{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2F60faefdd-2f3d-4d9f-93d7-d934c2eb1fd4","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"Music Groups and Alexa Routines Test Drive","description":"How to Make Music Groups Work I was having an issue after creating a music group (Go to Smart Home in the Alexa App > Groups > Add Group I talked about this in a previous episode that you can use Spotify with this feature, but you can use the following: Amazon Music Unlimited (Individual plan or Family plan) Prime Music Amazon Music Some third-party music providers I found out one of the third party features is iHeart Radio and Pandora Once enabled, say, \"Play [music selection] on [group name],\" to play your music on the selected devices. Amazon has a TON of built-in\u00a0playlists for those on Amazon Prime. I might start checking these out.\u00a0 The bad news is Alexa won't play one of your custom playlists.\u00a0 Using Alexa Routines I was excited when I heard about Alex routines. This is where you could say one command and Alexa would do multiple items.\u00a0 For example, I have one called \"Start My Day\" it turns on my bedroom light, give's me the weather, and plays my news brief.\u00a0 This is good, but that's just about everything Alexa will do. She can control smart home devices, tell you about traffic, weather, and the news. I was really hoping she could tell me my calendar and then start a random song from a playlist.\u00a0 You can have routines set up to be voice activated or be activated by a timed event. For example, you could have it kick off weekdays a 7:30 am.\u00a0 Alexa Has a Spooky Song As Halloween is tomorrow, ask Alexa to sing a spooky song.\u00a0","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/02040501-8317-4b4a-b070-f6bb79d0926b/alexa-artwork1400c.png"}