Spotify’s free music service will now stream on Alexa devices, Bose and Sonos smart speakers

Spotify has been working with Amazon Echo since 2016, but only for premium subscribers. That’s changing today, as Spotify says the free tier will now stream to Alexa-powered devices, as well as other Sonos and Bose smart speakers. Alexa support will be available to users in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Support for Sonos and Bose is more widely available to users around the world.

For Alexa devices like Amazon Echo or Fire TV speakers, users will be able to ask Alexa to play a Spotify playlist like Top Hits of the Day, a personalized playlist of Discover Weekly, and more. The service can also be set as your default, so you can use commands like “Play my Discover Weekly,” “Like this track,” “Pause,” and more without having to say “on Spotify.”

Meanwhile, on Sonos and Bose speakers, users can set up Spotify Connect from within the Spotify app. This works with Bose smart speakers and soundbars, as well as all Sonos smart speakers, including the new Sonos Move indoor/outdoor speaker and the Symfonisk Ikea WiFi speaker integrated with the Sonos Home sound system.

To use Spotify Connect, tap the “Devices” icon on the screen and select the speaker you want to use. This will also require updating the firmware of Bose and Sonos devices to the latest software, the company says.

The expanded support for smart speakers comes just a day after Amazon directly challenged Spotify with a major move of its own. On Tuesday, Amazon announced that its own music service will become free on all devices, including the web, Fire TV, iOS and Android. Previously, the free, ad-supported music service was only available on Echo devices. While the service is something of a rival to other free services like Spotify and Pandora, it has a more limited catalog of just 2 million songs. This makes it a better solution for those who only occasionally listen to music stations and selected playlists.

However, after Amazon’s announcement, Spotify’s shares fell almost 5% on Tuesday.

With greater access to Spotify’s free tier, it’s likely many people will choose Spotify free streaming over Amazon free streaming, given its larger catalog of over 50 million songs. Additionally, Spotify is best known for its personalization capabilities that help users discover new music based on their tastes and listening history, which continues to be a major attraction.

But Amazon is just one of many challenges Spotify currently faces, with Apple Music, YouTube Music and regional players in large markets such as India and China competing for users.

Additionally, TikTok owner ByteDance is said to be preparing to move into music streaming, targeting markets such as India, Indonesia and Brazil. This poses a huge threat not only because of the markets it targets, but also because a direct line can now be drawn between TikTlk’s most popular songs and the No. 1 songs and hits on Spotify, giving it a competitive advantage.