Amazon Alexa Can Now Play Apple Music in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain

Amazon is extending access to Apple Music on Alexa devices to four new European countries. Alexa-enabled devices in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain can now use the Apple Music app to stream Amazon’s rival music streaming service.

Growing the Alexa Apple Music Footprint

Amazon first announced the partnership with Apple near the end of last year, but it was restricted to the U.S. Then, in April this year, the offering spread to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The arrangement makes Apple Music another skill for Alexa. Users can link Apple Music via the Alexa App, then ask Alexa to play a specific artist or playlist from Apple Music whenever they wish. The service is available on both Amazon’s Echo smart speaker line and third-party smart speakers that have Alexa as a voice assistant.

Most Popular Service Meets Most Popular Device

The deal between Amazon and Apple must be going well for the companies to add new countries to its arrangement. That’s not too surprising considering what each of them gets out of it. Music is the most frequently used accessed feature on smart speakers on a monthly and daily basis according to two years of Voicebot studies, and Apple Music is the second largest music streaming service globally by subscriber count. Amazon already has Amazon Music, not to mention skills for Spotify, Pandora, and music streaming services, but Apple Music is needed to make its offerings comprehensive. Adding Apple Music can boost Amazon in its efforts to get people to use their Echos and other Alexa devices more.

Apple has a smart speaker product, the Homepod, but it is far more expensive than an Echo Dot, and Amazon already has a large lead when it comes to the number of smart speakers sold. With this deal, Apple gets to distribute its lucrative music streaming feature to far more households than it would with only its own hardware.

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