Amazon Echo speakers let you stream music from a variety of services and devices. Typically, you give the command ‘Alexa, play music’ followed by the name of the streaming partner. If you regularly use a service like Spotify, you can avoid adding the streaming partner name to your command by making it the default provider. That’s what we’re going to tell you in this article. Let’s see how to add Spotify as the default music service on Amazon Echo.
Previously, users in certain regions were able to enjoy listening to Spotify on Amazon Echo, as the service was limited to Spotify Premium subscribers. In some countries, the Spotify service on the Echo was unavailable for premium and free subscribers. Thankfully, that changed recently when Spotify made streaming available in several countries for Spotify Free users in the UK, Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Mexico, and India.
Let’s see how to connect Spotify to Amazon Echo and make it the default music provider.
How to Connect Spotify and Default for Music on Amazon Echo
You will need the Alexa app for this procedure. The general idea is divided into two methods – connect Spotify with Amazon and make it a default provider. Let’s check the steps.
Connect Spotify to Amazon Echo
Before making Spotify the default music provider, it is important to connect the Spotify account to your Amazon Echo device. Here are the same steps.
Stage 1: Launch the Alexa app on your smartphone. If you haven’t set it up yet, sign in to the Amazon account registered on your Echo device. You should check out our guide on how to set up the Echo like a pro.
Step 2: Tap the three-bar icon at the top. Select Settings from the menu.
Stage 3: Scroll down and tap on Music.
Step 4: Tap Connect New Service. Select Spotify on the next screen.
Note: If you don’t see Spotify, it may not be supported by Amazon Echo in your country. Alternatively, it may still be spreading in your area. So try it after a few hours or a day.
Step 5: You will be redirected to the Spotify skill page. Tap Activate to use it.
Step 6: Now, you will need to add your Spotify account. For that, tap Settings on the Spotify skills screen. On the next screen, tap on the Link account.
Step 7: Log in with your Spotify account information and accept the terms and conditions. When finished, you will see the confirmation screen.
Another way to connect Spotify and Echo is to issue the command ‘Alexa, enable Spotify skill’. This will add Spotify to the list of available music services in Settings > Music in the Alexa app. Then tap on Spotify and follow steps 6 and 7 above to link the accounts.
Make Spotify Default for Music on Amazon Echo
After connecting Spotify in the Alexa app, you can easily make it the default service. If you don’t, you will have to use Spotify at the end of all your voice commands. For example, ‘Alexa, play XYZ playlist on Spotify.’ If Spotify is not the default provider, it will get music from the Amazon music service or another default service. Sometimes, Echo won’t play any music, check various ways to fix the problem.
Here are the steps to make Spotify the default music service.
Stage 1: Open the Alexa app and go to Settings from the three-bar icon.
Step 2: Tap Music, then tap Default services.
Stage 3: Tap Spotify to choose it as the Default Music Library. You can also choose Spotify as the default station.
How to Control Spotify on Amazon Echo
Once Alexa and Spotify are successfully connected and something starts playing, you can control it in several ways. First, you can use the Alexa app or over the web at alexa.amazon.com. You can also use the Spotify app or the web version at open.spotify.com.
Finally, you can use the following Spotify commands on your Echo device:
- Alexa, Play Spotify
- Alexa, Play (name of playlist)
- Alexa like this song
- Alexa, what is playing
- Alexa, play My Discovery weekly
- Alexa, Shuffle (playlist name) playlist
If playlists do not work as intended, say ‘Alexa, playlist (playlist name) playlist’. If Alexa plays a random playlist instead of the playlist you created, Mine at your disposal, namely, ‘Alexa, play my top songs playlist.’
Fly: Avoid using punctuation, abbreviations, or difficult titles as your Spotify playlist names.
Bonus: Set Spotify Alarms on Echo
Besides playing songs from Spotify, you can use Spotify to set a particular song, playlist or artist as your alarm tone on Echo. For this, issue commands like:
- Alexa, wake me up at 7:00 am with the best playlist
- Alexa, wake me up at 8:30 am to Somebody’s me
Alexa Won’t Play Spotify
Sometimes you will be annoyed by the lack of communication between Alexa and Spotify. If Alexa is not playing from Spotify, update the Alexa app or reconnect your Spotify account to the Echo. You can also try to disable Spotify Skill and then enable it again.
Competition Strong
We are glad that Spotify is finally available for Free users in many countries on the Echo. With the competition growing day by day, it was time for Spotify to introduce this feature. Amazon has its own music service that offers great competition to Spotify. Even YouTube Music and Apple Music offer great services. Speaking of Apple Music, you can use the same steps mentioned above to connect Apple Music to Echo. The only difference is, you have to choose Apple Music instead of Spotify.
Next: Skills empower your Amazon Echo. Check out 13 awesome Echo skills that you might find interesting in the next link.