In a move to broaden Apple Music’s ecosystem, Amazon is putting the streaming services in all of its Echo devices later this month.
Announced Friday morning in a statement, Apple Music will be added to Echo devices starting Dec. 17, meaning subscribers will be able to engage in all their usual Apple Music activities using Echo devices, either with Alexa’s assistance and/or of their volition. To get this latest Echo feature rolling on your device, just turn on the Apple Music skill in the Alexa app and link your Apple Music account.
"We are committed to offering great music providers to our customers and since launching the Music Skill API to developers just last month, we've expanded the music selection on Alexa to include even more top tier services," Amazon Devices senior VP Dave Limp said Friday. "We're thrilled to bring Apple Music—one of the most popular music services in the US—to Echo customers this holiday."
Amazon says customers have told them that the simplicity and ease of asking Alexa for the content they want to hear has brought more music into their homes. Customers stream tens of millions of hours of radio per month and have set tens of millions of music alarms since the feature launched less than a year ago, with the most popular genre in the morning being “country.”