Spotify Free comes to Echo, Sonos and Bose speakers, but Brits will have to wait
Spotify has announced its free, ad-funded Spotify Free music streaming service can now be easily streamed to smart speakers from Amazon, Sonos and Bose.
Initially rolling out in the United States, Australia and New Zealand (hopefully a UK launch won't be far behind), its the first time non-paying Spotify users will be able to access music via Alexa-powered speakers from Amazon.
Spotify has worked with Amazon Echo speakers since 2016, but until now it has been one of the rapidly diminishing number of benefits Premium subscribers had over those who choose to access without forking over any cash. From today onwards, those Spotify Free users with Echo speakers and Fire TV devices can now say things like "Play my Discover Weekly", "Pause this song", and more.
As far as Bose and Sonos smart speakers and soundbars are concerned, Spotify Free can now be cast to the speakers using the Spotify Connect casting technology, Spotify didn't make clear whether the Alexa assistant can be used on compatible devices from these manufacturers, but we have asked the company to clarify.
In a press release on Wednesday, Spotify says: "To play music using your Smart Speaker through Spotify Connect, first make sure that your Sonos or Bose system is updated to the latest firmware. Then open the Spotify app on your phone, laptop or tablet. Play any song, then select the "devices" icon. Finally, select the device you want to stream from and start listening."
The move comes as Amazon expanded its own free music service to those without an Echo device or Prime Membership. Amazon Music now offers a selection of ad-funded tracks for everyone, again supported by ads.
While the service is nowhere near as rounded as Spotify Free in terms of access to the full catalogue and the curation of personalised playlists, the expansion caused Spotify stock to fall almost 5% (via CNBC).
