Apple Music can now be streamed on Amazon Echo speakers via Alexa in the United States, a few days ahead of schedule.
As spotted by 9to5Mac, it is now possible to link Apple Music with your Amazon account in the Alexa app for iPhone and use Alexa voice commands to control playback of songs, playlists, and Beats 1 on Apple Music on Amazon Echo speakers.
To access this feature, simply use a voice command such as "Alexa, play music by Ed Sheeran on Apple Music" or "Alexa, play today's hits on Apple Music." Apple Music can also be set as the default music service in the Alexa app, so that "Apple Music" does not need to be specified each time.
Other streaming music services supported on Echo speakers include Spotify, Deezer, Vevo, SiriusXM, Tidal, and Pandora.
Apple and Amazon announced this new partnership in late November, with Amazon saying it is "committed to offering great music providers to our customers," and referring to Apple Music as "one of the most popular music services."
Apple Music playback on Amazon Echo speakers is currently limited to the United States.
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The people buying a cheap amazon echo or google home device are not in the market for a HomePod. Likewise, the people willing to pay for a HomePod have shown that they value sound quality first and foremost and are willing to pay a premium for it, hence an echo or home device is not going to appeal to them.
It’s possible that Apple is doing this to prevent users from defecting from Apple Music. I am actually a bit confused on the motivation though. Apple Music isn’t profitable any more than Spotify is, so this doesn’t feel like a push to chase revenue. Could Apple be chasing music streaming subscribers to retain influence with record labels, and to possibly push its video streaming and news service next year (easier to sell a bundle when your users are already using one of them)?[emoji848]
Not sure I 100% agree with this.
Buy a Amazon Alexa Dot, connect it to $300 of proper stereo speakers and Apple music sub, and you have a music player that's vastly superior to a HomePod for audio quality, and at the same time vastly better AI / Smart home integration.
