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50 Alexa Spotify Commands [2023]: The Complete List

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Did you know that Alexa is secretly a DJ? Give her access to your Spotify free or premium account, and she can play it, shuffle it, pump up the bass, and even pick out music based on your mood or current activity.

All you need are the magic words, and you’ll find them all right here. In this article, I’ll show you all 50 Alexa Spotify commands, examples of how to use them, and how to make Spotify your default Alexa music service.

Alexa Spotify Voice Commands

Echo devices currently support 20 commands for controlling your Spotify playback. Some of these commands are specific to the Spotify app, but most will also work for other music services like Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, or TuneIn. And some of the commands (like volume controls), will change the Echo device settings themselves.

These commands all start with your wake word. By default, that’s Alexa, but you can change the wake word to Computer, Echo, Ziggy, or Amazon in the device settings. If you’re using one of those alternative wake words, be sure to replace them when saying the command. For example, you would say “Echo, play” instead of “Alexa, play”.

Here’s the full list of Alexa Spotify commands:

Spotify Alexa commands

Spotify action What to say Example
Play a song Alexa, play [song] Alexa, play Bohemian Rhapsody
Play an artist Alexa, play [artist] Alexa, play Nickelback
Play a song by a certain artist Alexa, play [song] by [artist] Alexa, play Rap God by Eminem
Play an album Alexa play the album [album] by [artist] Alexa, play the album Abbey Road by The Beatles
Play a playlist Alexa play [playlist]

Alexa, play my [playlist] playlist
Alexa, play Workout Mix
Play music for activity Alexa, play music for [activity] Alexa, play music for gaming
Play music by mood Alexa, play [mood] music Alexa, play angry music
Play weekly discover playlist Alexa, play discover weekly

Alexa, play my discover weekly playlist
Play / Resume music Alexa, play
Play for a period of time Alexa, play music for [time] Alexa, play music for 1 hour
Play music on all speakers Alexa, play everywhere
Play music on speaker group Alexa, play [group]

Alexa, play on [group]
Alexa, play downstairs
Pause music Alexa, pause
Set music sleep timer Alexa, turn this off in [time]

Alexa, stop music in [time]
Alexa, turn this off in 5 minutes
Go to next song Alexa, next

Alexa, next song

Alexa, skip

Alexa, skip song
Go to previous song Alexa, previous

Alexa, previous song
Repeat song Alexa, restart

Alexa, restart song

Alexa, play this song from the beginning
Skip forward Alexa, skip forward [time] Alexa, skip forward 30 seconds
Skip back Alexa skip back [time] Alexa, skip back 1 minute
Loop song Alexa, loop this song
Loop album Alexa, loop this album
Loop playlist Alexa, loop this playlist
Turn loop mode on Alexa, loop mode on
Turn loop mode off Alexa, loop mode off
Turn song shuffle on Alexa, shuffle
Turn song shuffle off Alexa, stop shuffle
Give song info Alexa, what kind of song is this?

Alexa, what song is this?
Give album info Alexa, what's the album?
Give album release year Alexa, when was this album released?
Give song release year Alexa, what year was this song released?
Give artist name Alexa, who sings this?

Alexa, who is this?
Increase volume Alexa, volume up

Alexa, louder
Decrease Volume Alexa, volume down

Alexa, quieter
Set volume Alexa, set volume to level [1–10]

Alexa, volume [1–10]
Alexa, set volume to 9
Mute music Alexa, mute
Unmute music Alexa, unmute
Increase bass Alexa, increase bass
Decrease bass Alexa, decrease bass
Increase midrange Alexa, increase midrange
Decrease midrange Alexa, decrease midrange
Increase treble Alexa, increase treble
Decrease treble Alexa, decrease treble
Set Bass Alexa, set bass to [-6 to 6]

Alexa, set bass to minimum

Alexa, set bass to maximum
Alexa, set bass to 4
Set midrange Alexa, set midrange to [-6 to 6]

Alexa, set midrange to minimum

Alexa, set midrange to maximum
Alexa, set midrange to 0
Set treble Alexa, set treble to [-6 to 6]

Alexa, set treble to minimum

Alexa, set treble to maximum
Alexa, set treble to 1
Display songs (Echo Show only) Alexa, show me songs
Display playlists (Echo Show only) Alexa, show me playlists
Display albums (Echo Show only) Alexa, show me albums
Recommend music (Echo Show only) Alexa, recommend some new music

How do I control Spotify with Alexa?

