Amazon Echo Club

Originally Posted by Keslynn

That sounds like a super annoying problem. I hope it can be fixed!

I thankfully haven't had any issues with playing amazon music on my Dots. I have been using the voice commands or the Alexa app. Have you been using the Music app or the Alexa app? Also, is Amazon Music showing under your Music tab in the Alexa app?

You might try a reboot of your router as well.

I never had any issue playing the free Prime Music on any of my Alexa devices, which includes an Echo in my study/home office, a Dot in my living room, and a FireTV also in my living room. But the Echo and Dot will not play the Unlimited music without cutting in and out. How bad is it? It takes about 15 minutes to finish the average song! That's bad, really bad, totally unusable! And yes the Alexa app Music tab shows Amazon Music in the list. I've tried playing unlimited music on the Dot and Echo by directly asking Alexa to play a radio station. I've tried using the Alexa app to play it as well as the Amazon Music app. Nothing works. I turned up the sound yesterday while talking with tech unsupport and they were at a loss for the situation, and totally amazed that it was so darn bad.

Here is the current status of this Amazon Unlimited Music Individual plan mess:

• Dot: Cannot play unlimited in a usable manner.
• Echo: Cannot play unlimited in a usable manner.
• FreTV: Unlimited works fine.
• iPhone: Unlimited works fine.
• iPad Pro 9.7: Unlimited works fine.
• MacBook Pro: Unlimited works fine.

Here is the status of playing Pandora:

• Dot: Pandora works fine.
• Echo: Pandora works fine.
• FreTV: Pandora works fine.
• iPhone: Pandora works fine.
• iPad Pro 9.7: Pandora works fine.
• MacBook Pro: Pandora works fine.

Rebooting the router is not something I will be doing. This is obviously an issue with Amazon Unlimited Music, not my setup. My guess is that the rejects Amazon hires as developers have screwed up yet again. I might give CS another try, but quite frankly I like what I'm hearing so far on Pandora so I'll likely just tell Amazon to keep their unlimited non-playing music and go with Pandora instead.

One of the things that seems odd to me is that the Amazon Account page for Music Settings only shows my iPhone and iPad in the list of authorized devices. Missing from this list is my Echo, Dot, FireTV, and MacBook Pro. I asked the CS bozos yesterday why this was, but they were of course clueless. I'm beginning to think that the only unlimited thing at Amazon is their supply of clueless, difficult to understand, CS reps.

......

[Keslynn]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I never had any issue playing the free Prime Music on any of my Alexa devices, which includes an Echo in my study/home office, a Dot in my living room, and a FireTV also in my living room. But the Echo and Dot will not play the Unlimited music without cutting in and out. How bad is it? It takes about 15 minutes to finish the average song! That's bad, really bad, totally unusable! And yes the Alexa app Music tab shows Amazon Music in the list. I've tried playing unlimited music on the Dot and Echo by directly asking Alexa to play a radio station. I've tried using the Alexa app to play it as well as the Amazon Music app. Nothing works. I turned up the sound yesterday while talking with tech unsupport and they were at a loss for the situation, and totally amazed that it was so darn bad.

Here is the current status of this Amazon Unlimited Music Individual plan mess:

• Dot: Cannot play unlimited in a usable manner.
• Echo: Cannot play unlimited in a usable manner.
• FreTV: Unlimited works fine.
• iPhone: Unlimited works fine.
• iPad Pro 9.7: Unlimited works fine.
• MacBook Pro: Unlimited works fine.

Here is the status of playing Pandora:

• Dot: Pandora works fine.
• Echo: Pandora works fine.
• FreTV: Pandora works fine.
• iPhone: Pandora works fine.
• iPad Pro 9.7: Pandora works fine.
• MacBook Pro: Pandora works fine.

Rebooting the router is not something I will be doing. This is obviously an issue with Amazon Unlimited Music, not my setup. My guess is that the rejects Amazon hires as developers have screwed up yet again. I might give CS another try, but quite frankly I like what I'm hearing so far on Pandora so I'll likely just tell Amazon to keep their unlimited non-playing music and go with Pandora instead.

