Can You Play SoundCloud On Alexa?

SoundCloud is a German music streaming service. SoundCloud users can listen to several music, podcasts, and audio tapes. Unfortunately, Amazon devices do not officially support SoundCloud. So, what to do?

You still play SoundCloud on Alexa. You can pair your smartphone, computer, or laptop via Bluetooth and play it on Alexa. You can also create a custom Alexa skill or use third-party skills to play it.  

There are several ways to play SoundCloud on Alexa. This article shares detailed answers about how to play this service on Alexa. So, please read this article till the end to learn about it so you can enjoy SoundCloud on your Alexa. 

SoundCloud and Alexa Integration 

A SoundCloud audio streaming platform is used to share music, podcasts, and audio stories. 

Alexa is a voice assistant service by Amazon. 

Through Alexa, the users can manage several compatible devices. 

Once you set up your voice profile on your Alexa Device, Alexa will listen to all your commands and do tasks according to your commands.

For example, if you want a recipe for any dish, you can command Alexa to search for the recipe. And she will do it. 

You do not have to manually pick up your phone or anything to type and search for it. 

Usually, the Alexa devices do not support SoundCloud. 

It is not compatible. 

Alexa’s compatibility with Soundcloud is currently limited only to several external methods and Alexa’s custom skills. 

However, there has been anticipation about the possibilities of native SoundCloud compatibility for Alexa. 

With this, users can effortlessly enjoy their favorite songs from SoundCloud directly on their Alexa devices without any additional steps. 

It will extend new options for streaming media and playing music, making the user experience more seamless and pleasant. 

Integrating these two platforms can bring together the convenience of voice control with a vast library of songtracks on SoundCloud. 

As a user, you can request songs, artists, and even podcasts from Soundcloud with Alexa. 

Alexa will search for the requested content and play it for you. 

Users can also replay the music, shuffle them, and add songs to queues with Alexa. 

You can relax in your house listening to various audio content. 

How to play Soundcloud on Alexa?

Since Soundcloud is currently not present in the Alexa Devices, you must use external methods to play Soundcloud on Alexa.

I enjoy discovering songs from different artists. 

And SoundCloud has become a vital platform for musicians to share their latest works over the years.

I have Amazon Echo, and I use music apps compatible with the devices, for example, Amazon Music, Spotify, etc. 

Then, I learned about SoundCloud and wanted to try it. 

However, since it wasn’t integrated with Alexa devices, I had to approach other ways to use SoundCloud. 

After researching, reading online articles, and watching YouTube videos, I discovered some workarounds, applied some of them, and succeeded in using SoundCloud. 

Are you in the same situation? Here are some of the most common methods to play Soundcloud on Alexa:

Pair your smartphone with Alexa with a Bluetooth connection

If you have an Alexa device, you cannot play SoundCloud on it. 

But if your smartphone has it, do not worry.

You only need to connect the device to your phone and play the SoundCloud through it. 

There are 2 ways to connect your smartphone to Alexa: directly via smartphone and using the Alexa app. 

Directly via smartphone 

Here, you will directly command Alexa to pair up with your smartphone. 

And then, through the smartphone, you can play SoundCloud. 

So, here are the steps:

1. Make sure that the Alexa device is turned on. 
2. Give Alexa a command to pair, for example, “Alexa, pair.” and enable the pairing mode. 
3. Turn on the phone’s Bluetooth. 
4. Open the Bluetooth settings in your mobile phone and search for nearby devices. 
5. You will find the Alexa device. Select and pair with it. 
6. Wait for both devices to pair. Alexa will notify you when the pairing is complete. 

You can now play Soundcloud on Alexa via your smartphone. 

Using the Alexa app 

In case you cannot talk to Alexa, you can try this method to pair your Alexa device with your smartphone:

1. Open the Alexa app from your smartphone. 
2. Go to DEVICES, then ECHO & ALEXA. 
3. Select PAIR ALEXA GADGET on the settings page. 
4. Exit the app. 
5. Now, turn on the Bluetooth on your phone. 
6. Open the BLUETOOTH SETTINGS in your smartphone and select your Echo device. 
7. Wait for the devices to pair. Alexa will inform you when the connection is established. 

