How To Play Free Music on the Echo Dot

The Echo Dot is Amazon’s inexpensive yet highly functional home automation device. Echo Dot is compatible with nearly every Alexa product and most other automation services, such as your security system, thermostat, and lighting. The device is versatile and compact, and it makes the perfect virtual assistant for anyone.

One of the most popular uses for the Echo Dot is a music control system. It’s truly empowering to be able to sit in any room of your house, have the urge to hear a particular top 40 song, and just say, “Hey Alexa! Play
Save Your Tears by The Weeknd.”

However, while Amazon would like it very much if you would get all your music through its premium services, the fact of the matter is that you can configure your Echo Dot to work with pretty much any music service out there, including Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music, and more.

There are a few different ways to get free music from your Echo Dot:

• Link a free music service to your Dot through the Alexa app.
• Play music from a linked device through your Dot.
• Play music in your own personal library through the Dot.

This article shows you how to play free music on your Echo Dot using the three different options above, so you can kick back and enjoy your Top 40 hits or bask in some favorites from the past! Let’s get it started in here!

Use Free Trials & Free Subscriptions in Echo Dot

When you purchase your Echo Dot, you can sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited. While this service offers over 60 million songs for $9.99 per month after a three-month free trial, you can take advantage of the free option with limited listening capabilities. If you’re looking to use the Amazon Unlimited Free Trial, you won’t pay anything until the 90-day trial expires. You can cancel the service before the trial ends, of course.

Most music subscription services offer a free trial for new users. As long as your email account is not already associated with the service, a free trial awaits you!

Link a Third-Party Music Service to Your Echo Dot

As you might expect, your Echo Dot starts with Amazon Music as the default music player. So, if you have a Prime membership, you can leave it there because the music isn’t costing you anything aside from your Prime subscription costs.

However, if you don’t have Prime Music or prefer to use a different streaming service, hook your Dot up to the desired music provider and its source of free music. There are several free services with built-in Alexa integration, including iHeartRadio, Pandora, and TuneIn. You can also link to the free tiers of Spotify and Apple Music as well.

1. Open the Alexa app on your phone or computer.
   
2. Select “Settings,” then “Music & Podcasts” under the “ALEXA PREFERENCES” section.
   
3. Choose “Link New Service” under the “SERVICES” section. The items listed underneath are already usable.
   
4. Select your music provider from the list of remaining services.
   
5. Follow the wizard to add logins or set as default.
   

The ‘Link New Service’ feature includes many of the more popular music services, but it does not include all of them. Regardless, setting up your Echo Dot to use a third-party music service is as easy as following the simple steps listed above.

Use a Linked Device to Play Free Music on Your Echo Dot

The other way to play free music on your Echo Dot is through a linked device such as a smartphone. You pair your phone (or another Bluetooth-enabled device) to your Echo Dot via Bluetooth and use your Echo as the speaker for the music you’re streaming from your phone.

Pairing is very straightforward, but it requires the Alexa app installed on the device. Just follow these steps to get started:

1. Make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone.
   
2. Open the Alexa app on your phone.
   
3. Using your phone, say the words, “Alexa, pair” aloud where Alexa on the Echo Dot hears it.
4. Select the “Echo Dot” on the Bluetooth screen of your phone.
5. Say “Alexa, connect” to link your phone and the Echo Dot.
6. Play music from any source on your phone to hear it on your newly connected Alexa Dot.

These six simple steps are all it takes to pair your Echo Dot to another Bluetooth-enabled device. For a better audio experience, here’s how to pair your Echo Dot with a Bluetooth speaker.

Play Your Own Music Through Your Echo Dot

If you have an extensive media library on your device, you can use Plex Media Server to organize it and to stream it anywhere in your home, including your Echo Dot. We have a complete walkthrough of setting up Plex with the Amazon Echo if you need more details on the process.

Final Thoughts

The Echo Dot is one of the more useful household tech items. Depending on the devices you already have, you can play music, link to other speakers, set your thermostat, and even start your car.

Free music isn’t as challenging to come by as it once was. There’s no more waiting for hours and risking malware to download your favorite hits from Napster. Instead, most music services give you the option to play free music with ads and limited skips. So if you’re in it to saving money, these free music streaming options are an excellent solution for you!