Top 13 Ways to Fix Amazon Echo Not Playing Music From Spotify

Amazon Echo and Spotify have been friends since 2016 – but with a few limitations. Previously, only premium members could listen to Spotify music on Amazon Echo. That changed in 2019 when Spotify granted the same privilege to its free users in countries like the United States and Australia. The free service was extended to more countries in June 2020. Unfortunately, some users still cannot take advantage of Spotify via Alexa. If you are one of them, we will explain here different ways to solve the problem of Amazon Echo not playing Spotify.

For some users, Alexa says it plays on Spotify, but no sound comes from it. For others, their Echo device does not appear in the list of devices available in Spotify. Some people only encounter the problem when playing a particular Spotify playlist.

We will try to help you solve various problems you face when using Spotify with Echo. Let’s check out the fixes for Echo not playing music from Spotify.

1. Restart Echo and the phone or computer

We will start with the basic fixes which tend to be overlooked. So start by restarting your Echo device (Echo, Echo dot or Echo plus, etc.) and your phone with the Alexa and Spotify applications. To restart your Amazon Echo, unplug it. Then reconnect it after 10 to 15 seconds.

Point: You are defining Echo for the first time? Check out our tips for setting up Echo like a pro.

2. Increase the volume of the echo

Another simple thing that we sometimes miss is the volume of the echo. You need to check and increase the volume of your Echo speaker. You can do this from the Echo device. To do this, press the volume up button on your Echo. Alternatively, open the Alexa app on your phone, you will find the song currently playing at the bottom. Tap the speaker icon and turn up the volume.

If you’re using Spotify desktop apps, you’ll find the volume slider at the bottom.

Point: Did you know that you can use your Echo device to call people? Find out how the call works on Amazon Echo.

3. Check the compatibility of Echo and Spotify

In most countries, you will need a premium Spotify account to connect Spotify and Echo. So if you are unable to listen to Spotify, the lack of a premium account could be a problem.

In countries like Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, even users of free Spotify account can connect it to Alexa. Spotify continues to add new countries to the list. You can check the Echo devices and the supported countries for them on the Spotify page.

4. Set Spotify as the default music service on Amazon Echo

It is important to properly link your Spotify account to the Echo device using the Alexa app. After linking, if you want Alexa to always play music from Spotify instead of other music services, you need to make Spotify the default music service provider. Check out our guide on how to link Spotify and make it default in Echo. When you make Spotify your default supplier, there is no need to add “on Spotify” at the end of your order.

5. Check the name of the playlist

Always try to use the right commands for Alexa so as not to confuse it. Here is a list of the official Alexa commands that can be used for Spotify.

After issuing the correct orders, if the Echo does not read your playlist, try adding the word My to your order. For example, “Alexa, play my Super Nova playlist”. If that still doesn’t work, take a look at the names in your Spotify playlist. Avoid adding punctuation marks, difficult titles or acronyms in the name. Also, avoid keeping similar names for playlists such as Super Nova 1, Super Nova 2, etc.

To rename a playlist, open the Spotify app and tap the Your Library tab. Open your playlist and tap the three-dot icon at the top.

Choose Rename Playlist from the menu. Assign a simple and unique name.

Sometimes even radio stations are responsible for “buffering” music playback. So if you ask Echo to play an artist’s song, the device could just tune in to a radio station on Spotify that might be having problems. Again, these problems can be temporary. However, if they persist, you should check for other solutions.

6. Check the name of the Echo device

In addition to the names of the playlists, you should also check the names of your Echo speakers (if you have more than one) and groups. None of them should have the same name.

To check this, open the Alexa app and go to the Devices tab. Here you will find your Echo groups and devices. Open the group or device and you can rename it.

7. Use the correct account

Many times the problem occurs due to an account conflict when a user has two different Spotify accounts – free and premium. Your phone sometimes uses the free account by default, which makes Spotify unavailable for users in countries where a premium account is required. So you need to add the correct Spotify account to the Alexa app. To do this, unlink your free account (as shown below) and add the one with a premium subscription. Of course, Spotify is also available for free level subscription users, but in some countries.

Likewise, if you have an Amazon home account, Alexa may have switched to another user. This will again cause problems with your Spotify. To check the currently active profile, ask them “Alexa which account is this” or “Alexa, which profile do I use”. If it is another user, say “Alexa, change user”.

8. Disable shuffle

This may surprise you, but some Spotify users have suggested that if shuffle was turned on the last time you listened to Spotify, it would cause problems with Echo. So turn off random play on Spotify to solve the problem.

To turn off random play, open the screen currently playing on the Spotify app. Tap the green shuffle icon to turn it off. You can also deactivate it from desktop applications.

9. Unlink Alexa’s Spotify account

Then you should try to unlink your Spotify account and Skill from Echo. To do this, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Alexa app on your phone.

2nd step: Tap the three-bar icon at the top and choose Settings.

Step 3: Tap Music, then Spotify.

Step 4: Tap Disable Skill. Confirm on the next screen.

Step 5: Go back and press Activate to use the Spotify skill. Follow the on-screen instructions to re-add your Spotify account.

You can also do this on the web. To do this, go to your account settings, then to Applications. Then click Remove Access next to Alexa.

10. Make Spotify forget your Echo device

Forgetting the Echo device from the Spotify app has also proven beneficial for users. To do this, open the Spotify app and access its settings. Tap Connect to device. You will find your Echo device. Tap the three-dot icon next to the speaker and select Forget this device.

11. Update applications

Keeping your apps up to date is a good choice as they fix bugs in the app. You need to update the Spotify and Alexa apps from the respective stores on Android and iOS. Open Play Store (Android) and App Store (iOS) and search for the name of the application. Then press the Update button.

Point: Not sure when to update an app? Learn how to know when an app needs to be updated on Android and iOS.

12. Clear cache and data (Android only)

On Android, you can try clearing the Spotify and Alexa app cache. To do this, go to Settings on your phone> Applications> Spotify or Alexa. Tap Storage, and then tap Clear cache. Deleting the cache will not delete your files or data.

13. Uninstall the application

If Spotify still doesn’t work via Echo, you need to uninstall both apps (Spotify and Alexa) from your phone. Restart your phone, then reinstall them.

Point: If this makes you feel better, the problem is not limited to Spotify alone. Sometimes Echo fails to play audio from Amazon music too.

Be patient

Sometimes, the Echo device not playing the Spotify music problem can occur due to outdated software. You can check the version of your Echo software by accessing the Alexa app. Tap the Device tab at the bottom, then choose your Echo device. Tap About and you will find the device software version. Check the latest version of software to install for the Echo device on the Amazon website. Unlike many cases, resetting the Echo device produces no benefit.

Since Echo devices update themselves automatically over Wi-Fi, you need to let it sit for a while (half an hour, maybe) and it will automatically receive an update. Restart your Echo. Hopefully things should be sorted out at that time.