How to change the default music service on Alexa and Amazon Echo

Time needed: 5 minutes

There are a number of reasons why you might want to change your default music streaming service on Alexa and Echo and hey, we aren’t here to judge. There’s a chance you started your music streaming journey with Spotify for example, and you have a collection of playlists and favorites that you don’t want to have to rebuild on Amazon Music. 

There’s also a chance Spotify or Apple Music have more of the genre of music you’re into compared to Amazon Music for example, or perhaps you just want the music you listen to on your Echo devices to be included in your yearly round up that typically appears towards the end of the year from the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. 

That’s when you find out your children have completely skewed your music tastes and it’s all about Taylor Swift or the Frozen soundtrack rather than the super cool new bands you’ve come across throughout the year.

Whatever your reason, here is how to change the default music streaming service that Alexa uses, as well as what your Amazon Echo uses.

1. Open up the Alexa app and head to More
   

   The first thing you’ll need to do is open up the Alexa app on your phone or tablet and tap on the More tab in the bottom right corner. This will take you to another screen where you will be able to access settings, among various other features.

2. Open up Music & Podcasts
   

   Once you tap on the ‘More’ tab, you’ll then want to tap on Settings. From here, another screen will appear, where you will need to scroll down a little until you reach Alexa Preferences. Under this menu is a option called Music & Podcasts.

3. Select the right profile 
   

   This step is important as whichever profile you select will be the only one where the default music service will be changed. If you have multiple Echo devices connected to different accounts for example, you will need to change each profile separately so follow these steps again until you’ve changed all the profiles you want to change. 
   
   To begin with, select the profile connected to the first Echo device you want to change to use a different music streaming service.
   

4. Link a music streaming service

   
   If you want to change the default music streaming service to Apple Music or Spotify for example, you will need to make sure those services are linked to Alexa. If they aren’t listed in the Music & Podcasts screen, tap on ‘Link New Service’ and tap on the music streaming service you want to link – Deezer, Apple Music. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Tidal – you name it.
   

5. Change the default music service on Alexa

   Once you have linked your music streaming service to Alexa, you’re ready to change the default. This might happen automatically if you only link up one other music streaming service but if not, then follow this step. 
   
   Under the same Music & Podcasts screen, make sure the right profile is selected at the top and then tap on Family Default Services or Your Default Services at the top. If Amazon Music is still selected as the default, tap on ‘Change’ to switch it to another music service.
   
   If the music service you want is listed, you don’t need to do anything else, Alexa will use this to stream music from by default next time you request a track.