Skip to main content

Alexa can now give you a heads-up on what song is next in the queue

We’ve all had the experience of listening to a playlist or radio station, having a song catch our attention but having no clue who the artist is. Amazon is hoping to help fix that problem. This week, the company rolled out a new feature for its Alexa voice assistant called Song ID that will call out the name of an artist and a song before playing it.

Alexa’s new feature is meant to help aid in music discovery. While you can quickly look at your screen on desktop or mobile to see what song has come up in your queue, it’s a little more difficult when you’re listening on a smart speaker. Typically, the songs just play uninterrupted and you can find yourself jamming out to a song that you’ve never heard of before. Amazon has a number of playlists on its Amazon Music streaming service that focus on new and upcoming artists and giving Alexa the ability to name drop them before a song starts could help introduce people to new music.

Related Videos

Users can enable the feature by saying “Alexa, turn on Song ID” (or “Alexa, turn off Song ID” if it starts to interrupt the flow of your favorite tunes). Once enabled, Alexa will drop in before a song starts and provide some quick information. The voice assistant will give you the artist and song title while you’re listening to a streaming radio station, playlist, or new releases. With Alexa shouting out the relevant information for you, you’ll at least have a chance of remembering the songs you like.

Amazon’s decision to infuse Alexa with song recognition tools apparently was influenced by how smart speaker owners have been using the voice assistant. The company claims Alexa receives “hundreds of thousands” of questions every day about music. Those questions include things like “Alexa, what song is this?” and “Alexa, who sings this song?” With the new Song ID feature, Alexa should be able to beat people to the punch and deliver the information before they have to ask.

The Song ID feature is already live in Amazon Music and works with Echo devices in the United States.

Editors' Recommendations

Amazon might be using Alexa to send you targeted ads
siri alexa feminist reboot amazon

It appears that Amazon might be using its speakers to send you targeted ads, according to a recent report published online. To collect the data required to send you personalized ads, Amazon has been sharing transcripts of your conversation with its Alexa smart assistant with third-party businesses.

This new report was produced by researchers from the University of Washington, the University of California - Davis, the University of California - Irvine, and Northeastern University. They published the information online and stated that Amazon and third parties share people's interactions with over 40 advertisers. That data informs Amazon's advertising partners about your interests and then influences ads you receive on your Alexa speakers and the web.

Read more
Alexa can now tell you when a package is delivered
Senior citizen using Alexa to stay connected

Amazon has always wanted to have Alexa become the end-all and be-all assistant. Thanks to a new update, it's one step closer. Alexa can now tell you if it sees a person or a package through one of your security cameras. Also, if you have an Echo Show or a Fire TV, Alexa can automatically pull up a live video feed of the subject.

Amazon recently allowed third-party companies to tap into this new feature by revealing a new API. As a result, companies such as Google, Ring, and Abode have already added person recognition to their video security doorbells. According to Amazon, all of Ring's video doorbells and cameras should be updated now, while Google's Nest Cam Indoor, Nest Cam Outdoor, Nest Cam Floodlight, and Nest Doorbell will receive the update soon. In addition, Abode's IOTA and Outdoor Camera will also receive the update.

Read more
Is your Amazon Echo, Alexa, or Ring down today? You aren’t alone
Amazon Echo Show 15 hanging vertically on the wall.

If you've tried to use your Alexa or Ring device this morning only to receive no response, don't worry -- it's not just you. Amazon Web Services, the cloud-computing backbone of Amazon.com and large portions of the internet, is experiencing outages this morning that are affecting thousands of users.

But it's not just Amazon-powered smart devices. There are thousands of outage reports for Disney+, as well as games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, League of Legends, and others. You might notice that your Alexa smart assistant doesn't respond, or just says she doesn't know what went wrong. Even using your Alexa app to activate smart devices might not work.

Read more