Sonos CEO Patrick Spence fired over app debacle, new boss vows to win back customers

Sonos is in the midst of a major shakeup after CEO Patrick Spence abruptly stepped down on Sunday. The move comes after months of turmoil for the company, which has been grappling with the fallout from a buggy and incomplete app update that launched back in May.

Spence’s departure marks the end of an era for Sonos. He joined the company in 2012 and oversaw the release of a number of successful hardware products, including the Arc Ultra soundbar and the Move and Roam portable speakers. However, his tenure will ultimately be defined by the app debacle, which caused widespread frustration among customers and led to a sharp decline in employee morale.

Speaking to The Verge, Sonos spokesperson Erin Pategas said that the company is now looking for a new CEO who can “build on our legacy and work with the team to move the company forward.” In the meantime, Tom Conrad, a longtime tech industry veteran who joined Sonos’ board of directors in 2017, has been appointed interim CEO.

Conrad has already hit the ground running in his new role. In his first letter to employees, Conrad hit all the right notes. Acknowledging the frustration and the need for change, he promised to bring the focus back to innovation and customer satisfaction. “I’ve heard from many of you about your own frustrations about how far we’ve drifted from our shared ideals,” Conrad wrote. “There’s a tremendous amount of work in front of us, including what I’m sure will be some very challenging moments, decisions, and trade-offs.”

Conrad, who has already relocated to Sonos’ Santa Barbara headquarters, vowed to be hands-on as he works to reinvigorate the team. “I think we’ll all agree that this year we’ve let far too many people down,” he admitted, citing the critical importance of getting the basics right for their customers.

Board chair Julius Genachowski echoed the sentiment, emphasizing Conrad’s mandate to improve the core Sonos experience while driving innovation and financial performance. With a career that spans roles at Pandora, Snapchat, and even the ill-fated Quibi, Conrad seems poised to bring a wealth of experience to his interim role.

Here’s Conrad’s full letter to employees:

Team,

Nearly 18 years ago, in May of 2007, I stepped onto the stage at SFMOMA to launch Pandora for Sonos to an audience of tech journalists. I was 37 years old and my love of Sonos was in its earliest days. Over the decade that immediately followed, and through many ups and downs, we built Pandora into a streaming phenomenon. In those same years Sonos became the most beloved way to enjoy music throughout my home and millions of others.

Eight years ago, I was honored to be asked to join the Sonos board. Five months ago, as the team worked through the app recovery, I was lucky enough to get to know a wider swath of you personally – and to see firsthand your dedication to setting things right.

Last week, I was asked to step in as interim CEO.

Perhaps the most important thing for you to know today is that I’m here because I love this company, this product family and this brand. For nearly two decades, I’ve listened to music throughout my home on Sonos every day. In the last decade, I’ve binged every streaming phenomenon with dazzling surround from our Sonos soundbars. In recent years and when I was traveling, it was a Sonos Roam that made its way into my backpack. These days, every night I’m careful not to wake my sleeping family by watching audio-swapped television on my Sonos Ace.

I know as well as anyone the incredible power of what we can do. A Sonos Move was playing in the delivery room when my daughter (11 months just last week!) was born. Sonos provides a similar soundtrack for millions of lives throughout the world every single day. When it all works, it’s absolute magic.

It’s also true that when it doesn’t work, our customers are taken out of the moment and are right to feel that we’ve let them down. I think we’ll all agree that this year we’ve let far too many people down. As we’ve seen, getting some important things right (Arc Ultra and Ace are remarkable products!) is just not enough when our customers’ alarms don’t go off, their kids can’t hear their playlist during breakfast, their surrounds don’t fire, or they can’t pause the music in time to answer the buzzing doorbell.

I’m here to get us back on track. But is getting back on track enough?

I think the answer is clearly no. Getting back to basics is necessary, but clearly not enough to unlock the future we all envision for Sonos. So as delighted as I’ll be when every Sonos customer I meet tells me “You work at Sonos!? I love my Sonos!”, what really gets me up in the morning is the idea that we can expand the Sonos platform well beyond “out loud audio at home.”

I’ve heard from many of you about your own frustrations about how far we’ve drifted from our shared ideals. There’s a tremendous amount of work in front of us, including what I’m sure will be some very challenging moments, decisions, and trade-offs, but I’m energized by the passion I see all around me for doing right by our customers and getting back to the innovation that is at the heart of Sonos’ incredible history.

While I’m here today as “interim” CEO, please make no mistake: I’m here to move us forward. This is not a time for Sonos to be stuck in limbo. I’ve relocated to Santa Barbara and my family will join me here shortly. I’m in the office today and for as long as the job is mine. I’m counting on your help in making today the first day in our collective future. I’ll greet you all live tomorrow (see calendars for the meeting invite). It will be recorded and shared with those who aren’t able to attend. I’ll also be visiting our offices outside of California in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to meet all of you and start building towards a new chapter for Sonos.

Onward!

Tom

PS: As you get to know me in the coming weeks and months, you’ll find that I have many of the clichéd interests of an aging technology hipster, including an arm full of tattoos (see also: “Can I tell you about my interest in light roast espresso, vinyl records and Leica photography?”). While all of this rightfully might inspire some eye rolls (including from my wife), I hope it will make at least some of you smile to know that my most prominent tattoo is a pair of Sonos Ace on my left forearm.

The saga began with the botched app launch in May, a release that Sonos fans described as buggy and incomplete. Missing features and performance issues led to an outcry, and Sonos’ community forums and subreddit were flooded with complaints. The app’s troubles overshadowed the launch of the Sonos Ace headphones, which struggled to gain traction amid the chaos.

Throughout the summer and fall, Sonos rolled out a series of updates and fixes, slowly patching the app and restoring some of its missing functionalities. Despite these efforts, customer satisfaction remained low. Complaints about speakers vanishing from the app and other glitches persisted, even as the company tried to restore faith in their new software.

Sonos’ leadership took steps to address the issues, including hiring a crisis management firm and outlining a plan to avoid similar mistakes in the future. But for many, it was too little, too late. The app’s failure not only hurt customer trust but also led to financial shortfalls and internal strife, with some employees privately placing blame on chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin.

Spence, who had been with Sonos since 2012, oversaw several successful hardware launches, including the Arc Ultra soundbar and the Era 300 spatial audio speaker. However, his failure to immediately address the app’s shortcomings tarnished his reputation. He’ll remain with Sonos until June 30, providing strategic advisory services and receiving a hefty severance package.

Despite the leadership shake-up, it seems Sonos remains committed to its new app and has no plans to revert to the old version. Conrad and the team are focused on winning back customer trust and pushing forward with innovation. Rumors suggest that Sonos’ next major product could be a streaming video player, positioning the company to compete with heavyweights like Apple and Amazon in the living room space.

As things stand, all eyes will be on Conrad and his ability to deliver on the promises made. With a full product pipeline and a renewed focus on customer experience, Sonos is aiming to turn the page and write a new, more harmonious tune.

Featured image: Sonos