There are plenty of wireless speakers out there, but if you want to use a voice command to play Apple Music, there’s just one option open to you at present: HomePod. That’s about to change, with the ability to play Apple Music on Echo speakers …
The facility is being added as an Alexa skill. Once it’s available, you’ll simply add the Apple Music skill in the Alexa app and then link your Apple Music account. After that, you’ll be able to use a command along the lines of ‘Alexa, ask Apple Music to play …’
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.
The company has already updated its product shots to show the Apple Music logo:
The decision by Apple to allow this is a further indication of the increasing importance of recurring Services revenue to the company: it cares more about selling Apple Music subscriptions than HomePods.
Photo: Shutterstock
