How To Link Spotify to Alexa? (Quick And Easy Ways To Try)

“My Alexa device won’t play Spotify!” Isn’t it annoying?

If you’ve recently had issues with Alexa not playing your Spotify, you’re not alone. And, let’s be honest, it makes our lives easier – most of the time! You can use it for a variety of tasks, connecting it to any smart device in your home and easily controlling your environment.

So, to save everyone some time and possibly a headache, we’ll show you what to do if you can’t get your Alexa to play Spotify on command. Let’s get right to work, shall we?

WHY WON’T ALEXA PLAY SPOTIFY?

There are times when Alexa will not play Spotify because your Spotify account is unverified or the volume is turned down.

It’s also possible that your Echo device needs to be rebooted, and that there are cache and app data issues with Spotify and Alexa that need to be resolved.

HOW TO FIX ALEXA NOT PLAYING SPOTIFY?

1. TRY POWER CYCLING YOUR ECHO

As we always do with these guides, we’ll kick off with the simplest solution first. That way, you won’t have to go through the more time-consuming fixes for no reason. This solution is especially useful if the problem has only recently appeared and everything was fine previously.

All you have to do to power cycle your Echo device is go to it and unplug it from its power source. Then, after the device has been unplugged for at least 30 seconds, simply plug it back in. It’s as simple as that.

While we’re here, we might as well try to hit it out of the park and restart the phone with the Alexa app installed. This isn’t strictly necessary, but it improves your chances of getting the problem resolved during the first diagnostic step.

As a result, it’s probably best not to ship this step! Check to see if everything is working again as soon as both devices have finished rebooting. If it is, that is fantastic. If not, it is time to proceed to the next step.

2. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT YOU ARE LOGGED IN TO YOUR SPOTIFY

Yes, we recognize that this may appear absurd. But it’s always a good idea to make sure that something as simple as a lack of time isn’t the issue. And, believe it or not, this is a fairly common cause of the problem.

Naturally, Alexa will be unable to access your music or podcasts if you are not logged into your Spotify account. First and foremost, take a look at this. If you were logged in the entire time, the next step would be to disconnect your Spotify account from your Alexa and then reconnect it.

Think of it as a twist on the classic ‘turn it off and back on again’ fix. If you haven’t done this before, we’ve laid out the steps for you below:

• First up, go into “Alexa settings” and then into “preferences”.
• Next up, you will need to choose “Spotify” from the “music and podcast” section.
• After this, link the account back up again using Alexa’s music settings.

3. CHECK YOUR “DEFAULT MUSIC SERVICE” SETTINGS

If none of the above solutions work for you, the next logical step is to perform a quick check of your settings. All you need to do for this fix is open the Alexa app.

You will then need to navigate to the “music and podcast settings” section. Here you will find the option to set Spotify as your default music service. Then, the next time you ask Alexa to play music, she will use Spotify instead of any other service.

4. REMOVE ECHO FROM YOUR SPOTIFY ACCOUNT

If your Spotify and Alexa are properly linked, Alexa will appear as a connected device every time you open Spotify. So, the first thing you’ll need to do is check to see if they’re linked.

If they are, but they are still not communicating properly, the next step is to “forget” the Echo from your Spotify account. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Simply follow the steps outlined below:

1. First and foremost, you must log in to your Spotify app.
2. Simply go into the “settings” menu and uncheck Echo.
3. Then, to apply the change, you must close the app and restart your phone.
4. When your phone has finished restarting, open the Spotify app and re-pair the Echo.

That should be the end of the matter for many of you. If not, it’s still worth keeping this trick in your back pocket for potential future problems.

5. CLEAR THE DATA ON BOTH APPS

At this point, it’s most likely that a minor bug or glitch is preventing Spotify and Alexa from communicating. Simply going into both apps and clearing the data is a quick way to resolve such issues. This is a fairly straightforward procedure.

The first thing you should do is swipe down and enter your phone’s settings. Next, navigate to app settings and find the Spotify app. When you click on this, you will be able to access your storage options.

