Your Echo speakers are about to get better. Amazon has announced Apple Music will be coming to Alexa devices starting the week of December 17–for the USA (read update below):
Apple Music subscribers will be able to enjoy Apple Music’s 50 million songs on Echo devices. Customers will be able to ask Alexa to play their favorite songs, artists, and albums—or any of the playlists made by Apple Music’s editors from around the world, covering many activities and moods. Customers will also be able to ask Alexa to stream expert-made radio stations centered on popular genres like Hip-Hop, decades like the 80s, and even music from around the world, like K-Pop. Just ask Alexa to play Beats 1 to hear Apple Music’s global livestream including in-depth artist interviews— all completely ad-free. Simply enable the Apple Music skill in the Alexa app and link your account to start listening.
This is a great move by both companies and a welcome one for Apple Music subscribers. If you picked up an Echo speaker during Black Friday, you will soon be able to summon any song from Apple Music with your voice.
“We are committed to offering great music providers to our customers and since launching the Music Skill API to developers just last month, we’ve expanded the music selection on Alexa to include even more top tier services. We’re thrilled to bring Apple Music – one of the most popular music services in the US – to Echo customers this holiday,” said Dave Limp, senior vice president, Amazon Devices.
If you missed out on Echo Black Friday deals, Amazon still has the newest Echo Dot for 50% off at $34.99, while the second-gen Echo is 31% off at $89.99.
Now if only HomePod will support another music service other than Apple Music natively…
Update 4:02 PM, Nov. 30/18: iPhone in Canada reached out to Amazon to seek clarification whether this addition will be available for Canadians as well. An Amazon spokesperson told us the service is “not available in Canada at this time.”
Update 9:50 AM, Dec. 4/18: In a follow-up email, an Amazon spokesperson clarified, “that announcement was not applicable for Canada.”
So there you have it folks. Apple Music on Echo devices later this month in Canada is not happening. Let’s hope this changes soon.
