Can Alexa Play iTunes or Apple Music?

Yes, there's more than one way to listen to your Apple music with Alexa

By

Michael Archambault

Updated on April 28, 2021

Reviewed by

Ryan Perian

AI & Science

What to Know

To play Apple Music on Alexa: More > Settings > Music & Podcasts > Link New Service. Choose Apple Music and log in to that account.
You can make Apple Music the default for certain Alexa commands by going to More > Settings > Music & Podcasts > Default Services.
If you don't use Apple Music, you can stream iTunes songs to Alexa using a Bluetooth connection.

If you've picked up an Amazon Echo device with Alexa, you might be wondering how to stream your music from iTunes since, thanks to the iPod years, many of us have amassed quite a collection. Good news: You don't need to leave that collection behind. Whether you want to play iTunes music that you purchased or stream your Apple Music subscription, we've got you covered.

Stream Apple Music With Alexa

If you jumped on board the music service streaming train, you may be using Apple Music to get your favorite tunes. Luckily, Amazon and Apple have designed their services to work together seamlessly. If you have an Amazon Echo device, take these steps to set up Apple Music within the Alexa app on your Android or iOS device.

This tutorial assumes you already set up your Amazon Alexa device. If you haven't done that yet, take care of it before continuing with these instructions.

Open the Alexa app on your smartphone. If you don't have it yet, here's the Alexa app for iOS and the Alexa app for Android.
Select More.
Select the Settings option, then Music & Podcasts.
Select the Link New Service (+) option.
Select Apple Music from the service options.
Select Enable to Use, then log in with your Apple username and password.
To set Apple Music as the default streaming service, go back into the Music & Podcasts menu and select Default Services. You can choose a default app for the commands "Alexa, play music" or "Alexa, play a rock station."
That's it! Just ask Alexa to play a song, album, artist, or playlist, and it will access your Apple Music library.

Stream iTunes Music With Alexa

If you aren't using Apple Music, but still have a backlog of purchased iTunes music on your Mac, PC, or smartphone, you can stream your library to an Echo device using a Bluetooth connection. While connecting devices vary from platform to platform, follow these general steps to get your device up and running.

Once your device is set up, you can have Alexa play music via Bluetooth by saying, "Alexa, connect to my smartphone."

Open the Settings app on your PC, Mac, or smartphone, and navigate to the Bluetooth option. Make sure it's switched on.
Tell Alexa, "Connect to a new Bluetooth device."
From your smartphone or computer, click the Echo option once it appears in the device list to establish a connection.

The Echo device name may be followed by a random collection of letters and numbers. This is normal.
Any content you play through your device, including your iTunes library, will now stream to Alexa. To have Alexa disconnect from your device say, "Alexa, disconnect from my device."

Set up a Plex Media Server

Another option for streaming your existing media files from iTunes to your Amazon Echo device includes setting up a media server such as Plex. Some network-attached storage options such as the WD My Cloud and additional offerings by Drobo, Synology, and Seagate, offer built-in Plex servers.

If you're looking to set up a Plex server on your Mac or PC, follow this detailed tutorial to complete the task. Once it's ready, enable Plex with your Alexa device.

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