apple Music launched in 2015, competitor Rdio wrote, “Welcome, Apple. Seriously.” Astute observers may have realized that this was a dig against Apple’s own 1981 ad to IBM, in which the iEmpire wrote, “Welcome, IBM. Seriously.” But ah, how the tables turn.

We should point out, however, that companies that attempt to poke fun at Apple don’t always meet with happy endings. Rdio, for example, closed down just six months after its “Welcome” ad ran.

But don’t worry — it certainly doesn’t look like Sonos is trying to engage in any hostile activity, especially against a company as large and influential as Apple. Ultimately, the message is friendly, as it ends with two songs that spell out, “We’re going to be friends over everything.” After all, in this market, it’s impossible for one company to have true dominance (and it would appear that at the very least, Sonos recognizes this).

If you’re interested in checking out Sonos’ playlist, you can check out the Welcome to the Party mix. But of course, you’ll have to do it from something other than a HomePod.

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