Upload Music to Listen to on Alexa

Amazon's Alexa isn't as hospitable as it once was to people who prefer to purchase music instead of only signing up for a subscription service such as Spotify–or Amazon's ain service.

Although Amazon used to permit users upload their personal media collections for playback on Repeat speakers, it discontinued that feature a few years ago. The move finer stranded folks who own large personal music collections from ripped CDs and downloads.

Fortunately, some workarounds be. To play your ain MP3s (or music encoded in other formats, such as FLAC) on the Echo or other Alexa-compatible speakers, you tin can use Plex or My Media Server for Alexa, both of which allow yous to stream songs you've stored on another device. These services aren't as full-featured or equally easy to utilize equally Amazon Music was, but at least they still permit y'all access your music collection with voice commands.

Hither'southward how to keep the music playing:

To have Plex play your music files on an Amazon Echo, you'll demand a media server device that is always on and tin run Plex Media Server. That can include a desktop calculator (running Windows, MacOS, or Linux), a NAS (network-fastened storage) box, or an Nvidia Shield TV Pro box.

Streaming your music this fashion does have some limitations:

• Whole-home music is non supported, so you can listen on only i speaker at a fourth dimension
• You tin can't set up Plex as the default streaming service, and you must use specific syntax (either "Alexa, inquire Plex…" or "Alexa, tell Plex…") to play your songs each time.
• Responses from Plex take slightly longer than Alexa's built-in music services.

Still on lath? Here's how to set up Plex for Alexa music playback:

i. Sign up for a free Plex account, which is required to use the service with Alexa.

2. Download Plex Media Server to the device where your music files are stored, and follow the installation instructions. During this process, you'll be prompted to specify the folder where your music is located.

3. Visit app.plex.tv to launch Plex from any phone, tablet, or calculator.

4. In the left sidebar, select Settings.

Jared Newman / IDG

5. In the settings menu, select Remote Admission from the left sidebar, so select Enable Remote Access. (Plex says this isn't necessary if you lot're running the latest media server software, only still suggests it anyhow.)

6. If you didn't set up your music folder during installation, render to the primary menu. Under the Libraries section of the left sidebar, highlight Music, press the "…" icon, then select Edit. Use the "Add folders" menu to evidence Plex where your music files are located.

Jared Newman / IDG

7. Now that you're done setting up Plex, install the Plex skill for Alexa, either directly through the web or by searching for "Plex" under the Skills section of the Alexa mobile app.

Jared Newman / IDG

8. Sign into your Plex business relationship, and so hit the "Authorize" button.

9. With your Alexa device, say "Alexa, Ask Plex to change my server." If you only have one server, Alexa will set it automatically. Otherwise, mind for the list of server numbers, and answer with the one yous'd like to use.

Now, you lot can utilise Plex to play your music collection on the Amazon Echo. Plex's support page has a listing of vocalism commands you lot can utilise, but here are some useful ones:

• "Inquire Plex to play music by [artist proper noun]"
• "Tell Plex to play the album [album name]" (This tends to only work if you lot don't say the artist's proper name as well.)
• "Ask Plex to play the vocal [vocal proper name]"
• "Shuffle manner on"
• "Ask Plex what I should heed to."
• "Tell Plex to play some music."
• "Ask Plex to throw downwards some phat beats." (Seriously, information technology works.)

You can also say "Side by side runway," "Previous track," "Interruption," "Play," and "Cease" without having to say "ask Plex" first.

My Media is like to Plex, in that information technology requires setting up a media server device for streaming your music files to the Echo. It also has some of the same restrictions: Whole-domicile streaming isn't supported, and you lot must utilize specific "Ask My Media…" syntax to commencement listening.

But My Media does have some advantages: It can index playlists from iTunes and play music by genre, and it also offers a workaround (albeit a somewhat clunky one) for multi-room music playback.

On the downside, the service isn't free like Plex. You can try it for seven days, but subsequently that information technology costs $5.l per year for a single media server and admission from upwardly to ii Amazon accounts, $11 per year for 2 media servers and v Amazon accounts, and $16.50 per year for five media servers and 25 Amazon accounts. (You can try it costless for seven days without whatsoever credit card info.)

Hither's how to fix information technology upwards:

i. Download My Media for Alexa, run the installation file, and go through the setup process. (If y'all choose non to launch the My Media for Alexa Console afterwards installation completes, discover and launch it in your program list to continue setup in your spider web browser.)

two. In the My Media for Alexa Console, click the greenish Next button, sign into your Amazon account and select Allow on the next page.

three. Select "No" when asked if you'd like to automatically download sample media.