Now, your device is ready to play SoundCloud through your phone. 

After the Alexa device and your smartphone are paired by Bluetooth, you do not have to go through the pairing process again if you ever turn it off. 

Turn on the phone’s Bluetooth and command Alexa to connect or disconnect to your phone.

If the two devices are unpaired, you will only have to go through the pairing process. 

Pair your computer or laptop to Alexa with a Bluetooth connection

Does your computer or laptop have Soundcloud? 

Just like you have paired your phone to the Alexa device, you can also pair your computer or laptop. 

Here are the steps:

1. Turn on the Bluetooth of your computer or laptop. 
2. Go to the webpage alexa.amazon.com and enter your credentials to log in to the Amazon account. 
3. Click on SETTINGS and select your Alexa device. You can see the settings page for your device. 
4. Select BLUETOOTH and then click on PAIR A NEW DEVICE. Choose your laptop or computer from the list of available devices. 
5. You will get a notification from your computer or laptop seeking permission for the Bluetooth connection. 
6. Agree to the permission to establish the Bluetooth connection between your computer or laptop and your Alexa device. 

Now, you can stream Soundcloud via your computer or laptop on an Alexa device. 

Repeat the pairing process if you ever unpair your Alexa device. 

Third-party skills for Soundcloud

You can use some third-party skills to play Soundcloud on Alexa devices, for example, TuneIn. 

You need to connect the Soundcloud account with the TuneIn skill. 

Here are the steps:

1. Go to the TuneIn skill in your Alexa app on the smartphone or Amazon website and enable it to turn on the skill. 
2. Search for SoundCloud, select it, and click the CONNECT button to connect the account with TuneIn. 
3. Use the on-screen prompts to connect your SoundCloud account to the TuneIn account. Provide your SoundCloud login and password to finish the process. 
4. Once the accounts get activated, ask Alexa to play their favourite Soundcloud songs and playlists on TuneIn. Ask, “Alexa, play Soundcloud on TuneIn”. 

SoundCloud can play on your Alexa with the help of such adaptable platforms, mostly TuneIn. 

Alexa Custom Skill for SoundCloud

Playing SoundCloud on Alexa via Alexa skills is a very complex method. But it works and also comes with an additional benefit. 

You can run SoundCloud directly on Alexa and with voice commands.

If you have some technical knowledge, you will understand what an Alexa Developer Console is. 

For those who won’t know, Alexa Developer Console is a web-based portal that helps developers make, manage, and publish Alexa skills. 

It can instruct you on creating, managing, and publishing a skill.

Along with that, you may also need some coding experience. 

To make an Alexa skill, you should have an Amazon developer account. 

Your developer account’s login should be the same as the Alexa account.

To make the skill:

1. Use the Magic Jukebox template to access a code to use it as a foundation. You can also use other templates. I personally prefer this because Magic Jukebox used to be an official Alexa skill. It will work. You can also go to the Alexa-Soundcloud repository on GitHub to use a template of your choice.  
2. Download the template’s source code on your computer. 
3. Log in to developer.amazon.com. Your credentials should be similar to those in the Alexa login. 
4. After you log in, go to CREATE SKILL. 
5. Name the skill and click on CUSTOM MODEL. 
6. Choose the process you wish to host the backend resources of your newly created skill. This depends on the programming language your source code uses. 
7. Tap CREATE SKILL, and wait until the process is finished. 
8. Open the JSON EDITOR option, take the code from the template, and paste it into this section. 
9. Save and build the model. 
10. Find the INTERFACES option. Now, turn on the AUDIO PLAYER by using the toggle switch. 
11. Go to the CODE tab on the screen. 
12. Open INDEX FILE, and paste the code from the template’s index here to replace the current code. The process will be the same as you did for the JSON CODE. 
13. Search for the object responsible for streaming instances in your code. In this step, you will need some coding experience. After you find the object, you have to replace the target URL with Soundcloud’s URL. 
14. Save the code and deploy. 
15. Test the new skill by going to the TEST tab. 
16. Under the tab, check that the SKILL TESTING IS ENABLED option is set to DEVELOPMENT. 