Weird that it's showing in Alexa but your devices aren't showing as authorized. Sounds like Pandora is indeed the way to go.

Hopefully there's a station with some good relaxation music!

Originally Posted by Keslynn

Weird that it's showing in Alexa but your devices aren't showing as authorized. Sounds like Pandora is indeed the way to go.

Hopefully there's a station with some good relaxation music!

They seem to have some really good stations, and like Tubemonkey said they have very few commercials--perhaps one short 15 sec commercial per every 5 or 6 songs played. So far I've only listened to the Dad Rock station and I really like it. But here are some I've added to my list to try:

• 70s Country Rock Radio
• 70s Rock Radio
• Classic Rock Radio
• Dad Rock Radio

I might have to create a Geezer Rock Radio station.

I still need to test out the BT connection with Pandora on my iPhone and my RAV4. I'm hoping it gives me the album and song info on my car radio's LCD screen like Amazon Music does.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jswinden

They seem to have some really good stations, and like Tubemonkey said they have very few commercials--perhaps one short 15 sec commercial per every 5 or 6 songs played. So far I've only listened to the Dad Rock station and I really like it. But here are some I've added to my list to try:

• 70s Country Rock Radio
• 70s Rock Radio
• Classic Rock Radio
• Dad Rock Radio

I might have to create a Geezer Rock Radio station.

I still need to test out the BT connection with Pandora on my iPhone and my RAV4. I'm hoping it gives me the album and song info on my car radio's LCD screen like Amazon Music does.

You can also type in a group you like and their radio station will play similar artists.
Classic Rock Radio is good. There is also a southern rock radio.
And if you take the time to rate the songs, you will get thumbprint radio.
Oh and if you thumbs down a song, it won't play it again.

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

You can also type in a group you like and their radio station will play similar artists.
Classic Rock Radio is good. There is also a southern rock radio.
And if you take the time to rate the songs, you will get thumbprint radio.
Oh and if you thumbs down a song, it won't play it again.

Thanks for the info!

I just verified that Pandora does indeed look good and work good when used over BT connection to my Toyota RAV4 audio system, and it does provide song info on the LCD screen of my RAV4 radio. So I came back inside and immediately cancelled my Amazon Unlimited Annoyance to Music plan. I still get it through the rest of the 30 day trial, but it won't automatically renew and become a subscription.

And thanks to everyone else who helped with advice and suggestions. I think the free Pandora will work quite well for me. I might some day get the paid version. I plan to check out Spotify and other services as well to compare them before committing to any paid plans though. It is a pity Amazon cannot seem to get their act together, but I'm not surprised.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Thanks for the info!

I just verified that Pandora does indeed look good and work good when used over BT connection to my Toyota RAV4 audio system, and it does provide song info on the LCD screen of my RAV4 radio. So I came back inside and immediately cancelled my Amazon Unlimited Annoyance to Music plan. I still get it through the rest of the 30 day trial, but it won't automatically renew and become a subscription.

And thanks to everyone else who helped with advice and suggestions. I think the free Pandora will work quite well for me. I might some day get the paid version. I plan to check out Spotify and other services as well to compare them before committing to any paid plans though. It is a pity Amazon cannot seem to get their act together, but I'm not surprised.

Now you have me wanting to go play in my truck. I do believe it has Bluetooth.

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Now you have me wanting to go play in my truck. I do believe it has Bluetooth.

If no BT it might have an AUX port in which you can plug a male to male 2.5mm audio cable to connect your phone.

I went ahead and upgraded the free Pandora to their $4.99/month Plus plan. I'm using on my iPhone/iPad and connecting that to my Echo and RAV4 via BT. I find that the Alexa app on my devices is a big old pile of cow flop. It is supposed to allow you to see what is currently playing and all that info, but it has a really bad habit of crashing or freezing. However I can open my Pandora app on my iPhone/iPad, connect to the Echo via BT, then I have a stable app the displays what is currently playing and all my radio stations, etc. Whenever I don't feel the need to watch an app to see what is currently playing, then I just tell Alexa to play one of my Pandora radio stations. I like the app though because it allows me to quickly like or dislike songs and to pause and skip without arguing with Alexa. Once I have Pandora trained to my tastes then the app want be so important.

