Alexa Won't Play Amazon Music Unlimited?

There are some situations when Alexa won’t play Amazon Music Unlimited no matter which command you give.

If you are going through this problem, do not worry.

It is possible to fix the problem and get to listen to your favorite music. We are going to highlight some of the possible problems and solutions.

To fix the Amazon Music Unlimited not playing error, you must ensure that your Echo device is linked to the right account.

If your device uses more than one Amazon account, you must log in with an account that has an Amazon Music subscription or an Amazon Prime account.

There are many solutions to the Amazon Music Unlimited account problems. Apart from the account issues, you also need to adjust settings and edit your location.

Reasons Why Alexa Won’t Play Amazon Music Unlimited

The reasons why Alexa won’t play Amazon Music Unlimited range from account synchronization issues to playlist.

The other reasons why your Alexa may fail to play your Amazon Music playlist are:

The songs you are trying to play are not part of our subscription
The songs you want to play are not available in your country or locality
The echo device is not synchronized with your appropriate Amazon Account
You have not set Amazon Music as a default music source
Word filters could be blocking certain songs

These reasons can all be resolved by adjusting your settings. Let us now look at the main solutions that could be applied.

Solutions to Alexa Won’t Play Amazon Music Unlimited

So, what should I do if I have Amazon Music Unlimited but Alexa won’t play?

The answer lies in the cause of the problem. Let us explore all the available solutions so that you will find one that works for you.

Solution #1 Turn off Amazon Music Unlimited Playlist on Other Connected Devices

Amazon Music Unlimited has some restrictions on how you can play music. In most cases, you can only play your favorite music on one device at a time.

If there are several devices linked to the account, Amazon Music Unlimited will not play on Alexa.

To deal with this problem, you must ensure that there is no other device using Amazon Music at the time.

If other users often use the account, you could remove them from the subscription.

Solution #2 Login With the Appropriate Amazon Music Account

The Alexa Echo device you are using could be linked to multiple Amazon accounts.

If this is the case, you must always check to see if you are using your account before issuing commands. If your device is linked to a non-Prime account, you won’t be able to play music.

Amazon Music Unlimited can only be played if you have a subscription or if you are on Amazon Prime. You can check your Amazon subscription just to clear any doubts.

How to check your Amazon Music Unlimited subscription

Visit the Amazon website in your country
Login to Amazon with your details
Click on your name at the top
Select Membership & Subscription
Check through all your active subscriptions to see if you have access to Amazon Music Unlimited.

Note: If you do not have a subscription, you can either upgrade to Prime or get a Music Unlimited subscription to play the songs.

Solution #3 Update Song Availability on Your Package

Alexa might try to process your command but fail if the song you wish to play is not available on your package.

As a matter of fact, you may try playing many songs without success.

There are plenty of songs that are not available on the regular Amazon Music Unlimited package.

If you want to have access to all songs, you must go for the Amazon Prime package. Any other package might only have a few songs.

How to confirm if your package lacks certain songs

Ask Alexa to play another song apart from your initial choice
If it does not play for you, try other different songs in different genres
If all attempts fail, the problem has nothing to do with your playlist
If it plays a song, the problem is with your playlist

Solution #4 Set Amazon Music as Default Music Source on Alexa

The default music source for your Alexa Echo device will be given priority when you issue a command.

If you want the robot to search other directories, you must be very specific.

To avoid all these issues, you may simply set Amazon Music as the default music source.

How to set Amazon Music as a default music provider

Open your Alexa app and log in
Tap on the three dots at the top right corner
Select Settings from the pop-up menu
Tap on Music
Select Default Services
Tap on Amazon Music to make it the default source

Note: Do not take this step unless you have a subscription.

This may lead to your Echo device never playing music from other sources.

Solution #5 Disable Explicit Words Filtering

There are many songs that Alexa won’t play if they are deemed to be explicit. This is something that is set by default on all Alexa Echo devices.

When you set up your Alexa, you should also adjust the settings if you would love to listen to explicit songs.

How to remove explicit filter settings

Log in to the Alexa app on your phone
Tap on the 3 bars at the top
Select Settings and head to Music
Select Explicit Filter and tap next
Tap on Disable

Solution #6 Update Your Location and Country of Residence

The Alexa app works specifically based on your locality. If you are not within the region specified on your app, you may fail to perform a lot of functions.

Remember that the music you are listening to must be licensed to play in your region.

If there is a mismatch between the country of residence on Alexa and Amazon you cannot play music. Thankfully, you can update your country of residence on Alexa at any time.

How to update location on Amazon

Go to the page for Content and De vices management
Log in with your Amazon Details
Click on Settings
Click on the Country Settings or click on Preferences on the
Select Region
Tap on the Change button to adjust the location to your current country
Add your current location
Click on a link that states “Click here to learn more about Amazon“
Tap on Learn About
Update your Location

Try playing the song you have been searching for after updating the country.

Note: Updating your country may also limit your access to songs from other regions.

If your issues are being caused by a few songs that are not available in your region, you may as well avoid them.

Solution #7 Change the Country for Amazon Music

The other solution you can apply in case of location problems is to update the Amazon Music Country. This will give you access to a broad range of music from the selected country.

Interestingly, you can move your Amazon Music account to a country where you are not a resident.

How to update the country on Amazon Music

Open the link music.amazon.com
On the left of the panel, scroll to the bottom and click on your Name
Select Your Amazon Music Settings on the menu
On the Settings page, scroll down and select Move Your Music Account
If you are in a different location than your current country, update your location

Tip: The location you choose for your Amazon Music account should always match the country on your Amazon account.

Solution #8 Deregister and Register Echo Again

If you have tried all the above steps and do not find a solution, try to deregister the Echo device.

After deregistering from your Alexa app, give it some time and register again.

Steps to deregister the Echo Device

Open your Alexa app and tap on Devices
Select Echo& Alexa
Tap on the Name of your Specific Echo device
Scroll down and tap on Deregister
After deregistering go back and Click on Add device
Find your device and confirm to link it with your Alexa

With that, you should have linked your account with the echo device. You can now try playing your music.

Summary

There are many reasons why Alexa won’t play Amazon Music Unlimited. Most of the reasons have to do with account synchrony and details.

Follow the steps to get our accounts in order and you will be set.‘

Kevin Wood

Kevin has over five years of experience working in various Tech startups and providing Technical solutions. He has contributed to many Tech publications and websites.