Music Subscriptions and Apps

[Ashmore]

Solutions sought for my first world dilemma.

I currently subscribe to Tidal HiFi (£19.99 a month) for 'serious listening' and downloads, and Spotify £9.99 for its wider catalogue and because KidA has playlists on her Echo to help her sleep.

So far so good, but TIDAL doesn't yet integrate with Amazon Echo in the UK, and so if KidA is listening to her playlist and we want to hear other stuff online we're screwed. Further. KidB is about to get an Echo, and no doubt she'll want to listen to her own stuff. So some sort of family account feels inevitable.

So what are my options?

I could easily solve with a Spotify family account + Tidal. But them I'm spending £35 a month on music subs, which starts to feel expensive.
I could switch to Amazon HD family (£15) but I don't think that integrates with LMS, which I use to serve music to the proper system (using a NAS and Picore). Is there another software option to stream local music and Amazon?

What would you do?

[Ashmore]

only in the States yet....

[Stratmangler]

I tried to delete my post before you spotted it :doh:

[Stratmangler]

Have you tried this?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO5rExW-7I8

[Ashmore]

No. I'll have a look, though the image makes me want to puke over my keyboard...

[Alex_UK]

I ended up unlinking my Spotify account from Alexa - I have Spotify Family, but can't seem to set different accounts for each device. I found the free Amazon Music has been fine for the kids as it is mainly chart stuff they listen to.

[Ashmore]

Ahh that's disappointing as Spotty family was the route I was most likely to take. Is it not a feature do you think (to assign an account to each Echo)? Or did you just get fed up trying to find out how?

[mikeyb]

I ended up unlinking my Spotify account from Alexa - I have Spotify Family, but can't seem to set different accounts for each device. I found the free Amazon Music has been fine for the kids as it is mainly chart stuff they listen to.

Had the same issue, I deregisted the Alexa device on my amazon account and signed into it with another account.

Saved the problem with the music changing because someone on the other Alexa device had asked it to play something via Spotify Family.

[icehockeyboy]

I’ve had regular Spotify, Tidal, and Deezer, but am now very happy, and impressed with Amazon Music HD, at a fiver a month less than the others.
I too looked into whether Tidal would link with Alexa months ago as it was in America, but afaia, still nothing here, so Amazon HD it was!

[Ashmore]

Right, so that brings me back to one of my original questions: can I get amazon HD to play through the main system - an internet connected pi set up currently using LMS on an NAS box? Oh and I would want to control it using an app of some sort, not by shouting commands across the room...

[Stratmangler]

Amazon have kept the details of their streaming close to their chest, so nothing has happened on the LMS front.
Looks like Amazon want users to use the provided apps for the platforms they have released them on.

[Ashmore]

Thanks Chris, that’s as I feared.

[mikeyb]

Right, so that brings me back to one of my original questions: can I get amazon HD to play through the main system - an internet connected pi set up currently using LMS on an NAS box? Oh and I would want to control it using an app of some sort, not by shouting commands across the room...

No, and don’t hold your breath either, can’t ever see it happening which is why I’ve gone the Qobuz USA $14.99 route [emoji6]

[griffo104]

Not quite what you want but I recently switched to amazon HD family, the wife and grandkids use it on their Echo Dots.

I use it from my phone casting through a google CCA in to my amp. So it is possible to control it without shouting at it which is good as our Echo doesn't seem to like Brummie.

[Ripley's Cat]

Currently listening to Amazon HD in my main system via the DTS Play-Fi app on my iPhone and then onto the Arcam rPlay streamer which has built-in support for the DTS Play-Fi app (although the Arcam is discontinued this is the same platform as used by the Audiolab 6000N streamer). The app isn't perfect but there's no need for Alexa to be involved in the process and the Amazon HD music app is launched within the DTS Play-fi app, if that makes sense? Amazon also have their own streamer with hifi credentials as part of the Echo family, but you have to look a little harder to find it; it's called the Echo Link - not had any encounters with the device though, so unable to recommend.

[struth]

Giving my two Alexas to the grandkids. I never use now. Ive got other ways of skinning the cat

[Ashmore]

I had a look at the Echo link, and read the reviews. It seems like an expensive way to get Amazon HD onto a system and (as far as I can tell) it looks like you're stuck with the onboard dac. Shame really.