Alexa can already handle a lot of voice commands for playing music. She can find music by artist name, song title, playlist title, Pandora-style “stations,” and now curated playlists designed for certain activities. The whole point of all of these commands is so that you don’t have to learn the right syntax or tech-y commands. You just ask Alexa for some music and it gives you the kind of music you want.
“Alexa, Play Music For Baby-Making”
So, what’s the first song on this playlist? Sign of the Times by Harry Styles. Hrmm. I never claimed to be a leading expert on romance, but opening with a song that contains the lyric “You look pretty good down here, but you ain’t really good” isn’t exactly my idea of setting the mood. Still, if you don’t pay attention to the words, the music sounds pretty nice.
“Alexa, Play Music For Dungeons & Dragons”
Alright, time to get a little more challenging. Dungeons & Dragons is always better with a little music in the background. I figured Alexa could give me a little help for my next campaign. I said “Alexa, play music for D&D.” She responded, “Here’s a station you might like: Shawn Mendes.” Okay, so two things: First, we’ve now learned that when Alexa doesn’t have a specific playlist for an activity, she’ll improvise with a radio station. Second, we’ve learned that Alexa would make a terrible DM.
Maybe it’s my fault, though. I tried a second time, spelling it out clearly. “Alexa, play music for Dungeons & Dragons.” This time we got something a little more appropriate. She started playing the Dungeons & Dragons official roleplaying soundtrack. Technically, that fits, but I worry she’s being overly literal instead of actually thinking about my request. Still, if I wanted to be picky about my campaign’s soundtrack, I should select my own songs instead of complaining about my ineffective robot assistant.
“Alexa, Play Music For Storming the Castle”
“Alexa, Play Music For Practicing Kung Fu Moves”
I asked Alexa to “play music for practicing kung fu moves.” She told me to stop being such a nerd, but then she did start playing some music. First, she plays the Kung Fu Fighting cover by Cee Lo Green and Jack Black for the Kung Fu Panda movies. Alright, I’m a little impressed. However, as the playlist went on, it started playing some bad covers of songs like Beat It and Eye of the Tiger. Out of curiosity, I checked out the queue in the Alexa app.
What I found confused me. Alexa had started playing an album called Kung Fu by Kung Fu. The listing said most of those bad covers were made by a band named Panda. While Panda is a real band, they didn’t make any of these songs. The album also included several tracks of Kung Fu sound effects, but they were locked behind a Music Unlimited subscription. Weirdest of all, the album had multiple reviews recommending that I “SEE THIS BAND LIVE ASAP.” Man, you just haven’t lived until you’ve heard “Monkeys, Tigers, Birds, Lions (Fighting Sounds)” performed live on stage.
Did Alexa do what I wanted? I asked for kung fu music and I got a spammy, probably illegal album of bad covers and stolen tracks pumped full of Kung Fu Panda SEO. But that first song was pretty good. D+.
“Alexa, Play Music For Breaking Up”
I tried asking a second time to see if I’d get a different result. She started playing Shawn Mendes. What do you think this is, Alexa? A D&D campaign?
“Alexa, Play Music to Distract Myself From My Existential Dread”
If Alexa’s going to be a true personal assistant, she needs to handle uniquely human problems. Like lying awake at night, fending off the torrent of worries and fears about the nature of your existence in a cold, empty, and unconcerned universe. Hey Alexa, got any music to go with that?
Alexa misunderstood my request and said she was unable to find any Back Room Card Game songs by “my existential dredd.” Hold the friggin’ phone. Back room card games?! Is there a seedy black market where Yu-Gi-Oh players compete in illegal tournaments or something? And if so, Alexa, could you find me one? Also, I’m really disappointed that My Existential Dredd isn’t a real band. They would rock so hard.
Did Alexa do what I wanted? Well, she didn’t play any music, but I came away from her response with a whole lot of questions that don’t keep me awake at night, so I’ll call it a win.
“Alexa, Play Heavy Metal Music For Relaxing”
To my surprise, Alexa delivered with zero qualifications. First up was Damage Inside by Machine Head. While distinctly metal, this track was soothing enough that I could see chilling to it in a recliner. Many of the songs she played seemed to be the one-to-two-minute tracks in between other songs on the album, but they all blended nicely together. They were legitimately chill while still distinctly metal.
Did Alexa do what I wanted? Yes. Amazingly, Alexa curated a station of metal music that was easy enough to take a nap to.
Honorable Mentions
In the course of my tests, I also tried a few more normal requests with mixed results:
Alexa was able to find music for both reading and writing. She chose some classical music for reading, but some electronic music for writing. This is probably the most intuitive Alexa got in my tests. Asking Alexa to “play music for making dinner” yields no results, but “play music for cooking” did. I thought maybe she couldn’t handle such specificity, but when I asked her for “music for breakfast,” she was ready with the playlist “Ease into Morning: Acoustic. ” So, apparently Alexa is more of a morning person. I asked Alexa to “play music for gaming. ” She started a station of Video Game Music which is pretty on the nose, but it made me realize that whatever game I’m playing has a soundtrack that’s already tailored to the game. Maybe I should just use that.
