Want to listen to your songs from Amazon Music or Spotify all over the house? If you have Amazon Echo devices in multiple rooms, all you need to do is ask Alexa to do so, although you’ll need to change a few settings first.
In fact, once you’ve followed a few basic steps, you can ask Alexa to stream music or podcasts to some or all of your Alexa-enabled speakers. You can also designate a “favorite” speaker or group of speakers based on the room(s) you use most often to listen to music.
The trick is to create one or more speaker groups. Through the Alexa mobile app, you can choose which Alexa speakers you want to include in a given speaker group. In addition to Amazon’s own Echo speakers, like the Echo Dot or Echo Studio, there are also third-party speakers that support Amazon’s multi-room music feature, like the Polk React soundbar. And yes, Echo Show shows as Amazon Echo Show 10 account too.
For example, you can create a group called “Anywhere” that includes all of the Alexa-enabled speakers in your home (and in fact, the Alexa app should have a default “Anywhere” group if you already have multiple speakers Echo).
You can also create “Upstairs” and “Downstairs” speaker groups, as well as “Bedroom” and “Kitchen/Dining” groups. Feel free to be creative, and keep in mind that a single speaker can belong to multiple speaker groups.
How to Create an Alexa Speaker Group
Open the Alexa mobile app, tap the “+” button in the upper right corner of the screen, tap Combine speakers, then tap the multi-room music tile.
Now it’s time to choose the speakers you want to add to your new set of speakers. On the next screen, you’ll see a list of Alexa-enabled speakers. (Note: The list does not include Bluetooth speakers paired with your Echo devices.)
Since we’re creating an “Anywhere” speaker group, go ahead and tap all the speakers in the list. You can always create another group (such as “Upstairs” or “Kitchen”) later, and if you wish, you can include one or more speakers already assigned to your “Anywhere” group.
Next, pick a name for your new set of speakers, ideally something that’s easy to say and Alexa can hear. If it doesn’t already appear in the Alexa app, an “Anywhere” speaker group would be a good place to start. Tap Save once you’ve chosen a name.
Are you ready to try out your new multi-room music setup with Alexa? Just say “Alexa, play Bruce Springsteen everywhere” and if all goes well, you’ll hear The Boss singing through all your Alexa speakers at once.
Bonus tip: If you’re using the Spotify desktop or mobile app, your new set of Alexa speakers should also appear as a Spotify Connect option under the “Connect to Device” menu.
How to choose a favorite Alexa speaker or speaker group
If you want, you can set up an Echo device in a given room to automatically play music on an Alexa speaker set without having to tell Alexa which speaker set to use. For example, if you have an Echo speaker in your kitchen, you can set it up so that when you say “Alexa, play music” your songs will play on the “Upstairs” speaker group by default.
Open the Alexa mobile app, tap the Devices tab at the bottom of the screen, then tap a group of devices in the Groups section. You don’t have a group yet? Tap the “+” button in the upper right corner of the screen to create one.
Once you’ve tapped on a group, scroll down to the Speakers section and tap Choose Speakers. Follow the instructions and you’ll end up with a list of available speakers with Alexa. Scroll down and you’ll find Speaker Groups; select a group and tap Next.
On the next screen, you’ll be asked if you want Alexa to start playing music on your favorite speakers without having to specify the device group name.
If you select the Always option, Alexa will automatically play songs on the preferred speakers in the room when you say “Alexa, play music” to an Alexa device in that particular room. Otherwise, you’ll need to say the band name in your voice command: “Alexa, play music in the bedroom.” Have you already chosen? Click Next and you are ready.
To temporarily override an Echo device’s preferred speaker setting, simply tell Alexa where you want your music to play (“Alexa, play Ciara on Ben’s Echo Dot”).
