Setting Up Multi-Room Music for Alexa: A Simple Guide

Hey there! If you’re wondering how to get that awesome multi-room music experience with your Alexa, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll walk you through the process step by step, making it super easy for you to set up. Let’s dive right in!

First things first, make sure you have a compatible Alexa device in each room where you want to enjoy your music. This could be an Echo Dot, an Echo Plus, or any other Alexa-enabled device. Once you have that sorted, follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Open up the Alexa app on your smartphone or tablet. If you don’t have it yet, you can download it for free from your device’s app store.

Step 2: Tap on the “Devices” tab at the bottom of the screen. This will take you to the device settings menu.

Step 3: Look for the “+ Add Device” option and tap on it. Now, follow the on-screen instructions to set up your new Alexa device. Make sure to connect it to your Wi-Fi network and sign in to your Amazon account.

Step 4: Repeat Step 3 for each additional Alexa device you want to add to your multi-room music setup. Remember, you’ll need to do this for each room where you want to have synchronized music playback.

Step 5: Once all your devices are set up, go back to the Alexa app’s home screen and tap on the “Music” tab at the bottom. Here, you’ll see a list of compatible music services such as Amazon Music, Spotify, and Pandora.

Step 6: Choose your preferred music service and sign in with your account credentials. If you don’t have an account, you can create one for free.

Step 7: Now that you’re signed in, tap on the “+ Create Group” option. Give your group a name, such as “Living Room” or “Bedroom,” and select the Alexa devices you want to include in that group.

Step 8: Repeat Step 7 for each group you want to create, depending on the rooms where you want to enjoy your multi-room music.

Step 9: Once you’ve created your groups, you’re all set! Now you can simply say, “Alexa, play [song/artist/playlist] in [group name],” and your music will start playing in sync across all the devices in that group. How cool is that?

Setting up multi-room music for Alexa is a breeze when you follow these steps. Enjoy your favorite tunes wherever you go in your home, creating the perfect ambiance for any occasion. Have fun and happy listening!

Hey there! Let’s talk about the amazing world of multi-room music. It’s pretty cool because with this feature, you can play the same song on all your Echo devices. Imagine throwing a party and filling the room with music from all your Echo smart speakers playing in sync. It’s like having your very own concert!

Setting up multi-room music is actually quite easy. Even if you only have two speakers, you can still enjoy a stereo listening experience. But here’s the thing, this set-up is a bit different from the usual multi-room setup, and I’ll explain how it works.

What You’ll Need

To get started with multi-room music, you’ll need an Echo Show, Echo, or Echo Dot. Unfortunately, this feature is not available on Fire TV or Echo Tap, and it only works with Sonos speakers if you have third-party speakers. It’s also important that all your connected speakers are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. To use multi-room music, you’ll need either Amazon Music Unlimited or Amazon Prime Music. If you have Prime Music, you can only play one song on all the connected speakers. However, if you have Music Unlimited or the Amazon Music Family Plan, you can play different songs on different speakers. Pretty cool, right?

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Before we get too excited, there are a few limitations you should know about. Unfortunately, multi-room music doesn’t work with Bluetooth speakers. If you want to connect a speaker to your Echo Dot, for example, you’ll need to use an audio jack (3.5mm) instead.

When it comes to streaming, multi-room music works with Amazon services like Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and SiriusXM. There’s also an update that allows you to connect Spotify, but keep in mind that you won’t be able to stream audiobooks using this feature.

Enabling Multi-Room

Assuming you have all your devices and apps set up and ready for multi-room music, let’s dive into the steps to enable it. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1

Start by opening the Alexa app and look for the Smart Home Control icon. You’ll find it as a little house icon at the bottom right of the screen. Give it a tap, and we’re on our way to multi-room music awesomeness!

So, here’s what you do. First, tap on that plus icon up there in the top right corner. When you do, a menu will pop up right in front of you. From that menu, select “Add Multi-Room Music”.

Step 2

Now, pay attention. Alexa wants you to make a group of speakers. And guess what? You get to name it! In the “Group Name” menu, you can either choose a default name or come up with your own custom one.

If you want to use custom names, just tap on the text bar at the top of the screen. Type in the name you want and then select it.

Step 3

In the next window, you’ll see a list of all the speakers that you can connect to the group. Simply choose the ones you want to include and select “Save”.

Some important things to note:

A speaker can only belong to one group at a time. If you want to remove a specific speaker from the group, just select the Smart Home Controls option (it looks like a house icon). Then, go to Speaker Groups and choose “Unpair Speaker System”.

Step 4

If everything is set up correctly, you should now be able to play music through your multi-room set-up. Simply command “Play music + the name of your Echo speaker group”, and the music will start playing on all the speakers at once.

By default, Amazon Music is the streaming service used, but you can also choose to use Spotify or other streaming sources.

For example, you can say: “Alexa, play + the name of the radio station on Pandora on + your Echo speaker group’s name”.

Auxiliary Functionality

You can control the multi-room playback from any of the speakers in the group. For example, you can start a playlist from your smart speaker in the bedroom and then stop it from the one in the living room.

You can also use all the standard commands like adjusting the volume, skipping songs, and pausing playback.

Creating a Stereo Echo Set-Up

The Echo stereo set-up is not as powerful as Sonos, but it still provides great value for the price. It’s not the same as a multi-room set-up because one speaker plays the right channel and the other speaker plays the left channel. However, you get a somewhat better sound stage.

To create a stereo experience, go to Smart Home Controls and tap on the plus icon. Instead of selecting “Add Multi-Room Music”, choose “Set Up Audio System/Subwoofer”.

Hey there! Isn’t it cool that you get some extra bass with an Echo Sub? But hey, the rest of the settings are just like I described earlier.

By the way: The wording in the app might be different depending on the version of Alexa you’re using. But don’t worry, the steps and navigation are the same.

Helpful Commands

Here’s a tip: consider setting up “Preferred Speakers.” It’ll make giving commands a breeze. So you can say, “Alexa, play Kendrick Lamar,” and the music will start playing on your preferred speaker.

It doesn’t matter if that speaker is close by or part of a group. Without the “Preferred Speakers” setting, the music starts playing on the Echo that heard your command.

Let’s Get the Party Started

Alexa multi-room with Echo speakers is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to have a smart sound system. And if you want to splurge a bit on Sonos, there’s a special Alexa skill that lets you control those speakers seamlessly.

So, how many Echos do you want to connect? Have you thought about throwing a party with a multi-room set-up? We’d love to hear more about your music preferences.