What is Spotify?
Spotify is a digital music streaming service that gives you access to millions of songs and podcasts from artists all over the world. You can access content for free, however there are also several ad-free Premium subscription plans you can avail of. Both versions, free and paid, can be accessed on PC, laptop, mobile, and smart speaker. You can create an account on the Spotify website if you don’t already have one.
Using Spotify with Alexa
You can connect Spotify to Alexa through your smart speaker in 6 steps.
1. Open the Alexa app for iOS or Android.
2. Select the More button on the bottom-right of your screen.
3. Once you get to this page scroll down and click on Settings.
4. In Settings, next select Music and Podcasts. You will then be invited to Link New Service.
5. Select Spotify on the link page and then select the blue Enable to Use tab, after which you will be taken to your Spotify page.
6. Log in to your Spotify account with your credentials.
Make Spotify Your Default Service
Once your Spotify account is connected to Alexa, it’s worth your time to make it the default music service. This will allow your Echo to connect to Spotify directly, taking away the “Alexa, play my Spotify…” request before then choosing the song or playlist.
When asked to select a default music service, select Music & Podcasts in Settings, which will take you to Default Services. In the Music section, select Change, and choose Spotify as your option.
Alexa commands you can try:
Now that you have linked your Spotify account to Alexa and made Spotify your default music player, you are ready to start streaming your favourite music and podcasts with basic Alexa voice commands.
Choosing music:
“Alexa, play [Type of Music]” – this command will play any genre or type of music requested, e.g. Irish Folk, Classical, Jazz.
“Alexa, Play Today’s Top Hits on Spotify” – with over 28 million followers, Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits (TTH) is the world’s biggest playlist. It offers chart-topping and show-stopping songs every day.
“Alexa, Play Best of the Decade” – give this command to Alexa to enjoy 100 popular tracks from the past 10 years.
“Alexa, Play 80s Hits” – to enjoy classics, try asking Alexa for playlists from the 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s. Just say, “Alexa play 80s Hits” or “Alexa, play 90s mix.”
Our personal favourite: “Alexa, Play the NCBI Labs Talking Technology Podcast.”
Alexa Spotify Commands Playback & Control:
“Alexa, next song.” – Alexa skips to the next song.
“Alexa, pause.” – Alexa will pause the track.
“Alexa, resume.” – Alexa will resume playing.
“Alexa, what song is this.” – Alexa tells you the name and artist of the current song playing.
“Alexa, turn up the volume.” – Alexa will turn up the volume one level.
“Alexa turn down the volume.” – Alexa will turn down the volume one level.
Now you are ready to listen to your Spotify music on your device. By connecting an Amazon Echo to your Spotify account, you have made it even simpler to listen to music through your smart speaker.