# New Alexa feature: Song ID



## gdae23 (Apr 30, 2009)

Alexa has a new Song ID feature. If you activate it, Alexa will announce the track title and artist before each track plays. Of course, you can always ask Alexa for the individual track information as a track is playing, or look at the screen if you have a device with a screen. (Assuming the screen hasn't reverted to the home screen.) But this feature makes it automatic. I've been using it when I'm shuffle playing a list with lots of different artists. Alexa announces the information before the track starts playing, so the music volume isn't lowered like it is when you ask for individual track info. So far, it only works on Alexa devices, so if you've connected Alexa to other speakers, like Sonos, Song ID won't work when playing music through the other speakers. I think it only works with Amazon music, and not other streaming services. (I only have Amazon's streaming service, so I can't test this.)

To turn the feature on, say: Alexa, turn on Song ID.
To turn the feature off, say: Alexa, turn off Song ID.

I find when I'm switching between on and off that I have to give the command, then stop the music and start it again for the switch to happen. I guess it's like having to restart a computer or app after doing an update for the update to take. I've mostly been leaving it on, except when I'm very familiar with the music I'm listening to. 

I actually found out about this from some third party sites, and have yet to hear about it from Amazon, or find any instructions for it. (Although I may have simply missed reading an Amazon email along the way.) l really like this feature though.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

gdae23 said:


> I think it only works with Amazon music, and not other streaming services. (I only have Amazon's streaming service, so I can't test this.)


Do you have Amazon Music _Unlimited_? If so have you found, as I did, that too much music has become unavailable to make it worthwhile paying for? If you do and have a long playlist, check in the app to see if all the tracks are still available or are grayed out. It's such a disappointment for me. I've switched to Spotify.


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## gdae23 (Apr 30, 2009)

I have noticed a number of grayed out tracks. If it's truly a favorite album, I check to see if it's still on AMU but just listed differently, which sometimes happens. If it's really gone, and I really like the album, I'll buy a copy and add it to my iTunes library. I bought Sonos speakers about a year before the first Alexa device appeared, and I can stream my iTunes music that way.  

Since I began using AMU, I've bookmarked at least a few thousand tracks. (This is because if I hear one track I like from an album, perhaps on an internet radio show, I'll often save the entire album, even before I've listened to the rest of it.) So if a grayed out album isn't a true favorite, I'll just let it go and listen to something else. So far, I’ve still found enough music to stick with AMU, but it's not set in stone. If I started finding that too much I liked was gone, I would also switch to another service. I can understand your frustration if most of what you want to listen to has disappeared from AMU. 

Now that you've switched to Spotify, I'd be interested to hear your comments about how the two services compare in terms of content and features. I had used the free Spotify briefly some years ago, but not a lot. When I was picking a streaming service to use, I checked several albums I liked, and they were all either on all the services or none. So I went with AMU based on the price, since I already was using Amazon Prime and got the AMU discount.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I would have preferred staying with AMU, but there were too many tracks on my Favorites playlist that were grayed out.  Songs that had been there previously were now gone.  AMU should be adding music -- not subtracting.  That did it for me.  I feel the AMU app. is easier to work with than the Spotify app.  

I didn't think to check Spotify for two old CDs I have that I love.  They're both nature sounds.  Neither were on AMU so I uploaded / imported them there.  They're not on Spotify.  I took a quick look re uploading / importing them to Spotify.  I'm not techie.  It's beyond me.    Shoot.  

It's early -- gray matter isn't working fully yet (if ever).  I can still play those on Echos.  They stayed on my Amazon Music (limited).  If you're interested, titles of the two CDs are "Gentle Waves" and "Bamboo Waterfall".  

So for now I've got Spotify.  Work with it for a while.  Could go back to AMU someday.  Doesn't matter which music service -- voice requesting music from Echos can be frustrating and infuriating.


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