[ApK]

Just in case someone is ordering one, please note a standard headphone/aux plug is 3.5mm (also called 1/8" stereo plug), not 2.5mm. 2.5mm does exist, but it's not what you want here.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jswinden

If no BT it might have an AUX port in which you can plug a male to male 2.5mm audio cable to connect your phone.

I went ahead and upgraded the free Pandora to their $4.99/month Plus plan. I'm using on my iPhone/iPad and connecting that to my Echo and RAV4 via BT. I find that the Alexa app on my devices is a big old pile of cow flop. It is supposed to allow you to see what is currently playing and all that info, but it has a really bad habit of crashing or freezing. However I can open my Pandora app on my iPhone/iPad, connect to the Echo via BT, then I have a stable app the displays what is currently playing and all my radio stations, etc. Whenever I don't feel the need to watch an app to see what is currently playing, then I just tell Alexa to play one of my Pandora radio stations. I like the app though because it allows me to quickly like or dislike songs and to pause and skip without arguing with Alexa. Once I have Pandora trained to my tastes then the app want be so important.

It has a media usb port, an aux port and who knows what else. I know I can connect phone without wires if I wanted to. So I am thinking bluetooth. Oh a passenger side usb charge port.

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

It has a media usb port, an aux port and who knows what else. I know I can connect phone without wires if I wanted to. So I am thinking bluetooth. Oh a passenger side usb charge port.

You are definitely covered then. BT is best if it has it. I don't like wires that much. Besides if you have to pull out the phone and plug it in you might forget and leave the phone in the truck. I know I would!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jswinden

You are definitely covered then. BT is best if it has it. I don't like wires that much. Besides if you have to pull out the phone and plug it in you might forget and leave the phone in the truck. I know I would!

Hubby has done that more than once.

Pandora is nice, but creating a station is anything but intuitive. All the instructions I found on Pandora's website are just flat wrong. They must have updated the interfaces but not their help. There are many interface buttons and options that they talk about that simply are not there or don't work as described. I would like to create a station using the thumbs up songs from several predefined stations. That should be an option. But I cannot find any help from their website or by googling that explains anything in much detail. I clicked on Create station and thought I was doing that, but the damn thing simply renamed the Classic Rock Radio station that was currently playing. WTF. That makes no sense. Seems like create should take you to a page where you answer a few questions, select a few options, then get your customized station created. Duh. Personally I think creating a station based on one song, or one track, or one band is totally stupid, unless you want to hear the same poop all day long. Genre doesn't seem to do much. I typed rock and it gave me a few, very few, options in the search. Doesn't any company these days hire developers who are not morons?! Arrgh!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Pandora is nice, but creating a station is anything but intuitive. All the instructions I found on Pandora's website are just flat wrong. They must have updated the interfaces but not their help. There are many interface buttons and options that they talk about that simply are not there or don't work as described. I would like to create a station using the thumbs up songs from several predefined stations. That should be an option. But I cannot find any help from their website or by googling that explains anything in much detail. I clicked on Create station and thought I was doing that, but the damn thing simply renamed the Classic Rock Radio station that was currently playing. WTF. That makes no sense. Seems like create should take you to a page where you answer a few questions, select a few options, then get your customized station created. Duh. Personally I think creating a station based on one song, or one track, or one band is totally stupid, unless you want to hear the same poop all day long. Genre doesn't seem to do much. I typed rock and it gave me a few, very few, options in the search. Doesn't any company these days hire developers who are not morons?! Arrgh!

Just keep thumbs up. Scroll to the bottom and find thumbprint radio.
I have several stations.
Are you using the app or the website?
I got hundreds of options when I typed in rock.

Oh and it will play similar songs on all stations.

[Cinisajoy]

Ok quick guide.
Type someone you like into create station.
Pick the best match.
Then beside that radio station, tap the three dots.
Then station detail.
Then add variety.
You can add artists or songs.
Hope this helps.