Why would you want to setup Spotify with Alexa? It is because Spotify has always been one of the most widely popular music streaming services out there. What makes it one of the prominent services is its ability to connect with practically almost all devices and platforms. One such device or platform we would want to explore today is the Amazon Alexa. Of course, Alexa in itself is not a device but a service. But how about connecting your Spotify account with the Alexa enabled devices?
Spotify on Alexa – An Overview
The combination of Alexa and Spotify should indeed be an ideal combination. With more than 70 million subscribers on the service, Spotify is always a great option as a music streaming service. Moreover, Amazon Alexa is one of the prominent options as a perfect personal virtual voice assistant.
Combining the two services would ideally be one of the unique options you would want to move to. You would then be able to ask Alexa to play songs, pause and resume the services and opt for the perfect communication between Alexa and Spotify.
How to Setup Spotify with Alexa?
Setting up a Spotify account with Alexa would be an excellent option and will involve a few smooth and straightforward functionality. The functionality will include a few separate steps.
Let us explore each of the steps one by one.
Create a Spotify Account
If you want to work with the Alexa personal assistant and want to connect your Spotify account with Alexa, you will need to create a Spotify Premium account. Yes, you heard it right. The Alexa integration would require you to have a Premium Spotify account.
Alexa will be able to access your playlists and library only if you have a premium account. Here are the steps involved in creating the Spotify Premium Account –
- Visit the Spotify Sign up page
- You can sign-up using your email ID or even decide to sign in with Facebook.
- Choose a password of your preference for your Spotify account.
- Then, chose a nickname for your account. This name will tag your profile.
- Enter your date of birth.
- Select your gender
- Enter the Captcha text to prove that you are human.
Once you have created your Spotify account, the next step would be to upgrade to the premium account. Follow the steps here for updating your Spotify account to Premium.
- You should find the option to upgrade your Spotify account.
- Enter your credit card details or a PayPal account details as per your preference for the payment.
You will get 30 days of free trial and will continue to make a payment from the next month onwards.
Connect Spotify to Alexa
For using Spotify account with Alexa, you will need to link the two accounts. Make sure that your Alexa enabled device is online and connected to the same WiFi network.
Here are the steps involved in configuring your Spotify account with Amazon Alexa –
- Launch the Amazon Alexa app on your iOS and Android device.
- Tap on the cogwheel icon to go into the Alexa settings.
- Choose the option Music and Media
- Locate Spotify and tap on Link account on Spotify.com.
- Tap on the login to Spotify option
- Log in to your Spotify account either using your email address or Facebook. This would be dependent on the way you have signed up for the Spotify service.
- Go through the terms and conditions and then tap on, I Accept.
- Go through the privacy policy and click on Okay.
That should do it. You should get a confirmation prompt to indicate that your Spotify account has been linked to Amazon Alexa.
Do make Spotify your default music streaming service
Alexa and Alexa enabled devices uses Amazon Prime Music as the default music streaming service. If you really want to get the best experience on the Spotify service, we highly recommend that you configure Spotify as your default music streaming service.
Here is how you would do it –
- Locate Settings on your Amazon Alexa app.
- Move to Music and Media
- Tap on the option Choose Default Music Services
- Choose the option Spotify
- Tap on Done
That does it. You can now use Alexa commands to access your Spotify account.
That was how you would configure your Spotify account on your Alexa account. That would not be the end of it, and you will not be able to use Spotify on any of your Alexa enabled devices right away.
Connect Alexa and Spotify to Alexa Enabled Speaker
We will take the example of a Sonos speaker or soundbar as an example here to demonstrate how you would be able to connect Spotify and Alexa with your Sonos speaker. Please note that this is a representative example and you will need to opt for the critical steps concerning your specific speaker or other Alexa enabled device.
Follow the steps here below –
- Make sure that your Alexa enabled Sonos speaker, and the Alexa app are on the same WiFi network.
- Launch Alexa app and tap on the three dots at the top left corner of your screen
- Choose the option Skills
- Type in Sonos and choose the option Sonos Skills from the search results.
- Tap on the option
- Tap on Continue
- Enter your Sonos account credentials and sign in
- You should now receive the confirmation
Say, Alexa, Discover devices. Open your Sonos app and tap on Add Music Services. Choose the option Spotify. That would do it. Sonos, Alexa, and Spotify will work together and perform all the commands that you would throw at them.
Connect to the Alexa enabled devices through the app
Well, this is yet another excellent option that you would be able to connect to the Alexa enabled devices right away through your Spotify app itself. You would use the Spotify app on your phone for the purpose.
Here are the steps that would help achieve the task –
- Launch the Spotify app on your smartphone or tablet.
- On the default screen of your Spotify app, you should find the option that says, Devices Available
- Tap on the option
- Tap on the choice to select the devices available
- You should see the list of the devices that are connected to the same WiFi network.
- Tap on the device you want to connect to your Spotify account.
Please note: If you really want to connect to the specific devices, you would also need to be connected to the same WiFi network as your Spotify account.
How to Communicate with your Alexa Enabled devices through Spotify?
Well, you can communicate with Spotify, and Alexa enabled devices in many ways. Several commands can be helpful enough.
Some of the helpful commands would include
To play a song – “Alexa, play (song name)” or “Alexa play (song name) by (artist).”
To play your playlist – “Alexa, play (playlist name) on Spotify.”
To play a particular genre. Alexa can detect a few select genres – “Alexa, play (genre).”
To get more information on the song that has been playing – “Alexa, what song is playing.”
To know more about the artist for a particular track – “Alexa, who is (artist).”
To control the playback of the track currently playing – “Alexa, pause/stop/resume/previous/shuffle/unshuffle.”
To control the volume on your Alexa enabled device – “Alexa, mute/unmute/volume up/volume down/volume 1-10.”
To connect to the other Spotify accounts on the same networks – “Alexa, Spotify Connect.”
Apart from these general commands that you can issue to the Alexa enabled device, some specific commands are related to the particular Alexa enabled device you have connected to your Spotify account.
Some more generalized commands that can be helpful enough would include
- “Play Spotify.”
- “Play my Discover Weekly.”
- “Play hip-hop music.”
- “Pause.”
- “Resume Spotify.”
- “Like this song.”
- “Skip forward 20 seconds.”
- “Play the next song.”
- “What’s playing?”
- “What’s this album?”
Please note that all these commands should be prefixed with the phrase Alexa.
A few other essential Elements you should know when using Spotify with Alexa
After you have gone through the essential aspects of the tutorial for connecting your Spotify account with the Alexa enabled devices, it would be essential to go through the following:
Can you use your free Spotify account with Alexa? Well, the answer will be, unfortunately, in the negative. Most of the Alexa enabled devices will be able to connect to your Spotify account only if you are using a Premium Spotify account. As of now, Google Assistant does recognize Spotify Free. We would expect Amazon to enable the functionality to work with the Spotify Free service as well quite soon.
Moreover, then, can you use multiple Spotify accounts on your Alexa enabled devices? Ideally speaking, you would not be able to handle various Spotify accounts with Alexa. However, you can perhaps use two Amazon accounts and use them to connect with the two Spotify accounts separately.
In Conclusion
Spotify is an excellent streaming service and offers you a more significant deal of performance standard. We would think combining it with Alexa would indeed be a great choice for improving your listening experience. Make sure you follow the tips and tutorials shared here and arrive at the best possible musical experience on any of your Alexa enabled devices.