Daily Playlists pulling tracks from linked non-streaming Qobuz account (which are displayed as part of the Playlist but are then skipped during playback)

Roon Software Discussion
1

Hi @support @mike

Just trying the new Daily Playlists introduced in the latest release, and there is a fundamental problem with the sourcing of the tracks.

You are assuming that a Subscription service, can provide the tracks for the selection.

So just playing this “Peter Gabriel Mix”, and the selection process has selected tracks from Tidal and Qobuz.

The ones from Tidal play fine, as I have the Tidal Hifi subscription (see below), however the ones selected from Qobuz don’t play and are skipped.

My Qobuz Account doesn’t have any streaming capabilities (see below) and just used for any purchases I have made over the last 8 years I have had a Qobuz account (first purchase was Nov ‘13 so before Roon)

This status is known to Roon, as it comes back as a status on the Qobuz service login - see highlighted status in the Services Settings.

So the Daily Playlist generator needs to take this status flag into account when sourcing the tracks from the available services, so the tracks selected for the mix can be played and the integrity of the playlist is retained.

I suspect this wasn’t picked up during QA testing or with the Alpha testers, as all accounts there would have full Tidal and Qobuz accounts, so this situation would not of been met.

Also, could this capability not source the tracks from my local library first, then a steaming service?

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Hi @simon_pepper ,

Not to take away from your request, but why do you have streaming service linked to Roon that you can’t stream from?

I’m asking as my immediate thought is to disable / remove the service in Roon.

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4

Because I get the list of new releases and selections from Qobuz, as part of knowing what is coming out and available etc.
If there is some released on Qobuz not available on Tidal, then I can make an individual purchase of that material, without entering into a further monthly subscription.

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I accept this is a fix for the problem, however, the solution is that the Daily Playlist generator just needs an additional attribute that takes the Service Status flag and if no Streaming content is available, doesn’t include any material from this service.
You get the status back, as part of the Services setting, you just need to use it.

5

Plus if you recall the initial version of the Qobuz integration with Roon, it conveniently referenced any purchased material, and pulled it from your Qobuz account into your Roon.

6

Excellent thread. I am having the same issue. If this can be fixed that will also be a big win. Thank you in advance.

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Happy to test a pre-release version with a fix for this issue.

8

So it seems “this is working as designed” according to the Roon Support team.

The advice provided is to work around this product deficiency, is to Disable your Qobuz account in Roon, and not have the integration working in any form, given that the granularity provided in the Status authentication response from Qobuz can’t be factored into the selection of sources within the Daily Mixes.

Personally I think this is a ‘cop out’, an overlooked use case not factored into the design, not highlighted during testing as all those tested with, would have fully streaming Accounts with both Tidal and Qobuz.
I wouldn’t let my Developers away with it, and would bring it back into the next Sprint to complete the functionality.

9

However, when I play one of the Mixes, some of the tracks are skipped, so for instance in this mix, these highlighted ones

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They are from Qobuz and my Account with Qobuz, from 2013, predates streaming services and there is no streaming content available.

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Simon I think the problem for you is that Roon has no way to know if you have an active subscription, Only that you have a connected account.
I downloaded all of my Qobuz purchases to my Roon core and deleted the account from Roon and no problems at all.
Not a perfect solution I know, but will probably fix your problem.

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Nope Streaming content status is known to Roon

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They just haven’t used it in the functionality developed.

Also if I do as you suggest, I lose Qobuz in the ‘New Releases for You’ feed, which highlights what is New, allowing me to purchase it from Qobuz if required (or source it elsewhere).

I just need Qobuz to use the status returned in the generation of the Daily Mixes. This issue was raised upon release of Build 806, but no feedback provided or even an acknowledgment of the issue - disappointing given I have been a Roon user since the 1st Beta back in 2015

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12

Simon I understand in that case.
You just need Roon to iterate on this feature more. I imagine they see your situation as an edge case and have more work to do on Stability first.

It would be great to have some preferences that we can set for local and streaming selections.

13

Hey @simon_pepper

@Michael_Harris has the correct diagnosis for the issue you mentioned here:

If you have a non-streaming service attached to your Roon account your Daily Mixes may populate with tracks from the service that can’t be played and will be skipped. If this behavior is distracting we recommend either disconnecting the non-streaming account; or, factor in the fact that those tracks will be skipped.

Given that skipped tracks from the non-streaming account can seriously disrupt the flow and overall satisfaction provided by a great mix, we advise disconnecting the service. You could give it a try for a couple days as a test and see what you think. :v:t2:

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Hi,
But if I undertake this cause of action, then offerings from Qobuz will not appear in the ‘New Releases for you’ and I won’t be able to browse what is available from Qobuz, which I can then chose to purchase on my Qobuz account.

Sorry - I don’t understand you have the Account status, returned from Qobuz, as you are displaying it in the Services screen. A simple logic toggle in the code, will switch-off the selection of tracks from Qobux in the Daily Mixes generation.
This is the correct solution from a software development and software product perspective, just to get me to disconnect my Qobuz, because you are not correctly consuming account status, is not a solution.

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15

So, just go into Services and there is a ‘Disable’ button for the Qobuz account

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Once the Qobuz account is set in Disabled mode, then the Daily Mixes only source from Tidal (the other available streaming source) - see below.

So the code for the Daily Mixes already has logic to use Disable/Enabled status in terms of which streaming service it is sourcing the content from - so this needs to take in the returned Account Status flag in the same way that it does already for the Enable/Disabled status.

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Why don’t you browse on Qobuz itself? It seems a bit counter-intuitive to have Qobuz populate Roon with new releases when you can’t even sample them through Roon, and then you have to go to Qobuz to purchase anyway. Sample on Qobuz and then buy what you want and download to your server (and backup, of course). Problem solved.

When I was with Tidal vs Qobuz now, I would check out the new releases on the Qobuz store and then search for them in Tidal, as Tidal didn’t always have the same new releases upfront as Qobuz.

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17

But the problem, I now have is no Qobuz portal, for them to advertise what is available - which is part of my Music Discovery process, in terms of what is being released.

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So a small update to the code in the Daily Mixes regarding Enable/Disable Qobuz status, to include the Account Status flag that is returned during the Account authenication process.

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But I want just one platform, one product to manage all available content providers - isn’t that the intention of Roon?

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But you obviously don’t fully want that by leaving Qobuz disabled. Some things in life take a bit of work, music discovery being one of those, though Roon has helped that along considerably, but it’s not the end all be all. That said your request isn’t an unreasonable one, but pretty much an extreme margin case I would imagine, as I don’t see how too many people would be happy with Qobuz not actually playing through Roon and just showing album covers.

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20

Here you go:

Your use case is an odd one, and i’d prefer development time was spent on something more general, from which we’d all benefit.

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If someone would ship me the code segment - I will make the necessary changes myself, and it can be checked back into the source code control system. :grinning:

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