Before you can play Spotify on your Echo devices, you’ll need to install the Spotify Alexa skill (Skills are Alexa’s version of an app). You could search for the skill and install it manually, but I’ll show you an easier method here. This method also works for installing all the other music and podcast Alexa skills, including Apple Podcasts and Sirius XM.

  1. Open the More Tab in the Alexa app.
  2. Click Settings from the list.
The Alexa More tab, showing the Settings button
  1. Select Music & Podcasts under the Alexa Preferences section.
The Alexa app settings page, showing the Music & Podcasts option
  1. Click Link New Service.
The Alexa app music menu, showing how to link a new service
  1. Select Spotify from the list of music services. This will bring you to the Spotify skill.
The Alexa app menu for linking a new music service, highlighting how to connect Alexa to Spotify
  1. Click Enable To Use.
The Alexa Spotify skill in the Amazon Alexa app
  1. Log in with your Spotify account.
The Spotify login screen within the Amazon Alexa app
  1. Click Agree at the bottom of the permissions list.
The permissions page you'll see when connecting Spotify to Alexa within the Alexa app
  1. Click Close to finiffsh the process.
The confirmation page you'll see after you successfully link Spotify with Alexa

At that point, you’ll be given an option to change your default music service. You can complete that process now or come back to it later using the process in the next section.

How to Make Spotify Your Default Music Player

I highly recommend setting Spotify as your default music service for your Alexa account, assuming its the app you usually use for your favorite tunes. You can do that by going to More -> ‘Music & Podcasts’ -> Default Services in the Alexa smartphone app.

The default music service selection screen in the Alexa app

You’ll see three sections, and I recommend setting all of them to Spotify. That’s the only way to get every Echo Spotify commands working fully. If Spotify isn’t listed under any of the three headers, click Change and select Spotify from the popup list.

If Spotify isn’t your default music app, you can still use play Spotify music on your Echo. The only thing that changes is that you’ll have to add “…on Spotify” to the end of most of the commands. So instead of “Alexa, play Pitbull” you would say “Alexa, play Pitbull on Spotify”.

Edit: Spotify now allows you to set Family defaults as well as defaults for your individual profile. For simplicity, I suggest setting both sets of defaults to Spotify if that is your primary music service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Alexa skip songs on Spotify?

Yes, Alexa can skip songs on Spotify. Just use the command “Alexa, skip song” or “Alexa, next song”. You can also go back to the previous song, restart your song, or skip around within a song.

Can Alexa play playlists from Spotify?

Yes, Alexa can play all of your Spotify playlists. You just need to say “Alexa, play ” or “Alexa, play my playlist” with the name of your favorite playlist. So to play your “Get Pumped” playlist, you would say “Alexa, play my Get Pumped playlist”.

If Spotify isn’t your default Alexa music service, you’ll need to add “…on Spotify” to the command. So you would say “Alexa, play my Get Pumped playlist on Spotify”. That’s a mouthful, so I suggest following the instructions in this article to set Spotify as your default Alexa music service.

How do I ask Alexa to shuffle on Spotify?

You can have Alexa turn shuffle mode on by saying “Alexa, shuffle” while your music is playing. The current song will continue to play, but the rest of the playlist will be shuffled.

What’s Next?

Given the cost of Alexa speakers, Amazon Echo makes an excellent home speaker system. Pair that with Spotify and their vast library, and you have an easy-to-use, touchless music experience that will last you ages.

There’s a lot more you can do to enhance your smart home sound system, too. Recently, I’ve been looking into ways to play Alexa and a Bluetooth speaker at the same time. You can also sync your Spotify music with your Hue lights, which is one of the biggest advantage of Philips Hue vs Wiz or other budget smart light brands.

And, of course, Spotify isn’t the only service you can control with Alexa. You can, for example, virtually replace your remote with Alexa Fire TV commands. Beyond entertainment, Roomba Alexa commands can help you spot clean or stop your robot vacuum from eating your cables. Is there anything Alexa can’t do?

2 thoughts on “50 Alexa Spotify Commands [2023]: The Complete List”

    1. Hmm, can’t say I’ve ever thought about that. They might be limited by the options available in the apps (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “skip X songs” option in any of those.

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