This wikiHow teaches you how to play music from popular music services like Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, and more using Alexa. Once you've connected your music accounts, you can set one account as your primary music service and use voice commands to play music on any Alexa-enabled device.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Connecting a Music Account
Step 1. Open the Alexa app
On your Android device or iOS phone, open the Alexa mobile app and sign in to your Amazon account. This app is marked by a light blue icon with a white outline of a speech bubble.
Make sure you are logged into the same Amazon account as the account you used to register your Alexa device
Step 2. Touch
It's a three-line icon in the upper-left corner of the screen. A pop-out menu will load on the left side of the screen afterwards.
Step 3. Touch Music, Videos, & Books
This option is the first option in the menu below your name, at the top of the screen.
Step 4. Select the music service you want to connect to
The list of services is in the " Music " section of the page. Touch the music services you want to connect to your Alexa device:
- Amazon Music
- Spotify
- Pandora
- iHeartRADIO
- tunein
- SiriusXM
Step 5. Touch your account now link
Follow the steps to connect the account. Usually, you need to sign in to a subscribed music service account.
Part 2 of 3: Setting Up Main Music Services
Step 1. Touch the button on the Alexa app
It's in the top-left corner of the screen.
Step 2. Touch Settings
This option is the second from last option at the bottom of the screen.
Step 3. Touch Music & Media
This option is the first choice in the "Alexa Preferences" section.
Step 4. Touch Choose Default Music Services
It's a blue button at the bottom of the page.
Step 5. Select the main music library
Touch the music streaming service you want to set as the primary service so you can use voice commands to play music, without having to specify the service you want to use.
The available options are services that are already installed on the device
Step 6. Select the main music service
Specify the music station/radio service (eg Pandora or iHeartRADIO) that you want to set as the primary service so that you can use voice commands without having to specify the desired service.
The available options are services that are already installed on the device
Step 7. Touch Done
It's a blue button at the bottom of the page.
Part 3 of 3: Using Voice Commands
Step 1. Say "Alexa"
Mention the “wake up” command to activate Alexa. After that, the device will listen for the next command.
The device's default “wake up” command is “Alexa”, but if you've already changed it to “Echo”, “Amazon”, or another phrase, use that command
Step 2. Have Alexa play a specific artist, song, album, or genre
If you don't specify which music service you want to use to play music, Alexa will use whatever service you have set as the primary service.
- For example, you might say (in English), "Alexa, play Incense and Peppermints by the Strawberry Alarm Clock on Spotify" or "Alexa, play 60s music on Amazon" (“Alexa, play 60s music on Amazon”).
- If you mention only the name of the artist or musician, the song that plays will be randomly selected.
Step 3. Use playback controls with Alexa
Just like when you control the stereo or the music app on your phone, you can also use voice commands to control music playback.
- Pause playback, resume and stop songs: You can say in English, "Alexa, pause" ("Alexa, pause playback"), "Alexa, resume" ("Alexa, continue music"), and "Alexa, stop" ("Alexa, stop music").
- Skip a song or go back to the previous song: You can say (in English) "Alexa, skip" ("Alexa, skip this song"), "Alexa, next song/track" ("Alexa, next song/track"), or "Alexa, previous song/ track" (“Alexa, previous song/track”).
- Adjust volume: You can say in English, “Alexa, volume up/down” (“Alexa, volume up/down”) or “Alexa, volume [1-10]” (“Alexa, set volume to level [1-10] ").
Step 4. Ask a question (in English) about the currently playing song
- "Alexa, what is this song?" (“Alexa, what song is this?”)
- "Alexa, what album is this?" (“Alexa, what album is this?”)
- "Alexa, who plays this song?" (“Alexa, who sings this song?”)
- "Alexa, what year did this song come out?" (“Alexa, what year was this song released?”)
Step 5. Use the commands (in English) to search for new music or previously listened to songs
- "Alexa, play the top songs in Chicago"
- "Alexa, play the top songs in France"
- "Alexa, play more like this"
- "Alexa, play songs similar to Portugal the Man"
- "Alexa, play some Beatles songs I haven't heard in a while"
- "Alexa, play the music I was listening to on Wednesday"
- "Alexa, play what I was listening to yesterday morning"
Tips
- If you have an Amazon Prime membership, you can access the Prime Music service as long as you use your Prime account when you set up your Alexa device. You can have Alexa play any song, artist, or genre from your Prime Music library without any additional initial setup.
- To connect and use Spotify with Alexa, you need a Spotify Premium account.
