How to use Spotify on an Amazon Alexa

22 Oct 2024, 21:17 by Irene Okpanachi · Android Police

Before now, only Spotify Premium subscribers could use the music streaming service on Alexa-compatible speakers. Now, you can manipulate your favorite songs, podcasts, and playlists with your voice, even with the free plan. Say a command to skip tracks, adjust the volume, or manage playback in different rooms and on multiple devices. Amazon promotes its Music app as the default service on its speakers. If you prefer Spotify, here's how to set it up on your devices and enjoy seamless control.

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Do you need a Premium account to use Spotify on Alexa devices?

You don't need Spotify Premium to use the streaming service on your Alexa-supported device to give voice commands and manage playback across multiple devices. The app was updated in 2019 to reflect this change. However, a Premium account offers extra features like ad-free listening, offline playback, and on-demand song selection.

If you don't have Premium, you’ll hear ads and can't play individual songs on demand. Instead, Spotify shuffles the playlist or generates a mix of similar tracks, with ads popping up throughout the playback.

Spotify supports many devices. It is compatible with the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Spot, Echo Show, Amazon Tap, and Fire TV Cube. It also works with the Facebook Portal, Portal+, and all Sonos speakers.

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How to link Spotify with your Alexa device

You need three things to connect Amazon Alexa to Spotify: your Amazon device, the Amazon Alexa app on your phone or tablet, and your Spotify login info. When you have these items, follow the steps below:

Download the Amazon Alexa app, open it, and sign in with your Amazon account.
Go to the Devices menu to connect your speaker to the app.
Tap More in the lower-right corner.
Go to Settings > Music & Podcasts.
You’ll see two tabs for personal and family defaults if you set up an Amazon Household. Your personal tab applies music preferences when Alexa recognizes your voice. The Family tab applies settings when a household member asks Alexa to play music. Select Link new service under your preferred tab.
Select Spotify.
Tap Enable to use. The app detects your Spotify account or prompts you to sign in through an in-app web page.
When you sign in, Spotify asks for permission to connect to Alexa. Select Agree.

How to set Spotify as your default music service on Alexa devices

You must say "on Spotify" after every command when you ask Alexa to play music on your Amazon device. It isn't a big deal, but it can be a minor annoyance if you use Alexa for music. Set the streaming service as your default choice to bypass it.

If you use more than one app for music or podcasts, such as Spotify for music and Deezer for podcasts, you can set each as a default. This way, Alexa knows which app to use for music and which one to use for podcasts without you needing to specify every time.

When you link Spotify to the Alexa app, you'll see a prompt to make it your default streaming app. If you accidentally skipped it, follow these steps:

Open the Amazon Alexa app.
Tap More in the lower-right corner.
Go to Settings > Music & Podcasts.
Tap Your Default Services.
Tap Change beside Amazon Music.
Select Spotify.

Now, you can stream music effortlessly with Alexa on Spotify. When you use Alexa in English, it may struggle to recognize or respond correctly to names and titles that aren't in English. For example, suppose you ask Alexa to play a song by a non-English artist, like "Patadas de Ahogado" by Humbe. It might not recognize the song title correctly if you pronounce it with an accent or say it quickly.

It helps if you pronounce names and titles as clearly as possible. Breaking the names into syllables or using phonetic spelling may improve Alexa's voice recognition.

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How to play Spotify music on Amazon multi-room speakers

You may have several Bluetooth speakers scattered around your house and want to play Spotify music on them simultaneously. It's possible with Amazon's Multi-room Music group feature. It supports various services, including Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify.

Alexa plays audio from Amazon Music just fine across different speakers. However, Spotify isn't fully compatible with third-party devices. So, it may be problematic. Still, it's worth a shot. Here's how to set it up:

Open the Amazon Alexa app.
Tap Devices at the bottom.
Tap + in the upper-right corner.
Select Combine speakers.
Choose Multi-room music from the options and select your speakers. Connect them to the same Wi-Fi network so that the app discovers them.
Follow the prompts to complete the setup.

Be specific when commanding Alexa to play music in different rooms. Say phrases like "Alexa, play Burning Hour by Jadu Heart in the kitchen" or "Alexa, play my workout playlist everywhere." This way, Alexa knows where to play your music.

How to play music on multiple speakers with Spotify Jam

Spotify Jam offers another way to play music across multiple Alexa-supported devices. The feature replaces Group Sessions. Jam works similarly, allowing multiple users to listen to the same music simultaneously. It's ideal for households where different people have Spotify accounts and enjoy listening to music together. Only premium users can create a Jam. Premium users have more options than free plan users.

You'll start a Jam as a host and invite friends to join. Then, everyone can contribute to the playlist in real time. As the host, others can join your Jam remotely and listen on their device or speaker, even if they aren't in the same location as you. If they use a free Spotify account, they can only use their device to play music in the Jam if they're physically in the same location.

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How to play music on Alexa devices with Spotify Connect

Spotify Connect streams music directly from the platform's servers over the internet instead of your phone. You'll control playback while the phone and the output device are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Spotify Connect is similar to Bluetooth. The key difference lies in how the music is streamed. With Bluetooth, your phone or tablet sends the audio to the speaker. You're limited by range, and compression reduces the sound quality. Spotify Connect streams music from the cloud to your speaker, bypassing your phone as the source.

Your phone is only the remote control, which means better sound quality and no range limits. Plus, it doesn't drain your phone's battery. However, it uses more internet bandwidth than Bluetooth.

You need a Spotify Premium subscription to use Connect on some devices. You'll see the indication when connecting it to the mobile web player.

Here's how to use the feature:

Connect your phone and the Amazon device to the same Wi-Fi network.
Open the Spotify app and play anything.
Tap the device connect button in the lower-left corner of the playback screen.
Select the Amazon device on which you want to play music.

Let your Amazon devices echo Spotify

Enjoy the numerous ways to stream your favorite music on Spotify. You can go further to improve your experience with different tweaks. For one, set the streaming quality to Very High for the best sound. Second, use private listening to keep your music choices to yourself. Finally, turn on gapless playback for smooth transitions between songs.