• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

The heiress of $10 billion Perdue Farms and the $12 billion Sheraton Hotels empire wore hand-me-downs, still rides the subway, and flies economy

2

Richard Branson double-booked his own job interview. The candidate stuck in traffic with him for 2.5 hours is now Virgin's CEO

3

IBM’s CEO disagrees with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s disdain for texting in meetings: ‘Telling people they can't use their technology would be weird’

1

The heiress of $10 billion Perdue Farms and the $12 billion Sheraton Hotels empire wore hand-me-downs, still rides the subway, and flies economy

2

Richard Branson double-booked his own job interview. The candidate stuck in traffic with him for 2.5 hours is now Virgin's CEO

3

IBM’s CEO disagrees with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s disdain for texting in meetings: ‘Telling people they can't use their technology would be weird’
TechAmazon

Amazon Alexa Just Made It Even Easier to Find the Right Music on Echo

By
John Patrick Pullen
John Patrick Pullen
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Patrick Pullen
John Patrick Pullen
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 4, 2017, 7:43 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Having a seemingly endless library of music within finger’s reach isn’t all it’s cracked up to be—you tend to only to listen to the same old songs.

But Amazon, always looking for ways to make its Alexa voice assistant feel more natural, may have come up with a good solution for streaming music’s discovery problem. Yesterday the e-commerce giant rolled out a new “activities” feature on Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited so that people can say things like “Alexa, play baby making jazz music,” and get sexy saxophone riffs to listen to in response.

Similar to theme-based, curated Spotify and Apple Music playlists, Amazon Alexa’s take lets users put in their digital D.J. requests via voice. The feature currently plays playlists for more than 500 distinct “activity utterances” including cooking, running, throwing a dinner party, and even sleeping.

For example, users can say things like:

  • “Alexa, play classic rock music for a dinner party.”
  • “Alexa, play hooking up music.”
  • “Alexa, play classical music for sleeping.”
  • “Alexa, play music for getting pumped.”

Amazon says meditation is the most requested activity on its Alexa platform, which is used to control the Echo line of products and third-party devices like thermostats and home intercoms. And more than 25% of the requests of musical requests made are for various kinds of de-stressing sounds.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Amazon Alexa plays music via users’ Amazon Prime Music or Amazon Music Unlimited accounts. However, Echo products can also be configured to default to Spotify for songs instead. In testing, the new activities feature also worked with Spotify’s library.

This story was updated on Aug. 7 to correct the name of Amazon’s music streaming services.

About the Author
By John Patrick Pullen
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech


Most Popular

Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

    Latest in Tech


    Most Popular

    © 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
    FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.