For houses or small offices that have multiple Amazon Echo devices, having the ability to play music synchronized across all of them is probably something users already expect. So yes, now you can actually do that by grouping your devices and telling Alexa to play music from selected streaming services like Amazon Music, TuneIn, IHeartRadio, and Pandora, with more services to be added soon. Even better news is that this ability will extend to other connected speakers soon through SDKs and APIs released by Amazon.
To be able to do this for your Echo devices, use the Amazon Alexa app to create groups with two or more Echo devices included and name the group. Afterwards, you can just give the command “Alexa, play One Direction downstairs” and all the devices connected to the group will play your One Direction playlist from your music streaming service of choice. For now, though, only those in the US, UK, and Germany will be able to use this multi-room music feature on their Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show speakers.
But eventually, other speakers will also be included in the music party. Amazon has released new tools for developers and device makers. The Alexa Voice Service (AVS) Multi-Room Music SDK will allow AVS devices to also be part of the multi-room control. The Connected Speaker APIs are tools that will let connected audio systems use Alexa to control their music playback. This will enable users with any Alexa-enabled device to connect their Sonos, Bose, Sound United, and Samsung speakers and use voice control to play music.
Spotify and SiriusXM will also be supported soon as the multi-room control will eventually expand to other countries and devices. The AVS Multi-Room Music SDK can now be accessed by device makers while the Connected Speaker APIs are still in developer preview.
SOURCE: Amazon
