Cover Image for Is Album Art Missing on Sonos? Here Are Some Solutions.
Mon Feb 17 2025

Is Album Art Missing on Sonos? Here Are Some Solutions.

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Although many Sonos users primarily focus on streaming music through services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, or Spotify, there are those who use their Sonos devices to listen to their personal music collection stored on their home network. If you’re someone who does this frequently, you may have noticed that album artwork doesn’t always display correctly in the Sonos app, especially in the new web app that was launched alongside the redesigned mobile app in May 2024. The company announced that this web app will replace its desktop applications in "the coming months," although both are still available for now.

The web app allows access to the Sonos system even when away from the home network and often offers superior performance compared to the mobile app in key functions such as searching and viewing what’s playing on Sonos speakers. However, it has a significant downside: it does not display the artwork for albums in the personal music library. When asked about whether this issue would be addressed, Sonos reported that there were no updates available regarding the potential inclusion of this feature in the future.

Nevertheless, there are some temporary solutions, both paid and free, for those facing album artwork display issues in the mobile app.

One option is to create a free account with iBroadcast, which allows you to upload your music collection to the "cloud" so that the Sonos web app can access the music and the album artwork correctly. While the streaming quality on the free version is 128 kbps, which may be considered a drawback, the paid option offers original lossless quality streaming at a cost of $4 per month or $45 per year.

Another alternative is to use Apple Music, where users can add their personal libraries to the cloud at up to CD quality, thanks to a feature that was previously called iTunes Match but is now included in the Apple Music subscription. This way, uploaded albums will display correctly in the Sonos apps.

There’s also the option to use Plex, a media server that allows you to organize and access personal content like music and videos. It requires some initial setup, but once configured, you can access your music and its artwork from the Sonos app. Although implementation may require remote access in some network configurations, it’s an effective solution without needing to pay for quality streaming.

Finally, if there are issues with album artwork in your library, Bliss can be an alternative. This tool scans your music collection for errors like broken file paths or missing artwork. It offers paid correction options, which may be viable if you don’t want to go through the process manually.