Alexa Music: Get Pandora, Spotify, and Even YouTube Music to Play

Here are all of the options we have to stream Alexa Music so we can rock out with our Echo Dots out.  Yes, you can play Pandora, Spotify, and TuneIn using Alexa’s built-in voice commands.

But did you know you can add an Android phone to Alexa via Bluetooth and play music through your phone to have Alexa YouTube voice control?  Use this method to search for YouTube videos by voice with Alexa-enabled Echo Dot.  Read on to see how or click here to watch our video tutorial version of this guide:

Alexa Music

• Alexa uses Amazon Music as its “go-to” music service when you ask Alexa to play a particular song.  This is fine if you already have an Amazon Music account, but most people don’t!  So, here are a few ways to deal with the fact that Alexa prefers to use Amazon Music when you tell her to play a single song: 1) Pay for an Amazon Music subscription for $10/month, or 2) Connect your phone to Alexa via Bluetooth and play songs from your phone using YouTube or another music service, or 3) Go to the Settings in the Alexa App and switch the default music app from Amazon Music to Spotify.
• Pandora works very well with Alexa, and is extremely easy to use with Alexa voice commands.  To play Pandora with Alexa, just set up log into your Pandora account using the Alexa app.  Then say “Alexa, play my <Station Name> station on Pandora.”
• Spotify is another streaming Alexa music service that many people will find easy to use with voice commands
• TuneIn allow you to control their awesome radio / podcast app using voice commands.  This provides the closest thing to “actual radio stations” for satisfying your Alexa music craving.  This is my personal favorite music service for Alexa, because the ads are limited in their frequency and the music stations seem to be of high-quality tune selection.  For example, the Roots Reggae station on TuneIn plays a great selection of songs.
• YouTube is not directly supported by Alexa, but you can get Alexa YouTube play and search functions if you simply connect a phone or tablet to the Echo Dot via Bluetooth, then use Google’s voice recognition to search YouTube and/or play music from your phone.

Two Options to Search for ANY Song by Voice:

If you want to search for any song in Alexa, then you have two options.  You need to either use Amazon music, which is about 8 bucks a month, or you need to connect a second device to your Alexa using Bluetooth.  To use this method, follow these steps:

1. Say “Alexa, pair Bluetooth“
2. Turn on Bluetooth on your 2nd (Android) device, which should be an Android phone or tablet
3. Wait for Alexa to connect to your device’s Bluetooth.
4. After Bluetooth is connected, control your Android device using Google Now voice commands, like “Search YouTube for Primus”.
5. Then control the second device using Google Voice commands.  Or control Alexa using limited voice commands.  For example, you can say Alexa Pause or Alexa Play, or use the volume commands.  But when you search for movie a song, you have to search using Google commands.

So, if you have the money, it’s easier to get an Amazon music account for 8 bucks a month. This way you can use Alexa to search for any song by voice.

Wrap Up

Have any suggestions about better ways to play music on Alexa or any online music streaming services we missed?  Let us know on the KFire YouTube channel!

Ian (KFire TV Admin)

I run this website! My purpose here is to help people stream great content to their devices. With over 10 years of IT experience, I strive to educate the people who visit this site with the best, most up-to-date information available. If an article on this site helped you, then help me back by leaving a comment on my YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our mailing list for streaming add-on updates and a 60% off VPN coupon code.

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