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Both free and premium Spotify users can now stream their favorite playlists and podcasts on the Amazon Echo range of devices. The service is already available in India and one just needs to follow. Play Spotify on Alexa through the app. You can also use the Spotify app to select which Alexa device you want to play music. First, open the Spotify app on your smartphone or tablet.
Has your smart speaker become a beloved member of your family? From its spot on your kitchen counter, bedside table, or living room entertainment unit, these devices can provide hours of audio entertainment. Spotify Free users will be able to hear their favorite music on even more smart speakers, including from Amazon, Sonos, and Bose.
That’s right—free users in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. will, for the first time, be able to ask Alexa to play Today’s Top Hits, their Discover Weekly, or a custom-made playlist on their Amazon Echo or Fire TV. Not sure how to link your Spotify account to your new Alexa, or set Spotify as your default music player? Learn how here.
Free users around the world can also set up Spotify Connect with their Sonos speakers directly from the Spotify app. Spotify Connect works with all Sonos speakers, including the new Sonos Move, a durable, battery-powered smart speaker for great sound indoors, outdoors, and on the go. You can also connect wirelessly with the SYMFONISKIKEA WiFi Speaker—fully integrated in the Sonos Home Sound System—to play music in any or every room for a rich, home-filling sound.
Spotify Free Users can now start streaming through their Bose smart speakers and soundbars as well. Through Spotify Connect, you can use Spotify on your smartphone or desktop as a remote to get the jams going.
To play music using your Smart Speaker through Spotify Connect, first make sure that your Sonos or Bose system is updated to the latest firmware. Then open the Spotify app on your phone, laptop or tablet. Play any song, then select the “devices” icon. Finally, select the device you want to stream from and start listening. For more detailed instructions, visit our support page.
Incorporating Spotify into these devices is all part of our goal to create a truly frictionless experience for our users. Play from your phone, transition to your smart speaker, back to the phone, over to the car—with just a tap or the sound of your voice.
Head over to Spotify Everywhere to see more of the smart devices that allow free users to stream their favorite music, wherever, whenever.
Update June 23, 2020: Starting today, Spotify Free users in the U.K., Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Mexico, will begin to be able to stream Spotify through Amazon Alexa. Both Spotify Free and Premium users in India will also be able to stream Spotify through Amazon Alexa for the first time.
The streaming revolution has brought a world of convenience to music lovers everywhere. Not only can you create playlists and discover great artists you’ve never heard of before, most streaming services also allow you to download music straight to your mobile device or computer. But not all services offer the same level of connectivity options.
Yamaha MusicCast provides wireless multi-room control over music playback and streaming with the use of a free downloadable app called MusicCast Controller, available for iOS and Android™. This lets you focus on the enjoyment of your music (in both stereo and surround sound) and not on the technology behind it.
A wide range of MusicCast-enabled products — receivers, speakers, sound bars and even turntables — offer a variety of options to set up an easy-to-use networked audio system. For those who like to use Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri, MusicCast offers even more ways to take hands-free control of your music and entertainment. It also supports Bluetooth® streaming and Apple® Airplay® … and now, with a simple (and free) firmware update, many MusicCast devices are now compatible with the latest version of Spotify Connect too, which includes the use of a Spotify free account!
This latest update provides a major advantage in that Spotify Connect streams to your system via Wi-Fi® and not Bluetooth, offering better quality audio and a wider range, with fewer dropouts. Establishing a direct connection between your receiver and the internet means that your audio system streams music from Spotify directly, rather than via your phone, which instead acts simply as your remote control. By comparison, AirPlay (which also uses Wi-Fi) and Bluetooth stream music directly from your phone to the receiving device, which unfortunately also causes your phone battery to run down more quickly.
Spotify Connect is the brainchild of Spotify, the popular on-demand music service with more than 35 million songs. There are numerous levels of service available, including Spotify free, Spotify Premium, Premium for Family, Spotify for Students and Spotify Gaming — all of which offer a variety of free or paid tiers for your music and entertainment needs. Spotify free, as its name implies, is no-cost, although there are occasional ad interruptions, whereas Spotify Premium (price plans vary by country) offers unlimited high-quality streaming and no ads. Premium for Family allows you and up to five family members to use their own Premium accounts for one fixed price, while Premium for Students offers a 50% discount for a year. Spotify Gaming will play though your PS4™ PlayStation®.
There are a few other differences between the services. Spotify free streams AAC files at up to 160kbps, while Spotify Premium members have the option to stream their music at up to 320kbps. The Spotify Web player (which works through your browser) streams the free version at 128kbps and Premium at 256kbps, whereas the standalone desktop, mobile and tablet players stream Spotify free at 160 kbps and Premium at up to 320kbps.
Whichever service you choose, Spotify Connect will stream your music to up to three linked MusicCast devices simultaneously, all at CD-quality. This drops to a compressed format once you add a fourth device (or more). Up to ten devices can be used simultaneously at that compressed format.
How To Play Spotify On Alexa
Bear in mind that when using Spotify Connect with your MusicCast-enabled device, you have to connect directly from the Spotify app (not the MusicCast Controller app), as shown in the sequence below:
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Note: There may be times when your MusicCast device will not appear in the “devices available” menu within the Spotify app, even when the phone and receiver are connected to the same network. This can generally be corrected by unplugging AC power for a few seconds.
For a list of Yamaha MusicCast devices compatible with the current firmware update, click here.
Click here for more information about Yamaha MusicCast.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rich Tozzoli is a Grammy-nominated producer/mixer/composer based in the New York area. His credits include work with artists such as Ace Frehley, Hall & Oates, Omar Hakim and Al DiMeola. Rich's music has appeared in over a thousand TV series in 36 countries, and he has written for such shows as Live PD, Pawn Stars, Counting Cars, Duck Dynasty and NBC Olympics. Tozzoli has also authored numerous articles on audio production and technology as well as a book on surround sound mixing.