One of Alexa’s best features is her ability to play music through Echo devices. In particular, the Alexa Amazon Music combination is a match made in heaven, particularly for Amazon Prime subscribers. Alexa can also play music through other providers like Pandora, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. Depending on what someone is already subscribed to, they may want to choose one provider over another. However, if shopping around, there are numerous reasons to consider Amazon Music as the go-to music player. Here, we also compare Amazon Music to Google Play Music for those who do not yet own a smart speaker for their home.
Alexa Amazon Music
Alexa Amazon Music is a match made in tech heaven, mostly because Amazon wants its Echo owners to utilize Amazon as much as possible. (As a side note, Echo owners tend to spend more on Amazon.com than do non Echo owners.) While an unlimited subscription to Amazon Music costs non Echo owners $10 per month (after a free 30-day trial), Echo owners will only pay $4 per month. Unlimited Amazon Music lets listeners access an unlimited amount of ad-free music, which can be played on up to 10 different devices.
Activate Amazon Music On Alexa
Setting up Alexa Amazon Music is very easy once an Echo device is set up. Just make sure at least one Echo device is set up and the Alexa app is set up with your Amazon account. Amazon Music will be the default provider on the Echo device if no other service is specified. To switch over to Amazon Music from another provider, go to the Settings tab in the Alexa app, then click Accounts, and Music & Media. Then choose Amazon Music as the default service.
With a basic Amazon Music account (free), users can ask to play an artist, but not specific songs without upgrading their service to unlimited or Amazon Prime Music. To upgrade to Amazon Unlimited Music, users can simply tell their Echo device, “Alexa, sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited.” Once the 30-day free trial as expired, Amazon will charge $4 per month, until users tell Echo to downgrade the subscription. Echo owners can also upgrade through the Amazon Music app. After downloading the app and signing in, there should be several ads for users to upgrade. Simply click on one of the ads, and the Alexa Amazon Music free trial will start.
Music On Echo
The quality of music played on the Amazon Echo will depend on which Echo device is purchased. The cheapest of the bunch, the Echo Dot, is not necessarily known for projecting music beyond a single room. However, with a line-in port, it can be connected to external speakers or a record player. The 2nd generation Echo is more expensive but is designed to exist as a standalone speaker. There is the option to connect to Bluetooth speakers, but many users will find this unnecessary. Alexa can be utilized to adjust the volume, skip songs, and pause or play music. Users just need to say, “Alexa, pause” or “Alexa, turn up the volume.”
Google Play Music Versus Amazon Music
Alexa Amazon Music has competition with Google Home devices and Google Play Music. Both music subscriptions pull from similar music libraries, so the range of music will be similar. Both offer a 30-day free trial and cost $10/month to use. Overall, Alexa has many similar functions to the Google Assistant on the Google Home devices, including having the ability to set up an Alexa and Google Assistant Shortcut. The biggest difference is that Google Homeowners do not get a special discount on the music subscription like Echo owners do. Also, it is difficult to subscribe to Amazon Music on a Google Home and Google Play Music on an Echo. So if an individual is already subscribed to a music service, they may want to purchase a device that coordinates with the service.
