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How to use Alexa for Spotify Integration

CommodoreAmiga

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The more I (try to) use Alexa, the more frustrated I become. How the heck do you use Alexa to control Spotify music in the R1T?

I asked Alexa to play a song. It says I need to pay for an Amazon Music subscription. No.

I asked Alexa to play a song "on spotify". It says I need to enable the Spotify Skill in the Alexa App. There doesn't appear to be any way to do that in the R1T. Hoping this is just an "account-level" integration, I downloaded the Alexa app on my phone, and added the Spotify Skill, including linking my Amazon and Spotify accounts. I even set the "default" music service in the Alexa app to Spotify.

I again asked Alexa to play a song. It said it can't play that specific song, but it'll create a station of similar songs -- not what I wanted -- and the logo in the infotainment source changed from Spotify to Amazon Music. It appears this really did play through Amazon Music, too, as the song it played isn't in my Spotify history... Also, if I manually search for the song via the Spotify interface in the R1T it DOES find the song and lets me play it.

Is there really no way to use voice control to access the Spotify library? The touch interface in the R1T is decent when I'm parked, but it's unsafe to use while driving. In my other vehicles I've been able to use voice control to pick songs/artists...

Am I doing something wrong? Or is this really not a feature in the R1T?

(P.S. I'd actually like to use Apple Music, but of course that isn't even an option. I'm a bit annoyed that Spotify is the only integrated option and even then the integration is half-baked)
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MisterTea

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I also find it odd that Alexa is built-in, but I can't ask the Alexa speaker in my kitchen about my Rivian.
 

staples

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I also find it odd that Alexa is built-in, but I can't ask the Alexa speaker in my kitchen about my Rivian.
... yet.

I really hope Rivian is working on an Alexa app, at the bare minimum, to control cabin preconditioning. Maybe even allow for charging information retrieval: SOC, plugged in, etc.

I've slightly spoiled myself with the Tesla and Alexa integrations for Home Assistant, which allow me to yell, "Alexa, turn on Tesla climate."
 

R1Thrilled

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I downloaded the Alexa iOS app and connected my Spotify account to my Alexa account. That allows the Rivian Alexa integration to control Spotify assuming you're using the same logins.
 

DJG

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You can control/access anything in Spotify through Alexa that you can through the screen (play an artist, play a song, play an album, play a playlist, etc.). At least you can with Premium (what I have), don't know if that's true with a free account. I know that you have to pay for Amazon Music Unlimited to be able to play a specific album, playlist, song, etc.
 

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CommodoreAmiga

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You can control/access anything in Spotify through Alexa that you can through the screen (play an artist, play a song, play an album, play a playlist, etc.). At least you can with Premium (what I have), don't know if that's true with a free account. I know that you have to pay for Amazon Music Unlimited to be able to play a specific album, playlist, song, etc.
You’re contradicting yourself in this post?
 

DJG

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You’re contradicting yourself in this post?
No, I don't think so. You may or may not need Spotify Premium for that functionality within Spotify. I know you do need Unlimited for that functionality with Amazon Music through Alexa. I have Spotify Premium and don't want to cancel just to test it, but others can. It does work on my vehicle though, I just did it to verify. Told it to play an album, used steering wheel to skip to next song, works. Told it to play a Spotify playlist, works. And I can also see the full playlist on the screen to know what's up next.

Regardless, either way the statement is true, you CAN do everything through Alexa that you can through the screen. The question is whether you need a premium account or not for Spotify. You definitely need one for Amazon to play a specific album, playlist, etc. Otherwise it will play a "station" based on that artist.
 
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CommodoreAmiga

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No, I don't think so. You may or may not need Spotify Premium for that functionality within Spotify. I know you do need Unlimited for that functionality with Amazon Music through Alexa. I have Spotify Premium and don't want to cancel just to test it, but others can. It does work on my vehicle though, I just did it to verify. Told it to play an album, used steering wheel to skip to next song, works. Told it to play a Spotify playlist, works. And I can also see the full playlist on the screen to know what's up next.

Regardless, either way the statement is true, you CAN do everything through Alexa that you can through the screen. The question is whether you need a premium account or not for Spotify. You definitely need one for Amazon to play a specific album, playlist, etc. Otherwise it will play a "station" based on that artist.
Well I guess I’ll subscribe to premium for a month to test.

will report back.
 

DJG

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Well I guess I’ll subscribe to premium for a month to test.

will report back.
No, no, don't do that. I've already told you what that gets you. You tell us what happens in regular Spotify. Tell it to play one of your playlists, or a specific album from an artist (that doesn't have a track by the same name).
 
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CommodoreAmiga

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No, no, don't do that. I've already told you what that gets you. You tell us what happens in regular Spotify. Tell it to play one of your playlists, or a specific album from an artist (that doesn't have a track by the same name).
Here's a video of what happens for me. It seems to randomly switch from Spotify to Amazon Music at the end, too, for some reason.



I even have Spotify set as my default music service in Alexa.

Rivian R1T R1S How to use Alexa for Spotify Integration IMG_2966.PNG
 

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DJG

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Here's a video of what happens for me. It seems to randomly switch from Spotify to Amazon Music at the end, too, for some reason.



I even have Spotify set as my default music service in Alexa.
Yep, so Spotify is same as Amazon Music. Have to upgrade to get more features through Alexa. I pay for both, originally for the improved audio quality, but at least now I know I'm getting other added functionality to justify it.....I do like the curated Daily Mix playlists from Spotify, and being able to see the details vs. the audio only of Amazon. But the Amazon quality is objectively 10x better based on the numbers.

The switch to Amazon Music at the end is most likely because you didn't specify you wanted Spotify, so it defaulted to Amazon. Despite having it as your default in the app, I don't think those settings translate to the Rivian "device".
 
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CommodoreAmiga

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Yep, so Spotify is same as Amazon Music. Have to upgrade to get more features through Alexa. I pay for both, originally for the improved audio quality, but at least now I know I'm getting other added functionality to justify it.....I do like the curated Daily Mix playlists from Spotify, and being able to see the details vs. the audio only of Amazon. But the Amazon quality is objectively 10x better based on the numbers.

The switch to Amazon Music at the end is most likely because you didn't specify you wanted Spotify, so it defaulted to Amazon. Despite having it as your default in the app, I don't think those settings translate to the Rivian "device".
Now I’ll try subscribing for a month. Odd that Alexa can’t just tell me I need premium Spotify?
 

DJG

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Now I’ll try subscribing for a month. Odd that Alexa can’t just tell me I need premium Spotify?
She does for Amazon Unlimited. Either a) she's not authorized to provide that information b) doesn't have that information or c) doesn't want to advertise a competitors upsell.
 
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CommodoreAmiga

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Well, I signed up for a Spotify Premium trial, and it seems that Alexa does now let me request specific songs/albums.

It's a bit odd that the Alexa functionality doesn't directly match what the Rivian interface can do. At a minimum, it'd be nice if they explained it.

Oh well. Moving on.
 

ATL_Canes

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My issue is similar, but different. When I ask Alexa to play a song, it finds the song and indicates it's going to play ("Now playing U2 on Spotify") but nothing happens after that. It actually pauses whatever was playing and doesn't go to the new song. That's about 80% of the time. The other 20%, it works and plays the song requested.

I don't use it very often, so I don't care all that much. My kids love to request songs from the backseat so maybe it's all for the best that it doesn't work right. "Alexa, please play Kidz Bopp"
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