Sonos suing Google is a big deal, in part because Sonos is a unique and relatively unusual approach among hardware companies, embracing interoperability and seeking to make their hardware compatible with all legal, licensed music services.
The fact that Sonos suspected Google and others of infringing patents has been something of an open secret in music tech for a couple of years now.
What’s especially interesting is how much Sonos’ complaints mirrors the concerns of some musicians and labels who have felt that Google has used its overwhelming market power to squeeze out competition and diversity of models in music streaming, while deflating compensation.
Once again, this confirms that antitrust and antimonopoly policy are poised to be one of the biggest battlegrounds for determining what music technologies are possible, and whether we’ll get systems that encourage diversity of expression and fair compensation.