Essentially, this is where data will just build up over time if left alone to do so. So, to clear out those bugs, simply clear the apps data cache and then give it another try. If not, try clearing Alexa’s cache as well and then restarting your phone before moving onto the net step.

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6. RESET THE ECHO

Let’s hope this hasn’t happened to too many of you. Resetting your Echo erases any changes you’ve made to Alex’s configurations and settings, but it’s worth it if the bug is finally eradicated.

If you’ve never reset your Alexa before, follow these steps: All you have to do is hold down the volume down and mic buttons for at least 30 seconds.

At this point, you should notice that the Echo Dot is surrounded by an orange ring. This indicates that the reset was successful and that it is now ready to be paired with your phone.

7. CHECK THE NAME OF YOUR ECHO DEVICE

If you have more than one speaker, make sure the names of your speakers and groups are different from each other. To verify the speaker group’s names:

• Open the Alexa app.
• Go to the Devices tab. 
• Here you will find your speaker groups and Echo devices. 
• Open your Echo device/s, and rename it.

Using the Alexa app, you can configure one or more speakers so that specific devices within a Smart Home Group play music.

1. Launch the Alexa app.
2. Tap on the Devices.
3. Select an already-existing Smart Home Group, such as Dining Room.
4. Tap Change under Speakers.
5. Select the speaker(s) for your Smart Home Group.
6. To finish the setup, follow the instructions.
7. Alexa will now play music on your speaker when you say “Play music in the [Smart Home Group name]” (s).

8. TURN OFF SPOTIFY’S SHUFFLE FEATURE

To assist in resolving the issue, turn off Spotify’s shuffle feature. Few Spotify users claim that enabling the shuffle feature the last time you listened to Spotify caused issues with Echo. To turn off Spotify’s shuffle:

• Launch the Spotify app.
• Scroll all the way down to the ‘Now Playing’ box. (If shuffle play is enabled, the “Shuffle” button will turn green.)
• Click the ‘Shuffle’ button to turn off shuffle play.

9. UPDATE YOUR ALEXA TO ITS LATEST VERSION

Is your device’s Alexa app up to date? If it isn’t kept up to date, it can lead to a variety of issues, including the inability to connect to Spotify. You have two options for dealing with this issue.

1. Navigate to the “Settings” section of your Alexa app. Scroll down until you see “Software Version,” and if it is out of date, you should be able to update it.

2. Make sure your Alexa app is up to date by going to the App Store or the Google Play Store. Try playing Spotify again after you’ve updated your app. If that still doesn’t work, try the next option.

10. CHECK YOUR LOGIN STATUS ON ECHO

You may be accidentally logged out of Spotify at times. This means Alexa won’t be able to access your music or podcasts. On Alexa’s app, check the status of your Spotify login. This is done to avoid inconsistencies between the accounts you use for the two apps.

Do the following to see if you’re logged in to both your Alexa and Spotify apps.

1. Navigate to the Alexa app’s settings menu and then select Preferences.
2. Select Spotify from the Music and Podcasts menu.
3. Connect your Spotify account via the Alexa music settings.

The next time you cannot access Spotify for some reason, be sure you are logged in if this issue occurs.

11. UNMUTE AND TURN UP THE VOLUME

You may have unintentionally muted your Echo device. If this is the case, no sound will be played. Check to see if the mute button is turned off. If this is the case, try increasing the volume. If your device is muted, the microphone button on top of the speaker turns red.

Press and hold the microphone button for 2 seconds to unmute it. If that doesn’t work, try rebooting your Echo device. You can also use Spotify Connect on your phone to manage Spotify music on your Amazon Echo.

Here’s how to use the Spotify Connect feature:

1. Update your software for all your devices. 
2. Check if your Spotify app is up-to-date.
3. Make sure that all of your devices are connected to the same WiFi network.

12. CHECK YOUR NETWORK

Unstable internet can also cause Alexa and Spotify to lose contact. Check that your internet connection is stable during the connection—you can try to open a webpage on your phone’s browser to see if it opens quickly.

