Sonos Alarm Setup for Bedtime Music at 20:00 Every Day: Planning a 5-Track Playlist

Good morning. まさきん here.

I wanted to play the same music at the same time every night to help settle the kids for bed. The Sonos system at home has an alarm feature. I have worked out a plan for using it, so here are my notes on what I decided. The alarm itself has not been set up yet.

Note: This article reflects information at the time of publication. Please check the official sites for the latest terms.

What I want to do

When 8 p.m. comes, quiet piano music starts playing from the Sonos. That repeats every night. That is what I want.

For the piece, I thought of Debussy’s “Clair de lune.” I want the music starting to be the signal that it is bedtime. Ideally, no parent has to touch a phone each time.

I fleshed out this idea while talking it over with an AI assistant. We settled four things: the source, the time, the volume, and the length. I do not know yet how well it works. This article covers only the plan.

What a Sonos alarm can do

The official Sonos guide describes alarms as follows. It is a feature that automatically plays content in a room or group at a specified time.

It looks like a wake-up feature, but you are free to choose the time. Set it for the evening and it should work for bedtime background music as well.

These are the settings I was able to confirm in the official support article.

The number of alarms you can set was listed as up to 32. Even with separate alarms for the morning wake-up and the evening music, there is plenty of room to spare.

Note that the wording of the setting names in the Japanese support article is a little inconsistent. It may differ from what the app shows. In that case, go by what the app displays.

How it differs from the sleep timer

Sonos also has a similar feature, the sleep timer. This one stops the music after a specified amount of time has passed.

The alarm “starts” and the sleep timer “stops.” If you want music to play automatically at the same time every night, the alarm is the better fit.

The alarm has a duration setting. So it looks like a single setting can cover everything through to stopping.

I chose my own playlist over a radio station

The first thing I wavered on was what to use as the source. There were two candidates. A Debussy “radio” (station), or a playlist I make myself.

A radio station is easy. But which piece it starts with is left to the service.

What I want is a signal: “when this piece plays, it is bedtime.” So starting with the same piece every night mattered. I also wanted the order fixed. For those two reasons, I went with my own playlist.

What is in the playlist

I created the playlist on YouTube Music as a private one. It is 5 tracks and about 19 minutes. Track 1 is “Clair de lune.”

One more thing I paid attention to was the performer. Even the same piano piece feels different depending on who plays it. So I mostly stuck to recordings by one pianist. Just one track is a recording by a different pianist.

I made it about 19 minutes because I plan to set the alarm duration to 20 minutes. That is just the right length for the playlist to play through once and end.

The parts the AI assistant could not do

This is where things did not go smoothly. I could not hand either the playlist creation or the alarm setup over to the AI assistant.

The Sonos integration available to the AI assistant has playback and volume controls. But I could not find any function for setting alarms. There is no function for creating a new playlist either.

So I built the playlist by opening YouTube Music in a browser. The alarm will also be set in the Sonos app. The split is that I talk through the decisions with the AI and do the setup with my own hands.

I also wrote about a do-it-yourself Sonos project in the story of building an app that shows lyrics on my phone for the song playing on our Sonos.

A quirk of the “Save” button

One thing tripped me up while building the playlist. It is how the “Save” button in YouTube Music behaves.

When I went to save the first track, a dialog for creating a new playlist appeared. That is where I gave the playlist its name.

From the second track on, no dialog appeared. Pressing the button saved the track straight into the most recent playlist. If you are adding to the same playlist in a row, that is no problem.

The values I plan to enter for the alarm

I will set up the alarm from here on. Here is a table of the values I plan to enter.

I intend to start the volume on the low side. The figure of 15 to 20 is a starting point, not a correct answer backed by evidence. I will adjust it after hearing it.

As for shuffle, I could not find any mention of it in the official support article. If the app screen has the setting, I plan to turn it OFF. Left ON, the first track would change every night.

Setup steps

The steps given in official support are as follows. These are for the Sonos app on iOS or Android.

1. Open the settings menu in the Sonos app
2. Select “Alarms”
3. Add an alarm with the plus icon
4. Set the time, room, and music
5. Adjust the volume, frequency, and duration
6. If you want it to play in the grouped rooms too, check that setting
7. Select “Save”

An alarm you have created can be selected and edited later. It is a relief not to need perfect values from the start.

The desktop app also has an alarms section. In the older-generation S1 app, the entry point is in a slightly different place. Look at the official article that matches the app you have.

Every system in the house runs on top of a network connection. Music streaming is the same. Reviewing the family’s phone bills once also keeps paying off for a long time.

Conditions for using YouTube Music as the source

Sonos supports YouTube Music. What you can use depends on the plan, though.

If you build a playlist from streamed tracks, Premium looks like a prerequisite. I also touch on YouTube Premium in my article on the Rakuten Mobile perk that makes YouTube Premium free for 3 months.

