Alexa+ comes to the Amazon Music app

Amazon announced Tuesday that Alexa+, its upgraded assistant powered by AI, is coming to the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android devices.

The feature is currently available on all Amazon Music subscriptions, but is only available to users with Alexa+ Early Access. (To access Alexa+, tap the ‘a’ button in the lower right corner and ask your question through your phone’s built-in microphone.)

The introduction of Alexa+ on Amazon Music aims to create a more conversational approach to music discovery. Unlike the previous version of Alexa, which only responded to basic commands, Alexa+ is designed to engage in natural dialogue.

Users can ask specific and obscure questions, such as asking about an artist’s influences or exploring deeper meanings behind songs. It can also help you remember the title of a song by providing lyrics that you remember or even mentioning the movie in which it appears.

Additionally, Alexa+ can create personalized playlists tailored to specific requests, such as “Create a playlist of 2010 hits that keep me moving quickly, starting with a Nicki Minaj song,” the company suggested.

Some other examples the company gave include: “Can you recommend new music that will make me seem cool to my 13-year-old daughter, without trying too hard?” and “What is the song that plays during the end credits of ‘The Sopranos’?”

First announced in February at the company’s hardware event, Alexa+ is positioned as one of the first consumer-facing agent tools on the market. This assistant can perform actions on a user’s behalf, such as booking restaurant reservations and ordering groceries.

Although Alexa+ is still in its early stages and not yet generally available to the public, it has already been rolled out to more than a million users.

The company reported that Amazon Music listeners who tried the feature explore songs three times more with Alexa+ than with the original assistant, and those who seek recommendations listen to nearly 70% more music.

In light of Spotify’s recent integration with ChatGPT, this could be a strategic move by Amazon to compete with the music streaming giant and highlight its own AI investments. Amazon Music has already incorporated numerous AI features into its app, with the latest additions being weekly AI-generated playlists, AI-assisted search and ‘Explore’, which allows users to learn more about their favorite artists.