Sonos Gets New CEO After App Disaster

Sonos today named interim CEO Tom Conrad as its permanent CEO, officially replacing Patrick Spence after he stepped down back in January.

sonos logo
Spence was CEO of Sonos for eight years, and he oversaw the disastrous app redesign that disappointed Sonos customers due to missing features and poor performance. Sonos had to delay product launches in order to focus on fixing the app, and ultimately laid off 100 employees.

Tom Conrad co-founded music service Pandora, and he was vice president of product at Snap and Chief Product Officer at Quibi. He also served on the Sonos board before being appointed interim CEO. Sonos was searching for a replacement CEO, but Conrad has been successful turning things around at Sonos over the past six months.

Conrad has been named Sonos' CEO, and he will also remain on the Board of Directors.

"Following a comprehensive and competitive search, the Board is confident that Tom is the best person to lead Sonos into its next chapter of delighting customers, spearheading innovation, and driving growth," said Julius Genachowski, Chair of the Board. "Over the past six months, Tom has earned the confidence of our employees, customers, partners and shareholders by restoring urgency and a deep commitment to delivering ever-improving experiences. He has a compelling vision for Sonos' future, with strong plans to harness technology to benefit our customers, as AI and other advances reframe the landscape and unlock new opportunities. We're energized by what Sonos' next chapter holds for all our stakeholders."

Sonos was able to improve its app and launch the Sonos Ace headphones and the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar under Conrad's leadership. Conrad said that he is excited to "move from rebuilding to imagining the next generation of experiences."

Tag: Sonos

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
apple intelligence black

Report: Apple's AI Strategy Could Finally Pay Off in 2026

Tuesday December 30, 2025 9:01 am PST by
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues. The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
apple fitness 2026 1

Apple Teases 'Something Big' Coming Soon to Apple Fitness+

Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+. What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year? Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+ The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here 2026 Plans Still Under ...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max Users Report Static Speaker Noise While Charging

Tuesday December 30, 2025 10:39 am PST by
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max owners are having trouble with the speakers of their devices, and have complained about a static or hissing noise that occurs when the iPhone is charging. There are multiple discussions about the issue on Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and Apple's Support Community, where affected users say there is a noticeable static noise "like an old radio." Some people report...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With a Rough iPhone Fold Mockup

Monday December 29, 2025 10:55 am PST by
Apple is rumored to be introducing a foldable iPhone in September 2026, and since it will bring the biggest form factor change since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, curiosity about the design is high. A 3D designer created an iPhone Fold design based on rumors, and we printed it out to see how it compares to Apple's current iPhones. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

What's Happening With the Mac Pro?

Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro. Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...
macbook air march 2020

Apple Says Final Intel MacBook Air and Apple Watch Series 5 Now 'Vintage'

Wednesday December 31, 2025 8:39 am PST by
Apple today added the final 13-inch MacBook Air powered by Intel processors, the Apple Watch Series 5, and additional products to its vintage products list. The iPhone 11 Pro was also added to the list after the iPhone 11 Pro Max was added back in September. The full list of products added to Apple's vintage and obsolete list today: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) iPhone 8 Plus 128GB ...

Top Rated Comments

ThomasJL Avatar
23 weeks ago
Apple should get a new CEO, preferably Scott Forstall.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Plutonius Avatar
23 weeks ago
Even bad CEOs get paid very well.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maruyama Avatar
23 weeks ago
Quibi! Haven't heard that name in a while. Surprised the board even mentioned that one given his otherwise impressive resume.

Is the Sonos app decent now?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrgraff Avatar
23 weeks ago

Even bad CEOs get paid very well.
And fired ones too. Nearly $2million in severance. ('https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/13/24342179/sonos-ceo-patrick-spence-resignation-reason-app')
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
erihp Avatar
23 weeks ago

And fired ones too. Nearly $2million in severance. ('https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/13/24342179/sonos-ceo-patrick-spence-resignation-reason-app')
Hey, gotta keep paying those big bills living the (ex)CEO lifestyle while managing to 'fail up' into a new role.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Agent007 Avatar
23 weeks ago
I've never owned any Sonos products but I read about this debacle last year. As I understand it, Sonos' new app made major UX changes and bricked many older products. [S]They apologized[/S] Their PR unit responded with formulaic damage-control and the obligatory vague corporate promise to do better in the future.

Since I trust that most of you aren't bots, I want to hear from the Sonos users - did Sonos right their wrongs? Did any of you abandon them for good? How's the ANC on Ace vs. Sony XM5's, APM, or Bose QC? Any major gripes with the Ace overall? I've seen big discounts recently - low-mid $200's range new.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)