Alexa is one of the most popular voice assistants out there. The reason for its popularity has been the great features that Amazon adds to the voice assistant from time to time. Recently, the assistant got the ability to book a doctor’s appointment and now Amazon added another cool feature that will enable users to play a different version of a song just by asking Alexa.
Personally speaking, I sometimes get really frustrated when Google Assistant on my Google Home Mini cannot find the live version of a specific song that I like. To play the desired version, I have to find that version in the music streaming platform, play it on my phone and then cast it to the smart speaker, *sigh*. That is a lot of work!
However, with this new feature, Alexa will be capable of finding any version of a song that is available in the streaming platform. For instance, you can say “Alexa, play the live version of Layla by Eric Clapton” and the voice assistant will find this different version of the song and play it.
Now, the coolest add-on to this feature is that it gives the assistant the ability to decode a follow-up command that is related to the previous request you made. Let me elaborate. So, while the live version of Layla by Eric Clapton is playing, you can summon the assistant and just say “Alexa, play the studio version of ‘this'”, and the studio version of Layla will start playing.
This feature is undoubtedly a great addition to the voice assistant of the echo devices. And I am certain that it’ll help many users like me who like to listen to different versions of a particular song. However, the feature is currently only available for Amazon Music users in the US.
What do you think about this feature? Are you gonna be using this feature? Let us know down in the comments below.
I sometimes get around this by asking Alexa to show me albums by that artist, I then choose an album I think the song might be on and tell Alexa to play that album, if need be I will say “Next” to move to the next track when I find the song I want I ask Alexa to save it to my music or playlist.
Yeah, this absolutely does not work. It keeps playing stations or unrelated playlists.
I’m 72 and would like to hear the originals of the songs I grew up with. If there is a remastered version that is what they play every time. If I try to change it to original the remastered still plays. This happens on Apple, Amazon and Spotify, very frustrating. This article didn’t change anything on my end. If anyone has encountered this and has come up with a solution, I would appreciate hearing it.
ARRRGGGHH! I totally agree with you. I’m 70 and want the version I heard on the radio back in the day-often they play a version that is not even with the original lead singer,. Is that because someone left the group to go out on their own, and it’s a way to keep them from collecting royalties?
Well, it’s been a few years now, and seems we’re still having the same problem. If I want to hear one of my favorite tunes on Amazon Music, it’s a real roll of the dice to see if the original version will play or some new recording or remaster of the same song. Even if it’s by the same artist, it might be very unfamiliar to my ear if I’m looking for a particular recording.
Has anyone found a workaround for this on Amazon Music Unlimited, or is there some other streaming platform that plays more “original release” songs and not remastered?
I tried “play another version this” after starting a song. Alexa decided to load a Playlist of unrelated songs. It’s not always easy to know what the different versions are called, so I agree it would be nice to just be able to ask for another random version. Plus you might find versions you’ve never heard before.
Be nice if you could just say “Play different version” without having to name the singer. I’ve been trying to get it to play a vocal version of Bring a Torch Jennette Isabella….. It will ONLY play a musical version. Lots of songs by various artists out there and they can each same the same song. If you dont know the artists name of the song you’re looking for, you’re out of luck
this does not work. you sometimes have to say the version in strange places in your sentence. sometimes theres no original song at all. Panama sounds terrible when its remastered and I’m glad its one of the few songs I can play AS its original version .