If you follow the steps correctly, you can stream music through Soundcloud on Alexa using this skill. 

To play SoundCloud on your device, find it in MUSIC and link the service.

If you use Amazon Echo:

1. Open the Alexa app on your phone and click on the menu button. 
2. Select MUSIC, and then LINK NEW SERVICE. 
3. Find SoundCloud as an option, select it, and enter your login credentials. 
4. Now say, “Alexa, play <song name> on SoundCloud” to start streaming. 

If you use an Amazon Echo Dot or an Alexa-enabled device without a screen, link the Soundcloud account through the web interface:

1. Visit the echo.amazon.com and sign in with your Amazon account. 
2. Click on MUSIC in the left sidebar and select LINK NEW SERVICE. 
3. Select Soundcloud from the list, enter the login info, and link it. 

Use Sonos speaker 

One way to play SoundCloud by commanding Alexa without any workarounds is to use Sonos speakers instead of Alexa devices. 

The Sonos speaker supports Alexa and SoundCloud. This will work just like any Alexa device. 

The process only works if you have a speaker from the Sonos brand with an in-built Alexa. 

Additionally, you can play SoundCloud only if you are subscribed to Soundcloud Go+. 

Its premium version provides more options and facilities than Soundcloud Basic or SoundCloud Go. 

If you have the subscription, set up your Sonos speaker:

1. Add SoundCloud to the Sonos controller app. 
2. Open the Sonos app using your smartphone or computer and log in. 
3. Go to SETTINGS and then to SERVICES. 
4. Select ADD A SERVICE under MUSIC & CONTENT. 
5. Highlight Soundcloud and click on ADD TO SONOS. 
6. Follow up with the on-screen prompts and log in to the Soundcloud account. 

Alexa will now have the control to play songs from the SoundCloud platform in your Sonos speaker. 

Command Alexa to play the song, and the speaker will play it for you. 

Begin with different commands and check if the speaker responds like Alexa. 

Then, enjoy music hands-free. 

There are several activities to do:

• Search songs by Artists and Track. 
• Browse artists you follow and the music you like 
• Stream the playlists you have made in the Soundcloud app. 

 Voice Commands for SoundCloud Playback

Initially, you cannot command Alexa to play SoundCloud playback. 

It would be best to do the workarounds to use SoundCloud in Alexa and then command her to play the playback. 

For the Alexa-Soundcloud template you have used to create a custom skill for Soundcloud, you can use the following commands:

• Alexa, tell SoundCloud to play my favorite tracks. 
• Alexa, play <song name> on Soundcloud.
• Alexa, play previous/next. 
• Alexa, ask Soundcloud for the current track. 
• Alexa, Soundcloud Shuffle. 

Please search for the skill in your Alexa app, enable it, and then play your songs with the above commands. 

SoundCloud Alternatives on Alexa

If you are an Alexa device user, you should know that Alexa does not support SoundCloud. 

But there are ways to play. 

You need to put a little effort and using external methods to play Soundcloud on Alexa. 

But what if you want to avoid doing the workaround? That’s entirely fine. 

Instead of using Soundcloud, there are several other music streaming apps to play on Alexa. 

Here are some best alternatives that you can stream instead of Soundcloud:

• Spotify (my personal favorite) 
• Amazon Music 
• TuneIn Radio
• Pandora
• Deezer 
• Apple Music
• TIDAL 
• iHeartRadio 
• SiriusXM 
• Vevo 

Navigate to MUSIC & PODCASTS on the Alexa app and follow the on-screen prompts to enjoy these music services. 

Setting Up SoundCloud Playback 

Once you have made a custom skill to play SoundCloud, you must set it. 

