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5 surprising music hacks to try with your Amazon Echo tonight

Alexa can give you a better music listening experience with these Amazon Music features.

Katie Teague Writer II
Katie is a writer covering all things how-to at CNET, with a focus on Social Security and notable events. When she's not writing, she enjoys playing in golf scrambles, practicing yoga and spending time on the lake.
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Katie Teague
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Try these tricks on your Amazon Echo today.

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Amazon Echo is your go-to for listening to your favorite songs and playlists, but there are so many more music commands you can give Alexa when listening to Amazon Music on your smart speaker.

For example, you can ask Alexa to start announcing each song it's going to play with the hidden Song ID feature. You can also tell Alexa which songs you like so that it can get a better idea of what you want to listen to, and request music for specific activities.

Here's how to start using these Alexa music tips we found for your Amazon Echo.

Watch this: Amazon Echo Studio and new Echo Dot are big on sound and time

Song ID

When you're listening to a new song you've never heard, it can be annoying to interrupt the song by asking Alexa what it's called or who sings it. However, with a feature called Song ID, Alexa will announce the artist and name of the track before playing the song. To enable, say, "Alexa, turn on Song ID."

Set any song as your alarm

Make your mornings more exciting by setting your alarms by mood, lyric, song title, playlist or genre. As an Amazon Music subscriber, you can ask Alexa to set a song as your alarm by saying a few lyrics from the song or by genre. For example, you can say, "Alexa, set an alarm at 7 a.m. to We Are the Champions" or, "Alexa, wake me up with relaxing music at 7 a.m."

The great thing is, you can set any song as your alarm, even if it's a song you normally can't listen to with your normal Amazon Music subscription. For example, if a song or artist is only available for Unlimited subscribers, you can request to hear it as an alarm and listen to the full song.

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Set music alarms on your Echo speaker.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Recommended playlists

If you're not sure what you want to listen to, ask Alexa for help by saying, "Alexa, help me find a playlist." Alexa will ask questions about genre, occasion, mood and tempo and will offer a preview of selected playlists. You can let the voice assistant know what you do and don't like by saying, "Alexa, I like this song" or, "Alexa, I don't like this." This will help the voice assistant to better understand your music preferences.

Song of the day

If you're subscribed to Amazon Music Unlimited (three months free and then $8 per month after), you can ask Alexa to play the song of the day. This feature includes Alexa giving facts about the song before playing it, and when the song is finished you'll get suggestions for what to listen to next.

Music for activities

If you're performing a specific activity, like meditating, sleeping, doing a home workout or eating, you can request to hear a specific playlist that Amazon has curated for your activity. Try, "Alexa, play peaceful music for sleeping," "Alexa, play pop music for running" or, "Alexa, play classical music for cooking."

Fun music-related questions to ask Alexa

  • Alexa, play a surprise from Dolly.
  • Alexa, put a beat on.
  • Alexa, play cat music.
  • Alexa, play dog music.
  • Alexa, hello, it's me!
  • Alexa, what's the difference between Under Pressure and Ice Ice Baby?
  • Alexa, are you down with O.P.P.?
  • Alexa, never gonna give you up.
  • Alexa, who is Jessie's girl?
  • Alexa, who is the Walrus?
  • Alexa, what does Seattle smell like?

For more tips to get the most out of your smart speaker, here's how to simultaneously stream music across all your Amazon Echo devices, how to turn your Echo speaker into a free TV speaker and four top Amazon Echo features to perfect and improve now.

Watch this: Amazon Echo Show 8 review: Alexa is getting even better