You can use the Amazon Alexa platform to loop music playing on your Amazon Echo devices, whether it’s a single song or a whole playlist, and you can do it on any device. This is one of the most useful aspects of the product. Routine-triggered loop tracks can also be sorted, but there are some restrictions on how they can be organized. This guide will demonstrate how to accomplish this.
“Alexa, turn on loop mode,” you may tell your Amazon Echo to play music indefinitely by simply saying. There’s a lot more you can do with it, such as creating playlists that loop indefinitely.
However, keep in mind that the playlist part provides more recent material and that the video version of this lesson is available if you prefer video. It is possible to loop playlists with only one command or routine if you follow the instructions below:
Repeating music and playlists has a number of advantages over one-time listening.
The term “looping music” refers to a song that has finished playing and then immediately begins playing again – in other words, it is in “repeat mode.” In a similar vein, after a playlist has finished playing, it will automatically begin playing again. If you have a playlist with 1-2 songs or a playlist with 100 songs, this is true.
A few examples of the advantages and applications of looping music in this manner are as follows:
- For example, if you’ve recently discovered a new piece of music that you enjoy, you won’t have to keep repeating “Alexa, play [song title]” every few minutes as you would otherwise have to. Furthermore, your children may choose to pay attention to Baby Shark or Gummy Bear again, which can be irritating; however, loop mode is available to make the operation simple and straightforward!
- As a nightly sleep noise, it’s simple to repeat the same song over and over in your head. I’ve previously shared how I enjoy listening to sleep noises in the evenings because they can help enhance sleep quality and reduce insomnia. In comparison to paying a monthly membership fee for sleep sounds or music, it is far more cost-effective to purchase a 99-cent sleep sound file and play it over and over again.
- In the event that you’re hosting an event and would like some background music, creating a playlist is simple, and there will be no need to worry about Alexa or Google Assistant playing weird tunes. After the playlist has been completed, the music will either be turned off or replaced with a song radio’ broadcast. In this instance, it is far preferable to loop the playlist, which will force it to start over from the beginning at the appropriate point.
- There are various limitations to looping songs and playlists as part of a routine, but it can be used to create smart home automation chains that include repeated music, subject to some restrictions. If you want to listen to music for a fixed amount of time or all night, this is especially beneficial at bedtime because it eliminates having to remember and say the name of the sleep sound track each time you go to bed. Simply include it in a nightly ritual that includes other activities such as turning on the lights, and it will be repeated on a regular basis.
A limitation exists when it comes to using Amazon Echo devices to play repeated music within Amazon Echo routines, which I will explain in greater detail at the end of this post. However, overall, Amazon Echo device support for looping music is strong, as I will address in the following two sections:
What is the best way to make a selected music loop on Amazon’s Alexa/Echo voice assistant?
Listening to the commands, I issue to my third-generation Echo Dot.
Simple steps can be taken to loop your newly discovered favorite tune or even a melody that will annoy the rest of the household.
For example, “Alexa, play [song name],” or “Alexa, play Baby Shark” are both acceptable commands. When your Echo hears this, it will respond by saying, “Playing Baby Shark by Pinkfong on Amazon Music,” which is a reference to the song Pinkfong.
If you want to turn on loop mode after that, you can say “Alexa, turn on loop mode” once the music has begun playing and Alexa will react by saying “Alexa turn on loop mode.”
That is all there is to it! Instead than having to learn a new command, the only one you’ll need to give Alexa is “Alexa, switch on loop mode.” After the requested music has finished playing, it will be played on repeat until the song has completed its duration.
If you’ve had enough of the song that keeps playing in the background, you have two alternatives for shutting it off:
- “Alexa, pause” – this will entirely pause the song and will delete any ‘loop mode’ settings that may have been previously configured. In other words, the following requested song will not be played more than once; instead, it will be played only once, as is standard practice.
- After you say “Alexa, turn off loop mode,” the song will continue to play, but it will no longer repeat itself as it did before. Consequently, once the video has done playing, it will no longer repeat. This is an excellent option if you want to hear the end of the music but don’t want to be interrupted by the sudden “Alexa, stop” command from your smart speaker.
