Sonos Adds Broadband Access To Sirius Internet Radio Service

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 8/20/2007

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. — Sonos added broadband access of the 80-channel Sirius Internet Radio service to its wireless multiroom audio system as part of an effort to drive more Internet-based music content to consumers without forcing them to boot up a PC.

With the announcement, Sonos expanded its selection of Internet radio services that consumers can hear without networking their Sonos systems to a PC. The development also provides Sirius subscribers with their first PC-free access to Sirius Internet Radio in the home, Sonos added.

Sonos users will get a free 30-day trial of the Sirius service once they download an update to their system. The download is available today.

Sonos users already enjoy PC-less access to the subscription-based interactive Pandora and Rhapsody music services and to 300 Web-radio stations aggregated by Sonos and available at not cost. When networked to a PC, the wireless mesh-network multiroom system also lets users stream protected and unprotected music from their PC to rooms throughout the house.

The continued expansion of access to web-based music services is expanding Sonos' appeal beyond the digital music enthusiast who rips CDs for storage on a home PC, said president/COO Phil Abram. When Sonos launched its system in 2005, it streamed unprotected music from a PC to wireless clients in other rooms, enabled multiroom access to the Rhapsody service with a networked PC up and running and accessed about 150 Sonos-aggregated Web-radio stations with a PC on or off.

Marrying Sirius Internet service with Sonos, said sales and marketing VP Thomas Cullen, delivers many consumer advantages over purchasing a dedicated Sirius satellite-radio tuner for in-home use. One is the ability to deliver different channels of Sirius content simultaneously to multiple rooms without buying a separate tuner and subscription for each room. Sonos also makes it unnecessary to hunt for a good location to place a Sirius antenna, he said. With Sonos, he added, consumers can also enjoy Sirius's Internet service in rooms that lack a PC.

The 80 Sirius channels delivered via the Internet include all Sirius music channels plus other channels allowed under Sirius's licensing agreements. Sirius Internet Radio service costs $2.99 per month for people who already subscribe to Sirius Satellite Radio. A stand-alone Sirius Internet subscription costs $12.95 per month.