If this is the case, restart your router and try moving it closer to your Echo device to improve network signal strength. Furthermore, Amazon Echo devices are compatible with the 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi network bands.

Connect your Echo device to a 5GHz Wi-Fi network band for a more stable internet connection (instructions in your router’s manual). This also reduces interference from other objects/devices.

You should also position your Amazon Echo device away from metal objects, microwaves, baby monitors, and anything else that could interfere with your Wi-Fi connection—as recommended by Amazon.

Alternative Video: Connect Spotify To Amazon Alexa

HOW TO LINK SPOTIFY TO ALEXA?

It always helps to know exactly how to link Spotify to Alexa, to make sure you didn’t follow one or more or the steps incorrectly.

Follow these exact steps to connect your Spotify account to Alexa:

1. Open the Alexa app and tap MORE in the lower right corner.
2. Scroll down and click on SETTINGS.
3. Select MUSIC & PODCASTS from the Settings menu.
4. Select the “+” symbol where it says “Link New Service.”
5. Then, choose SPOTIFY and ENABLE TO USE.
6. After that, you’ll be prompted to enter your Spotify username and password.
7. That’s all! Spotify has been configured and is ready to be used with Alexa.

Chose a default Music Service

After you’ve finished connecting Spotify to Alexa, you’ll be prompted to make it your default Music Service. Setting Spotify as your default Music Service simply means that when you ask Alexa to play a song or artist, it will play from Spotify without you having to specify the service.

If you do not change this, Amazon Music will remain as the default. But don’t worry, you can always change your mind at a later time. Here’s how it works:

1. Open the Alexa app and select MORE at the bottom right corner
2. Scroll down and select SETTINGS
3. In the Settings menu, select MUSIC & PODCASTS
4. Select DEFAULT SERVICES
5. Under “Music” select CHANGE
6. A drop down menu of connected music services will appear. Select one!

DO YOU NEED SPOTIFY PREMIUM FOR ALEXA?

No, a Spotify Premium account is not required to listen to Spotify on your Alexa. All you have to do is create a free account on the Spotify website. You can use an existing Facebook account as your Spotify login during sign-up to expedite the account creation process.

The bad news is that with the free Spotify account linked to your Alexa, you will have to listen to advertisements on occasion and will not have complete control over what you can play. The good news is that I’ve devised a workaround for the control component.

SPOTIFY MUSIC ON ALEXA USING LAPTOP

This is a trick I learned a long time ago. Even with a free Spotify account, it allows you to choose what music you want to listen to and gives you more control. You’ll need to use Spotify’s desktop player to make this work, so download it now if you haven’t already.

After you’ve opened the desktop player, you’ll need to connect it to your Alexa via the “Connected Device” tab in the Spotify desktop player.

This is the same procedure you’d use to stream Spotify music from your computer to an external speaker. You can now tell Alexa which songs you want to hear from Spotify!

ALEXA SPOTIFY COMMANDS

Now that you’ve successfully linked your Alexa to Spotify, it’s time to try out one of the many Spotify Alexa voice commands.

• “Listen to my Discover Weekly on Spotify.”
• “Turn up the Spotify volume.”
• “Listen to some rock music on Spotify.”
• “On Spotify, pause this song.”
• Make Spotify your default music player on Alexa so you don’t have to say “Spotify” in any of your commands.

Check out this comprehensive guide Amazon put together for more in-depth commands when playing music on Alexa.

CONCLUSION

If you already have a Spotify account, connecting it to your Alexa should take less than 60 seconds. A premium Spotify account isn’t required; a free account will suffice.

If you have a free Spotify account, you can control which songs are played through Alexa by going to the “Connected Devices” tab in the Spotify desktop player.

Make Spotify your default music player in the Alexa app so you don’t have to type “Spotify” every time you use it. During the sync process, you may encounter some difficulties. If in doubt, you can always factory reset your Alexa to restart from scratch.

FAQs About Alexa Linking To Spotify