Creating playlists for the Alexa Echo Dot that will loop automatically
Alexa may be instructed to “play [name of playlist] on repeat” by simply saying “play [name of playlist] on repeat.” You had to ask Alexa to play a playlist by saying “Alexa, play [name of playlist] playlist” followed by “Alexa, loop mode on” in order for it to keep looping forever before this feature was available.
If this is your first time creating a playlist, don’t be intimidated; the procedure is simple and uncomplicated to follow. For this function, you must first launch the Amazon Music app (or download it if you don’t already have it), then select “My Music” and “Playlists”: the My Amazon Music app playlists feature.
Using this page, you can access a selection of pre-made playlists that will allow you to quickly play music by commanding “Alexa, play songs that have been recently added to the cloud.” You can, however, create your own custom playlists by clicking on the blue “+ Create new playlist” button and entering the information listed below:
Coming up with an appropriate name for a new playlist is difficult.
As soon as you click on “Follow,” you’ll be sent to the following screen, where you may search for songs to include in this playlist and then add them by clicking on the “+” icon:
- I’m currently filling my new ‘Rock’ playlist with individual (non-rock!!) pieces of music.
Following your completion, simply click the “back button” in the top left corner of the screen, and the playlist will be saved – as illustrated in the screenshot below a few seconds later:
The ‘Rock’ playlist, which was just established, is now available in the playlists part of the website.
You may then ask Alexa to play the playlist on repeat by saying, “Alexa, play on loop,” for instance, “Alexa, play rock playlist on loop.”
– this will begin playing the playlist you just generated while also indicating that it is repeating.
This was activated in late 2020 and immediately began to function properly. In prior versions of the software, Alexa couldn’t loop from a single command; instead, you had to say “Alexa, play” and then “Alexa, loop mode on” after that.
Songs are recycled in a way within routines in some ways.
Another aspect of the Amazon smart home platform, which can be accessed through Alexa, that I appreciate is how simple it is to create routines for various devices. When your smart doorbell is pressed, do you want to be able to change the color of your lighting and play music? Simple! By the way, using Google Home isn’t as straightforward as it appears on the surface.
Using Alexa’s automation techniques, you can easily navigate through and play music from your library, including playlists. The following are the starting points: Go to the Routines menu by navigating to Menu/Settings and then clicking on the option labeled “Routines” to get started.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to access Alexa routines through the menu system.
If you want to build a new routine, click “+,” and then tweak it until it’s perfect for you. As an illustration, consider the following:
Playing a playlist through a routine is not possible due to the lack of a looping feature.
Some parts of this program deserve to be highlighted, including the following:
- Name: It is necessary to utilize the word “name” in order to identify the procedure’s name. Its primary function is to identify you; it does not ‘perform’ any other functions.
- When: This is the point at which the routine officially begins to take place. It will be possible to activate the routine using the command “Alexa, relax” in this situation. It is possible to employ event triggers based on the time of day or when something occurs to another smart home device, such as pressing a doorbell button.
- Action: When the routine is initiated, the term “actions” refers to one or more events that take place as a result of the routine being started. In this scenario, the lights in my bedroom are dimmed (though this is not visible in the image above), and then I put on some “relaxation” music to get me to relax.
Additionally, rather than playing a complete playlist, you might say ‘Play Baby Shark by Pinkfong on My Library’ to play a particular song as part of the routine instead of the entire playlist.
If you save your work or return to the previous screen, your routine will be configured exactly how you need it to be. Start the process by walking up to an Echo device and saying, “Alexa, relax,” which will cause music to begin playing as a result of the routine.
Adding the phrase “on loop” at the end of the command, as seen below, will cause the playlist to be played repeatedly.
In my Alexa app, I can see a routine with a recurrent playlist that I’ve created.
This capability was added to the Amazon Alexa platform in late 2020, and I’ve been taking advantage of it on a regular basis since it became available.
