BBC Sounds
Answered
The BBC have just launched a new service called Sounds which is the Radio station analogue to the Catch up I player service for TV
At the moment I am streaming it via my laptop and Bluetooth to my Node 2 and quality is good but could be improved. (FYI it should be accessible anywhere via VPN )
Are there any plans to make it a built-in Music source and if not why not ..
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I do share my fellow customers' frustration as we have been waiting far too long for this to be sorted, Tony's latest links are more than a year old! Bluesound hardware has always been highly praised, rightly so, but the software and its affiliated services are a whole different story, lagging far behind the competition.
I'm eagerly awaiting for this BluOs major update (hopefully this spring?...), just hoping it will be fully compatible with all generations of speakers, and not further alienate unfortunate users such as I who spent thousands on Generation 2, just before the 2i hardware change. That would be the last drop.
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Hi - I do understand both your concerns as for us Brits not having access to at least the BBC radio stations via BluOs would be a showstopper for many of us. But we should trust Tony's post below from five months ago at face value until we know otherwise:
UPDATED OFFICIAL COMMENT
Thank you for your feedback. Bluesound is aware that BluOS users are receiving announcements about BBC broadcasts being removed. I have spoken with our Business Development Team on this matter. BluOS has been in contact with the BBC and have recently been approved for direct access to the list of playable radio stations. It is not the full BBC integration, but access to the radio channels. We are pursuing this work to be completed as soon as possible so as to avoid any service disruptions to you. We also will continue to work with the BBC regarding deeper full access to BBC Sounds.
Thanks for your patience and for #LivingHiFi.
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Thanks Ali. Whilst I understand your perspective, so close to the removal of the facility in TuneIn, the lack of any clarity does not fill me with confidence. I’ll be delighted to be proved wrong. If a major software upgrade is due shortly, I suspect the design freeze would already have happened and we would be informed if this issue is solved within it - if only to stop us going on about it & getting off Tony’s back!
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I have now set up a tune in custom station using the radio 4 url linked above. Set up as a favourite and will test over next few days for message re BBC sounds. If this works long term then hopefully it is a solution
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I've done the same and then set the favourite as a preset. This does work to be fair.
Perhaps Bluesound could email all users advising them how to do this as the solution to the BBC issue for all the relevant BBC stations - including all the URLs........1 -
Yes pls. In the interim, guidelines for this workaround would be very helpful. Thx
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Here you go, scroll down a bit for HLS: https://garfnet.org.uk/cms/tables/radio-frequencies/internet-radio-player/
Only problem is you won’t get the broadcast information.
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Did radio 2 and r4 disappear from bluos today?
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I thought it was just my WiFi, but radio 4 has stopped working for me too.
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Hi, gone for me too. Other BBC radio channels still seem to be present at the moment.
I’m listening to radio four via HLS link you can find here: https://garfnet.org.uk/cms/tables/radio-frequencies/internet-radio-player/ in BLUEOS TineIn app; open ‘favourites’; “Add custom site” give it a name (HLS BBC Radio 4), copy the link and then paste it in.No description sadly.. it would be great to have an update from bluesound support on what the next step for solving this is.
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Not working for me either. Not good. Can we get an update from Bluesound ASAP?
I've been following this thread for a while and guess I was naive to assume there would be an alternative option before the streams ended!
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Is that a permanent fix?
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Yup - gone for me too - it looks like the promised "stop working" date has arrived. I hope blue have a fix - it isn't as if they haven't had warning...
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Blu sound has had ages to sort this out. They are gone afaik. A voice activated Google or Apple device will replace them.
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The hls stream is still available, l have been using it for a couple of months and it works fine and is annoying message free but the normal Tunein link is kaput.
Come on @Tony at Bluesound get your finger out and support your customers!1 -
Livid, at first I thought it was a glitch and now they're all gone.
This has been dragging on for way too long, having no access to BBC makes Bluos, and therefore Bluesound speakers irrelevant in UK.
@ Tony, can we get an update with this, and at elast an immediate fix to access BBC services while we wait for things to be sorted, should it still Bluesound wish to do so?
Unacceptable.
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Very weird, BBC 4 suddenly shows up, and then out again... whatever...
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I suggest everyone place a support request about the fault. If we deluge them with requests maybe they will finally take notice.
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Around 1 month ago, Kellie in Bluesound support replied to a ticket I created about this issue as follows:
"While I am not aware of a timeline for integrating the BBC Sounds App specifically into our App - The BBC has recently approved BluOS for direct access to their live Radio Stations. This Music Service will be available (by default) in the Navigation Drawer. This feature is currently under development and will be released soon."
All they need to do is to let us know when this "soon" will be! BBC Sounds is not actually the issue here - it would be great and the BBC should absolutely not support Sonos' attempts to monopolise multiroom audio - but the restoration of live streams with metadata is a basic and surely achievable first, now urgent, aim.
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Thats more or less the same response l had from them when this messages first started last year. I.e its not our fault! If other apps can include bbc why can't Tunein/blueos? NOT the bbc's fault.
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I don't read Kellie's reply as blaming the BBC for anything. TuneIn and the BBC fell out over user data according to reports. The BBC extended the lifespan of the Shoutcast streams for specific manufacturers to be able to maintain services via TuneIn due to public and manufacturer complaints. It's then been up to the manufacturers to build compatibility with the newer BBC streams outside TuneIn - something that others seem to have done but Bluesound has not so far. Kellie's reply does not make it clear whether there is a technical hurdle to overcome, other priorities, or whether the release will coincide with the announced but not launched major app update.
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Regardless of the reasons why, I have not been able to recommend people to Bluesound/NAD for some time now as they appear to have been dragging their feet on this issue. It is a shame that the demise of the basic BBC streams has been caught up in a (less important to me) request for full Sounds functionlity. If Bluesound don't have enough development resource they should consider whether it would be better as an open-source project.
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Despite assurances that the Dev team are actively looking at this for months, no definitive solution has yet been implemented.
I suspect that the UK market just isn't large enough to make this a priority.1 -
I just had this return from Tunein this morning as I tried to stream from my computer:
"Hello Nicolas, Thank you for getting back to us. First, let me apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this issue has caused up to this point.To answer your question, this is not an issue that started today. However, there's the possibility that you are now just experiencing this change. Effective September 30th, 2019, BBC streams domestically in the United Kingdom are no longer available on TuneIn with the exception of select third-party devices and platforms......As such, I recommend you sign in or create a BBC account to listen to your favorite stations."
Basically either streaming through the BBC app via bluetooth or using HLS links with tunein, a bit low key DIY for such premium "smart" speakers.
Let's see what the support team is proposing once they wake up (very early in Canada)
Fingers crossed finally with some updates, and good news...
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Hi all,
We are testing her in HQ and we are able to stream BBC 4 in TuneIn using BlluOS. We are unable to replicate the issue.
Looks like whatever that was, it was on the TuneIn side and is now fixed.
As to the BluOS and BBC integration - that is still being developed.0 -
Is this directly through TuneIn or via assigning the Radio 4 feed to a favourite slot and then selecting the favourite?
If the latter, this works but doesn't support any metadata?0 -
Dear Mark T,
can you kindly share the target for completion of the BlueOs BBC sounds integration?
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Just seen the above comments. Strangely, I still have all the BBC stations via TuneIn. Would like to see BBC Sounds integrated into BluOS to and can't understand the lack of a heads-up on this from the company.
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Thanks for this. Sounds hopeful for a resolution.
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The BBC is a good organization but large so it takes time. We are persistent.
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