John Thomson, WiFi HiFi and Patrick Spence, Sonos
John Thomson, Publisher of WiFi HiFi (left) with Patrick Spence, former CEO of Sonos at CEDIA Expo 2018 in San Diego, CA.

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence Steps Down

Sonos. Inc. CEO Patrick Spence has stepped down from his post, a decision agreed upon by Spence and the Sonos Board of Directors. Tom Conrad, an independent member of the Board since 2017, has stepped in as Interim CEO, effective today.

The Board, meanwhile, has begun its search for a new CEO with the assistance of an executive search firm. The Board says it is “committed to identifying a leader who will build on the Sonos legacy of innovation and excellence in serving its customers while also driving profitable growth.”

Sonos says the leadership change is unrelated to the company’s fiscal first quarter results, which will be reported on February 6, 2025, and for which the company is providing no update at this time.

Sonos Ace

However, many predicted this decision would be forthcoming following a rocky year for the company. It started with a major app overhaul to accommodate the Sonos Ace headphones, the brand’s long-awaited first pair of headphones. While the app was redesigned to accommodate some of the great features of these ‘phones, it also presented numerous issues. There were loved features that were removed and features that stopped working. Sonos apologized for the error and promised to slowly release updates, fixes, and renewed features. But these came slowly and often after the promised deadlines. To says fans were furious would be an understatement.

“On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Patrick for his contributions as CEO,” says Julius Genachowski, Chair of the Board of Directors. “During his tenure, Patrick built on our pioneering success in wireless home audio and led the company’s expansion into premium audio for home theatre, portables, and headphones. We appreciate Patrick’s dedication to Sonos.

“Tom’s mandate is to improve the Sonos core experience for our customers, while optimizing our business to drive innovation and financial performance,” Genachowski continued. “With his deep product expertise and long-term relationship with Sonos, Tom is uniquely suited to guide the company forward during the transition and the Board looks forward to partnering with him closely. We are excited about the opportunity ahead.”

“I am deeply honoured to step into this role at such an important moment for Sonos,” adds Conrad. “Nearly two decades ago, when I led the earliest initiative to integrate Pandora and Sonos, I got my first glimpse of the magic that Sonos could bring to millions of lives every day. I am excited to work with our team to restore the reliability and user experience that have defined Sonos, while bringing innovative new products to market. Together, we will focus on delivering extraordinary experiences for our customers and strong results for our shareholders.”

John Thomson, WiFi HiFi and Patrick Spence, Sonos
John Thomson, Publisher of WiFi HiFi (left) with Patrick Spence, former CEO of Sonos at CEDIA Expo 2018 in San Diego, CA.

Conrad has served on the Sonos Board of Directors since 2017 and is a seasoned leader in consumer technology with over three decades of experience. He is the outgoing CEO of Zero Longevity Science, where he has driven growth for its subscription digital health platform since 2021. He previously served as the chief product officer of Quibi, a short form streaming service where he helped build the team and product from scratch. Conrad was the vice president of product at Snap Inc., where he oversaw numerous product innovations that solidified Snapchat as a leader in the social media landscape.

Previous to that, Conrad served as chief technology officer and executive vice president of product at Pandora, where he was among the original creators of the music streaming service. During his decade-long tenure, he drove the development of Pandora’s personalized music experience, helping the company scale to tens of millions of users. At the start of his career, Conrad worked at Apple building the foundational user interface of the Macintosh. He holds a B.S.E in computer engineering from the University of Michigan.