Apart from smartphones, nowadays families also are equipped with smart homes. They are extremely sought-after particularly for younger people due to the ease of use they provide. You can control devices in your house with your voice! There’s no need to worry about batteries that aren’t working or finding remote controls.
Examples of smart homes include Google Home and Alexa. They can identify who is the person speaking which commands them. The answer they give is based on the owner of the voice they hear. There are many commands that you can send for your home’s smart devices, however among the ones that are most popular is “Alexa, play some music!”.
The question is: is it possible for Alexa access the music that you’ve accumulated in your NAS or your storage device? The years spent in collecting your most loved songs could be wasted. If you’ve got a smart AI in your home it is more beneficial to play music directly from your hard drive instead of signing up to a well-known music service.
Although thousands of tracks are accessible on the platform, not all of them are available. The old song you love may not be on there or it’s only available to listen to it on your network drive.
There are a variety of methods to allow Amazon Alexa access your hard drive and play your music through Amazon Echo. Amazon Echo or other Alexa-compatible speakers. Media servers such as Plex as well as My Media for Amazon allow you to play music that are stored on other devices.
How Do I Let Alexa play music from your NAS Drive?
There are four options available to your Amazon Alexa to play music from your hard drive: Plex Media Server, My Media for Alexa, My Pod, and OurJukeBox.
1. Plex Media Server
With using your Amazon Echo speakers, allow Plex to play music files. You’ll require an operating system like Windows, Linux, or macOS and an NAS drive, or network-attached storage drive as well as an Nvidia Shield TV. If you are playing tunes this way you should remember some things:
- One speaker is able to play the music played by Plex at one time.
- It is important to send commands to Alexa anytime you want to play a tune or play a song. Plex is not able to switch between songs.
- Plex is more slow in response than the music player of Amazon Alexa.
- Album art is not displayed on the screen
2. My Media for Alexa
This application needs a server to stream music files to the help of your Amazon Echo. Like Plex however, it has limitations like some speakers cannot play the music streamed from My Media. Also, you must follow the exact format when giving your commands to Alexa. One of the disadvantages is that it’s not as free as Plex.
You’ll need to take advantage of the annual subscription of $5 after attempting it for free for the first seven days if you’ve got just one media server as well as two Amazon accounts. It costs between $10 and $15 for two servers and five Amazon accounts, as well as five servers with 25 different Amazon accounts. A few of the advantages of Plex are:
- My Media can index iTunes playlists.
- It is able to search and play music according to its genre.
- It is not afflicted with playback issues when compared to Plex.
3. My Pod
A quick way to compare the two other alternatives is to use My Pod. Through Google Drive links of folders it is possible to play playlists or albums in MP3 as well as AAC format using Alexa. YouTube playlists are also available. My Pod isn’t recommended for streaming all your music however it does not require any media servers to stream through.
4. OurJukeBox
OurJukeBox lets Alexa to play any song on your NAS drive or computer connected to a home network via DLNA. DLNA and Digital Living Network Allied compatible devices can stream video, play audio, and play music to one another as long as they’re connected to an internet.
With OurJukeBox it is possible to find any song using its genre, title the year, the singer’s name, and many other parameters. Simply say a certain genre of it to Alexa and it will find it.
If none of these solutions are working, you can say “Alexa, pair Bluetooth”! Once you have heard this command the Amazon Echo will look for nearby Bluetooth devices to connect to. Connect your device or smartphone to it and start playing whatever music you like. Alexa can handle basic playlist settings including pausing and skipping songs.
Tips in When Playing Music Using Alexa
One of Alexa’s strengths is streaming and playing music throughout your home. It provides convenience to those who wish to stream music throughout the house. With only one voice command you are able to stream music from Amazon Echo speakers. Amazon Echo speakers. Here are some tips for using Alexa to stream music in your home.
1. Create Playlists
With Amazon’s brand new Alexa option, customers are able to create playlists. The songs that you can put to your playlists should originate via Amazon music. If you have music stored on your computer, or other platforms for music it is necessary to create one by hand. You can ask “Alexa, create a playlist” or create a playlist with a name.
2. Play With Multiple Speakers
You can also set Alexa to stream music using multiple speakers at the at the same. You can do this via the Alexa app. Then, go to settings and then multi-room music. With these settings, create an audio group which you would like for to play whatever music you wish to. Then, ask Alexa to start playing music with the name of the group you have assigned to the speakers.
3. You can play music using your hard Drive
If you don’t subscribe to any music streaming service you can listen to music on your phone or computer. Speak, “Alexa, pair Bluetooth” or “Alexa, Bluetooth” so Alexa is able to locate close Bluetooth devices. Alexa can play any song that is that is stored either on your PC or phone.
4. Use Alexa Music Skills
In addition to music streaming services, there’s also something known as Alexa music abilities. With Alexa’s musical skills you can listen to different types of music based the mood you’re in. Massage music, bathing songs, music from classical traditional music, some even music from radio.
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