Nia Smith on Crafting the Perfect At-Home Listening Experience

The at-home listening experience has long been a fundamental part of the creative process for singer/songwriter Nia Smith. The native Londoner first gained international notoriety during the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown, when her home—by necessity—also functioned as her recording space and listening lab. Initially posting slowed-down, soulful covers of songs by Bruno Mars, Adele, and more to TikTok (where they quickly went viral), she soon began introducing original music, which was embraced with equal fervor by fans and music industry insiders. 

Smith has been prolific in the past several years. Her first EP, “Give Up the Fear,” was released in 2024 and her sophomore release “Payback Is a Dog” is now available on streaming platforms. Even as her reach as a musician grows exponentially bigger, she still considers home among the most important places to listen to and experience music, often relying on her Sonos speakers—like the portable Sonos Play, which can be easily carried from room to room—for the best sound quality.

While previous episodes of the Sound Conductors series have taken the role of conductor quite literally, placing artists like Masego and BUNT. in front of actual orchestras with beautiful final results, this episode—featuring Smith—demonstrates how Sonos empowers music lovers to customize the way they listen to music within their own private spaces. For Smith, this frequently means highlighting the subtle sonic details in her own songwriting.

She explains, “I want to conduct a listening experience in my home that allows me to discover new things about music that I love: being able to hear the highs and lows, hearing the bass and the sub, which is so important to me as an artist.”

As her music catalog grows, Smith frequently invites friends over to her South London home for listening parties, relying on the Sonos Era 300, the Sonos Arc Ultra, and Sonos Sub to reproduce even the slightest of embellishments on the recording. 

“Getting to hear my music in my home, really hearing every layer, is so important to me and who I am as a musician,” she says, later adding, “Sonos allows my loved ones to hear my song the way it’s meant to be felt and heard.”

Recently, Smith had friends over to listen to her new single “High,” a meandering, introspective coda to a relationship that is no longer working despite her best efforts.

“‘High’ is a song that is part of my evolution as an artist,” she describes. “[It’s about] growing in and out of things. Growing in and out of love with places and people.”

While “High” contemplates the quiet realization that something precious has come to a close, Smith hopes that her music will resonate with listeners and remind them that they’re not alone in their experiences.

She says, “When people listen to my music, I want them to feel comforted. I want them to feel seen and heard and that they’re not alone, and with surround sound, it allows me to let them be immersed in the music and get lost in it.”

Like the music itself, Sonos creates a sense of connection and immersion, even during quiet moments alone. For those who choose to engage in community more literally, portable speakers provide equally intimate and detailed listening experiences, even at a park or barbeque.

As the world experiences more of Nia Smith’s music, which she once aptly described as “honest to the core and for the soul,” Smith continues to grow into herself as an artist who stays true to herself and empowers others by example.

“Who I hope to become is someone who stands firm, someone who people can look up to and feel seen by,” she says.

We’ll be watching…and listening.

Catch Nia Smith on R&B Rising, streaming on Sonos Radio.