How to Connect Amazon Music to Your Echo

Enjoy millions of songs from Amazon Music on your Alexa device

By
Joli Ballew
Joli Ballew
Joli Ballew
Writer
  • University of Texas
Joli Ballew is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire and Microsoft MVP, Lynda.com trainer, Microsoft Press author, and college professor.
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Updated on August 2, 2021
Reviewed by
Jessica Kormos
Jessica Kormos
Reviewed by Jessica Kormos
  • Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others.
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What to Know

  • To start playing music on your Amazon Echo, say, “Alexa, play Amazon Music.”
  • You can also ask for a specific song, artist, or genre.
  • Other Alexa music commands include, “Alexa, skip this song” and “Alexa, volume up/down.”

This article explains how to connect Amazon Prime Music to all models of the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and other devices compatible with Amazon's voice assistant.

How to Link Prime Music to Your Alexa Device

Amazon Prime subscribers can stream more than 2 million songs for free on any Amazon Echo using simple voice commands. It's also possible to link other music services to your Alexa device. To start playing music on your Amazon Echo, give one of the following commands:

  • “Alexa, play Amazon Music.”
  • “Alexa, play Prime Music.”
  • “Alexa, play music.”

While this article uses "Alexa" as the wake word for commands, you can also use "Amazon," "Computer," "Echo," or "Ziggy."

Alexa will choose a station she thinks you might like based on any data she's picked up from music you’ve purchased through Amazon.

To get more specific, call out a genre, artist, or song by name. Experiment with commands until you find what you want to hear. Alexa will let you know if it isn’t in her library.

A picture of the Amazon Prime Music app showing what's playing on an Echo device.
 Joli Ballew

Amazon Music Alexa Commands

Here are examples of Alexa commands that are specific to Amazon Music:

Alexa Commands for Amazon Music
Command Effect

“Alexa, play folk music.” 

 Alexa plays a station in that genre. (Also try classical, reggae, pop, country, and so on)
“Alexa, play 80s tunes”.  Alexa to plays the decade named. (Try other decades)
“Alexa, play party tunes”;” Alexa, play dance songs”; “Alexa, play the most popular Ed Sheeran album.” Alexa plays matching songs.

“Alexa, play music for 12 hours.”

 Alexa plays music for the named time period.
“Alexa, play music until until 3:30 p.m.” Alexa plays music until the named time.
“Alexa, play top 40 songs.” Alexa plays the most popular tracks on Amazon Music.

If Alexa won’t play Amazon Music (or has other playback problems), unplug your device and plug it back in. This is the Echo equivalent of rebooting.

How to Manage What’s Playing on Amazon’s Echo

Once the music starts to play, control playback using specific commands. For example, say, “Alexa, skip this song”, or, “Alexa, restart this song." Here are a few more commands to try. Just say “Alexa," and then continue with the command:

  • Volume up or Volume down
  • Who is this artist?
  • What song is this?
  • Stop or Pause
  • Next or Previous
  • Shuffle or Stop Shuffle
  • Listen to my playlist.
  • Play a station I haven’t heard in a while
  • Play something more like this
  • Play the artist I was listening to yesterday
  • Thumbs up or Thumbs down (to let Alexa know you like/dislike a song)

Amazon Music Free vs. Paid Plans

Each Amazon Prime membership comes with one free Amazon Music account with access to 2 million songs. If you want access to the full library, or you want to add family members, then you’ll have to upgrade to one of Amazon’s paid music plans. Anyone who is not a Prime member can subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited for a monthly fee.

Which Devices Play Amazon Music?

You can listen to Amazon Music on any of these devices:

Streaming Other Music Services With Alexa

You can listen to free music and radio stations on any Alexa device, and you can stream music to your Amazon Echo from any compatible tablet, smartphone, or computer.

Alexa can even play third-party music services such as Spotify and iTunes through your Echo device if paired with a mobile device. To connect your smartphone or tablet to the Echo via Bluetooth: 

  1. Access your Bluetooth pairing list on your mobile device.

  2. Say “Alexa, pair.”

  3. Tap Echo on the Bluetooth listing your mobile device to connect.

  4. Play the music on your mobile device to send it through your Echo speaker.

To switch Alexa's default music service from Amazon Music to something else:

  1. Open the Amazon app on your smartphone or other device.

  2. Select Settings > Music & Podcasts > Default Services.

    Settings > Music & Podcasts > Default Services

  3. Select the desired service and tap Done.

What Can Else Alexa Play Besides Music?

In addition to live radio stations, Alexa can stream podcasts, news broadcasts, and much more. Try commands like these to explore everything Alexa has to offer:

  • “Alexa, play NPR.”
  • “Alexa, play CNN.”
  • “Alexa, play Ted Talks.”
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