Yes, Alexa can identify songs that it's playing for you here's how to do it manually, or set Ale

May 2024 · 3 minute read

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Your Amazon Echo speaker is smarter than it lets on. 

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One of Alexa's skills is the ability to identify what song is playing, whenever you ask.

There are two ways to get Alexa to identify music: by request, and automatically. Here's how to use both.

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Amazon Echo 3rd Gen (From $79.99 at Amazon)

How to make Alexa identify songs on request

Any time Alexa is playing music, simply say, "Alexa what song is playing?" The assistant will briefly interrupt the song to announce the name and artist of the song. 

This feature has limitations — it only works if you're streaming music from a streaming music catalog like Spotify or Amazon Music.

If you're listening to a radio station, Alexa can identify the name of the station, but not the song that's playing. 

You can ask Alexa to tell you what song it's playing. Elaine Thompson/AP

How to make Alexa identify songs automatically

If you're listening to music through Amazon Music, you can set Alexa to announce the name and artist of every song automatically.

Simply say, "Alexa, turn on Song ID."

Again, this will only work for songs played through Amazon Music.

If Spotify is your default music player, you can force Alexa to use Amazon Music by saying, "Alexa, play [your music choice] on Amazon Music."

If you get tired of the Song ID feature, you can disable it by saying "Alexa, turn off Song ID."

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Dave Johnson Freelance Writer Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider. Read more Read less

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