4. On the left sidebar, select Sentinel Folders, then hit the Add Folder push button. Select the binder or folders where your songs are stored.

Jared Newman / IDG

five. Install the My Media skill for Alexa, either directly through the spider web or by searching for "My Media" under the Skills department of the Alexa mobile app.

half-dozen. Optional: To automatically share iTunes playlists with My Media For Alexa, open iTunes, then go to the Preferences menu. Click the Advanced tab, then select "Share iTunes Library XML with other applications." Return to the My Media for Alexa console, select 'iTunes Library" from the left sidebar, and click "Index iTunes Library." Cull the folder where your XML files are located (typically /Users/[username]/Music/iTunes on macOS and C:Users[username]MusiciTunes on Windows).

Now, you lot tin apply My Media to play songs on the Echo or other Alexa devices. Hither are some vocalism command examples:

• "Enquire My Media to play music past [creative person]."
• "Ask My Media to play the album [album] by [artist]."
• "Ask My Media to play the song [song] by [creative person]."
• "Enquire My Media to play my playlist."
• "Enquire My Media to play [genre] music."
• "Inquire My Media to plow shuffle [on/off]."
• "Ask My Media to turn loop [on/off]."

Yous can also say "Next rails," "Previous track," "Interruption," "Play," and "Cease" without having to say "inquire My Media" kickoff.

The multi-room music workaround: To make whole-home audio piece of work with your personal music drove, you must configure i of your Repeat speakers to automatically trigger playback on several Alexa devices at once. Here's how to do that:

1. Open the Alexa app on your phone and select the "Devices" tab.

2. Select the room where yous'll be talking to Alexa.

3. Nether the "Speakers" heading, select "Alter."

iv. Check off all the other speakers where you want to play music.

Unfortunately, you lot'll have to go back and uncheck these speakers if you only want to play on a single speaker over again, but information technology'south worth the extra trouble if yous're settling in for a long listening session. (While this workaround should theoretically piece of work with Plex too, I was simply able to become it working with My Media.)

Option 3: My Pod

For a quick-and-dirty way to play individual songs or playlists through Alexa, check out My Pod. This website lets you drop in a link to any folder on Dropbox, Google Drive, or Amazon Bulldoze, then play the songs from that folder with a voice command.

The costless version is quite limited, though—you lot can just store a maximum of 10 tracks—and you must pay $3 per month or $35.fifty per year for unlimited links. Users with extensive collections should strongly consider Plex or My Media instead, just My Pod tin can work for playing a small-scale number of songs in a compression:

1. Create a folder in Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon Drive, then share the folder to create a link that you lot tin copy. (Notation: My Pod only plays songs in alphabetical order. To rearrange the order of songs, you'll demand to add track numbers to the outset of your file names in each folder.)

ii. Visit mypodapp.com and select Get Started, then Sign in with Amazon. Enter your account credentials, and select "Let" at the next page.

3. Click the "Shorten Link" choice in the left sidebar. Paste your link into the field and click "Shorten."

Jared Newman / IDG

4. Install the My Pod skill for Alexa, either direct through the web or by searching for "My Pod" under the Skills section of the Alexa mobile app. And then click "Allow" in the prompt that appears.

5. Utilise the voice control shown on My Pod'south website to play the contents of your link. (Information technology should be a small string of numbers.)

Jared Newman / IDG

While My Pod also allows you to name your folders instead of identifying them by number, I had trouble getting this to work reliably. Over again, setting a media server is a much improve option if y'all want to selection and cull from your library with vocalization commands.

The nuclear option: Cheerio, Alexa

If any of this seems like too much hassle, consider investing in a different speaker ecosystem instead.

With Google Home and Nest speakers, you can use Plex and various other apps to stream your personal music collection, including in multi-room speaker setups. You lot can also use AirPlay-compatible speakers such as Apple's HomePod Mini to hands play music from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. You lot won't get the aforementioned voice control options as in a higher place, but overall you'll get a setup that's somewhat more than amenable to the music y'all own. And if yous want the ultimate feel in multi-room audio, consider Sonos speakers.

Note: When y'all purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a minor commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more than details.

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Source: https://www.techhive.com/article/583189/how-to-play-music-you-own-on-an-amazon-echo.html

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