Cliff Owen/AP
- Soon Echo owners will be able to ask Alexa to play songs from Apple Music.
- The feature will be turned on next month.
- Apple and Amazon's previously chilly relationship seems to be thawing.
Subscribers to Apple Music will soon find their Amazon Echo devices more useful.
Amazon announced on Friday that, starting next month, Echo owners will be able to play Apple Music songs through their smart speaker - by asking Alexa, not Siri.
The Alexa "skill" for Apple Music will be turned on the week of December 17.
From Amazon's announcement:
"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."
Although this isn't the first non-Apple platform that Apple Music is compatible with - there's an Android Apple Music app - the announcement is a milestone in the thawing relationship between Apple and Amazon.
Apple and Amazon have been working together more recently after years of a cold war where each tech giant was withholding some of its products and services from the other's platforms. The thawing is good news for the 50 million Apple Music subscribers, many of whom probably own Echo speakers, instead of Apple's pricey HomePod.
Amazon started selling iPhones and other Apple products directly earlier this fall.
Here's the full announcement from Amazon:
Music has always been one of Alexa's most popular features and today we're excited to announce thatApple Music will be available on Echo devices beginning the week of December 17.
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.
"Music is one of the most popular features on Alexa-since we launched Alexa four years ago, customers are listening to more music in their homes than ever before," said Dave Limp, senior vice president, Amazon Devices. "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."
Customers tell us that the simplicity and ease of asking Alexa for the content they want to hear has brought more music into their homes. Customers ask Alexa to play all kinds of music in many different languages. They stream tens of millions of hours of radio per month and have set tens of millions of music alarms since the feature launched less than a year ago.
Fun fact: Top country is the most requested music to wake up to.
We're excited to bring Apple Music to our Alexa customers this holiday season.