You can follow the process I have shared in the “Create a Custom Skill” point under “How to Play SoundCloud on Alexa.”

To set up Soundcloud Playback as default on Alexa:

1. Go to the Alexa app, then Skills and Games, and select Connect the SoundCloud account by enabling it. 
2. Set SoundCloud as your default music provider. Alexa app → Settings → Music & Podcasts → Default services → Choose SoundCloud. 
3. Control the SoundCloud with voice commands. Just say, “Alexa, play <song name> on SoundCloud. 
4. You can even make a custom playlist. Say, “Alexa, add happy songs to my workout playlist. Control the playback with basic commands, like PLAY, NEXT, PREVIOUS, PAUSE, SHUFFLE, INCREASE/DECREASE VOLUME, etc. 

Quality and Limitations 

The quality of playing music in SoundCloud on Alexa through these external methods will be just as the other in-built music skills in Alexa. 

However, the audio quality will depend on the music source and the ability of the music-sending and Alexa speaker. 

But the quality might be much better in the devices that support both Alexa and Soundcloud, for example, Sonos speakers. 

The device has an involvement in direct integration with Alexa and Soundcloud.

But there are some limitations:

Soundcloud Premium and Alexa 

To run SoundCloud on Alexa via external methods, you need to be a premium subscriber of SoundCloud. 

You can only play random tracks and search results without the premium account. 

It is limited to basic control, but you should have a premium account for playback within the track. 

Also, you cannot shuffle or repeat the songs. 

Soundcloud Go costs around $4.99 monthly, and Go+ costs $9.99 monthly. 

With a Go subscription, users can enjoy ad-free music and even listen to them online. 

In Go+, along with these two features, users receive high-quality audio, access to the entire catalog of music and sounds, and good compatibility with Sonos speakers. 

So, if you use an Alexa-controlled device like Sonos, you need to be a member of Soundcloud Go+.

Internet connection and track availability 

Internet connectivity or low sound quality of the original track can affect the playback quality on the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot devices. 

Problems can arise if you try playing tracks unavailable in your country. 

Soundcloud will not play songs out of your region or is only available on the Soundcloud app with the premium version. 

Troubleshooting and Tips

Since Alexa devices are not integrated with Soundcloud, we tried some external methods to play Soundcloud. 

So, you might face some troubles while playing Soundcloud on Alexa. 

Here are some troubleshooting tips:

• Alexa devices should stay connected to a stable internet connection. Weak connections can reduce the sound quality and create interruptions. 
• Both the Soundcloud and Amazon Alexa apps should have the latest versions, so they should stay updated. 
• All content won’t be available through voice commands. Add your favorite tracks and playlists to the Soundcloud favorites for easy access. 
• Few songs won’t play due to region restrictions or because they are only available via the SoundCloud app. Use an alternative streaming service that is compatible with your voice.
• If Alexa fails to identify a Soundcloud account, disable and re-enable the Soundcloud skill in the Alexa app setting. It will refresh the connection and solve the troubles. 
• For technical glitches, contact customer support. 

Final Thoughts

Even if Soundcloud is not integrated with Alexa devices, there are several alternatives to use Soundcloud. It has been an excellent advantage for SoundCloud lovers. However, users still wish to make SoundCloud a native service for Alexa devices for better performance. You can connect the Alexa device with your smartphone, computer, or laptop containing the Soundcloud service and stream music and podcasts. 

You can even use third-party apps like TuneIn in your Alexa app, connect the account, and then enjoy songs. You can use Alexa-controlled devices like Sonos. Since Sonos supports both Alexa and Soundcloud, this is one of the best ways to enjoy Soundcloud at its best. 

No matter what external method you use, having a Soundcloud premium subscription is better. It can provide you with good-quality audio and many tracks to play. If you need to enjoy music and are not selective about any apps, try other alternatives already integrated with Alexa, like Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Pandora, Apple Music, etc. 

Reference: Soundcloud Wikipedia

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