The steps for adding YouTube Music to Sonos are in YouTube Music Help. You add a music service in the Sonos app and authorize your account.

There is also a point I could not fully confirm. It is whether a YouTube Music playlist can be chosen directly as the “Music” for an alarm. The official articles did not go that far.

I have thought of a fallback in case it cannot be chosen. Sonos has a mechanism called a “Sonos playlist.” Choosing “Add to Sonos Playlist” from a track’s menu lets you build a playlist on the Sonos side. Re-adding the same 5 tracks there looks like an option.

How to think about playing in a group

When two or more Sonos speakers are grouped, they can play the same audio at the same time. You use this when you want the same music in the bedroom and another room.

The alarm has a checkbox for grouped rooms. According to the official explanation, when it is checked the alarm also plays in the rooms in the group.

I plan to include the target speaker in a group. But it would be a problem if unrelated rooms played as well. I intend to check during the first few days which rooms are grouped as of 8 p.m.

Common pitfalls

Before the setup, here are the cautions I picked up from official information. These are things I will be watching for myself from here on.

For the portable models, there is a dedicated official article. With Battery Saver enabled, the speaker powers off after 30 minutes without use. In that state, a scheduled alarm does not go off. If you plan to play it on a Roam or Move, it seems worth checking this setting.

Who it suits and who it does not

If leaving it to the service is fine, a radio station is easier. There is no prep work either. I think a homemade playlist is the choice for when you care about “starting with the same piece.”

Whether music helps children fall asleep more easily is not something this article covers. No results are in yet at my house either. If you have concerns about sleep, I think it is best to consult a specialist such as a pediatrician.

Things to check before you start

• Whether the Sonos app is up to date
• Whether the music streaming service you use has been added to Sonos
• Whether you are on a paid plan if you use streamed tracks
• Whether the playlist of music you want to play is ready
• Whether you know the total length of the playlist
• Whether you have decided which room plays and how far the group extends
• Whether you have checked the Battery Saver setting on a portable model

What to do after setting it up

Once the alarm is created, I plan to adjust it based on how the family reacts. There are two things to watch.

The first is the makeup of the tracks. If the order of the 5 tracks does not suit, I will swap them around. If I fix the playlist, I should not need to touch the alarm.

The second is the volume. I will start at 15 to 20 and lower it if it is too loud. If it is too quiet to notice, I will raise it a little.

With systems at home, the adjusting afterward lasts longer than the building. Another automation example is written up in the setup that puts school notices on our home signage.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Can Sonos play music automatically at the same time every day?

Yes, with the alarm feature. The official guide describes it as a feature that automatically plays content in a room or group at a specified time. The frequency setting lets you decide how it repeats.

Q. Can alarms be used for anything other than waking up in the morning?

You are free to set the time. So you can set it for an evening time as well. The official article did not say anything that limits its use to mornings.

Q. How are the alarm and the sleep timer different?

The alarm starts playback at a set time. The sleep timer stops the music after a specified amount of time has passed. If you want it to start automatically every night, the alarm is the right fit.

Q. After how many minutes does the alarm stop?

The alarm has a setting for how long it plays. I plan to set it to 20 minutes. The list of lengths you can choose was not in the official article. Please check the app screen.

Q. How many alarms can I create?

Official support says up to 32. I think that is enough even with separate ones for morning and night.

Q. Can I use it on the free YouTube Music plan?

On the official Sonos page, the Free plan covers songs and albums you uploaded yourself. Premium is described as the plan with access to all features. If you build a playlist from streamed tracks, Premium will probably be needed.

Q. Can it play in several rooms at once?

The alarm has a checkbox for grouped rooms. When it is checked, it also plays in the rooms that are grouped. It is reassuring to check that no room you want to keep silent is in the group.

Q. What volume should I aim for?

I could not find a set answer. I plan to start at 15 to 20. How it sounds changes with the size of the room and the speaker model. It may be best to try from the quiet side.

Official sources I referred to

• Set an alarm on Sonos (Sonos official support)
• Set a sleep timer on Sonos (Sonos official support)
• YouTube Music on Sonos (Sonos official support)
• Create or edit a Sonos playlist (Sonos official support)
• Group and ungroup rooms (Sonos official support)
• When alarms do not work on portable Sonos products (Sonos official support)
• Sonos app user guide (Sonos official)
• Use YouTube Music with other apps and devices (YouTube Music Help)

Summary

If you want bedtime background music at the same time every night, the Sonos alarm looks usable. For the source, I went with my own playlist so it can start with the same piece every night. It is 5 tracks and about 19 minutes, with a planned duration of 20 minutes.

Setting up and tuning the alarm comes next. I do not know yet whether it will run smoothly. If you are thinking about the same thing, start by deciding on the first track you want to play.

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