How to Listen to Apple Music on Amazon Echo

[beanbaguk]

It's the same with Apple Music and Apple devices, just not Alexa (yet). My issue with Spotify is the service is horrendous. Their song library and download limits are an absolute joke, their solution for uploading missing content (like albums from Tool) is half-baked, and their lack of smart playlist support (at least for liked/loved content) is laughable especially considering the PC software I used in 1998 to manage my Rio 600 portable mp3 player supported those. I would like to switch to Spotify due to working on absolutely everything and it's a good service for music discovery and for people who want to be spoon-fed their content but it's a non-solution for people with large libraries and for content not available on the service. Spotify has shown zero intentions of fixing any of this and are now focused on expanding their reach into podcasts instead of actually making their service better.



It's both. Apple Music support was contacted by someone on Reddit and, after going back and forth for a week, someone working on the project said that they (Apple) were working closely with Amazon to make it better but don't have a timeframe for when that will happen. I've been using Amazon Music, the "free" tier for Amazon Prime members, to hold me over until Apple Music really gets integrated.



Apple hasn't but Amazon has, in a roundabout way. Amazon released their Amazon Music API to developers in the U.S. only. That's the API that allows them to develop their service with Alexa compatiblity instead of having to only go through Amazon. Apple (and others) can't really do anything until Amazon opens the API to more territories.

Do you even pay for Spotify?

 

[Jmausmuc]

It's the same with Apple Music and Apple devices, just not Alexa (yet). My issue with Spotify is the service is horrendous. Their song library and download limits are an absolute joke, their solution for uploading missing content (like albums from Tool) is half-baked, and their lack of smart playlist support (at least for liked/loved content) is laughable especially considering the PC software I used in 1998 to manage my Rio 600 portable mp3 player supported those. I would like to switch to Spotify due to working on absolutely everything and it's a good service for music discovery and for people who want to be spoon-fed their content but it's a non-solution for people with large libraries and for content not available on the service. Spotify has shown zero intentions of fixing any of this and are now focused on expanding their reach into podcasts instead of actually making their service better.



It's both. Apple Music support was contacted by someone on Reddit and, after going back and forth for a week, someone working on the project said that they (Apple) were working closely with Amazon to make it better but don't have a timeframe for when that will happen. I've been using Amazon Music, the "free" tier for Amazon Prime members, to hold me over until Apple Music really gets integrated.



Apple hasn't but Amazon has, in a roundabout way. Amazon released their Amazon Music API to developers in the U.S. only. That's the API that allows them to develop their service with Alexa compatiblity instead of having to only go through Amazon. Apple (and others) can't really do anything until Amazon opens the API to more territories.

If it’s because of the API than why do Spotify, Deezer (whatever that is), TuneIn and so on work?

 

[bbeagle]

the bummer is you cant use this to stream on sonos.

I stream Apple Music through my sonos all the time. What's the problem?

 

[steve knight]

I stream Apple Music through my sonos all the time. What's the problem?

but not from alexa. my wife is blind so it is easier to use alexa (well when she works) to pick music but right now apple music will only stream through alexa not through sonos if you use alexa to start it.

 

[P_Devil]

If it’s because of the API than why do Spotify, Deezer (whatever that is), TuneIn and so on work?

Those services took a different route. The whole point of the API was to open up compatibility to more services (like Apple Music) and make it easier for the service to be compatible with Alexa.

Do you even pay for Spotify?

I have tried it for a couple months at a time over the last couple of years. It's lack of features (especially the joke of a library limit) don't keep me subscribed. They offered me a 14-day trial (again) in January. I tried but, until they let me add more than 10,000 songs to my library, I won't be using it.

 

[beanbaguk]

I have tried it for a couple months at a time over the last couple of years. It's lack of features (especially the joke of a library limit) don't keep me subscribed. They offered me a 14-day trial (again) in January. I tried but, until they let me add more than 10,000 songs to my library, I won't be using it.

Genuine question. Who needs to add 10,000 songs to a library? You can't possibly tell me you listen to 10,000 tracks per day, or even when you go away on holiday. That's over 27 days of solid music.....

The last time I used to carry that amount of music was on my iPod 3G, and it was more down to bragging rights. Just add your favourite tracks and stream the rest like everyone else does. I think I have about 10 playlists totalling about 500 songs and even that's a bit OTT.

 

[P_Devil]

Genuine question. Who needs to add 10,000 songs to a library?

I do. For years (21 years now) I have been managing my digital library in an easy way that takes little effort. I add albums to my library (I used to rip my CDs), listen to every song, and rate each song. Before it was giving a song one star, then it was something else (I forget what MusicMatch used), then it was giving songs a 5-star rating in iTunes, then a Thumbs Up in Google Play Music, and now a heart in Apple Music. Those songs that I liked would then automatically be added to a smart playlist that I download for offline playback.

That playlist is now over 14,000 songs in Apple Music. I have listened to every one of those songs at least once. But it's an easy way to just have the music I know I like. The smart playlist is the one I download for offline playback. Now, Spotify doesn't offer anything like that. If I like a song and give it a heart in Spotify, it thinks I want to add the song to my library. Well, that's fine adding songs to my library but I want to give them a rating and have them automatically be added to a playlist of liked songs. Spotify doesn't know the difference between liking a song and adding to my library. That would normally be fine, I could always add a song to a "best of" playlist and call it a day. But they limit my library to 10,000 songs.

My method works with Apple Music, Google Music, and it will work with YouTube Music once they iron out the kinks. It also works with Amazon Music but I have to manually add songs to my Best Of playlist. That's not the main issue, the problem is limiting my library. I shouldn't have to bend around a music service if I'm paying for it, the service should work around me. I shouldn't have to manually download some songs, remove other songs from my library, and spend days deciding what I want in my library and want I want removed. My solution, which has worked for 21 years and still works with other services, is easy, I don't have to think about things, and it's automatic (the updated Best Of playlist is downloaded and any updates are automatically added and downloaded).

Not only that but Spotify's solution for uploading missing content is half-baked at best. There are hundreds of tracks missing ranging from the entire catalog for Tool (which is fine, they haven't made their music available digitally but I have their CDs ripped), sound tracks (Queen of the Damned, End of Days, Masters of Horror), special releases (Strait Up), imports from other countries with bonus tracks not available anywhere else, and the live CDs I have that artists released for concerts I attended. I can't actually upload those tracks so that they're available across every device running Spotify. Instead, I have to host the files on my desktop, download them to my phone, and make sure my desktop is always running (with the bloated Spotify program open) if I want to play those files at home on my smart speakers.

 

[Sbrady373]

the bummer is you cant use this to stream on sonos.

There’s an app for that. At least for the last 6 months. Not sure if earlier than that. I volunteer at a nursing home where they do just that through their speaker system
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Is there a way to access your Apple Music playlists on the Echo as well? Any time I've tried it just ends up playing a song with a similar name.

Alexa play playlistname Playlist from myname Apple Music. At least that works for me.

 

[Dominicanyor]

That’s nice. But amazon music has a nice catalog as well.