Stock picture of the Spotify logo, green on black.

Google Home Spotify Commands

Through the Google Home speaker, you can control your music listening on Spotify with voice commands!  Ask Google Home to play a song, and album, or a public playlist or one of your own private playlists.  Google home works quite well with Spotify, giving you access to all your specific Spotify account content, just by asking.

Picture of the original Google Home smart speaker, front left view, sitting on desk.
Original Google Home smart speaker, front left view, sitting on desk.

To play Spotify music on your Google Home, link your Google account to your Spotify Premium account.  See our post  Spotify Setup on Google Home Speaker Instructions  for details on how to do that.  You must also connect your speaker to the internet via WiFi.





Google Home Spotify Commands List

Whether playing albums, songs, playlists, or genres, you can control playback with the Google Home Spotify commands that follow.

    • OK Google, mute.
    • Hey Google, silence.  These commands sets speaker volume to zero, but playback progress continues.  To undo these and raise the volume again, use the Google Home volume commands. E.g.  Hey Google, set volume 40, or Hey Google, raise volume, et al.
    • Hey Google, stop.     Stops Spotify playback.
    • OK Google, quiet.
    • OK Google, be quiet. 
    • Hey Google, shut up.
    • Hey Google, pause.  Stops playback, but does not change the volume setting.  Nor does playback within the current track continue.  Stops playback.  Say Hey Google, resume to undo the stop
    • OK Google, resume.  Picks up playback again from where you left off when you issued the last pause command.
    • Hey Google, play Spotify.  Plays music from Spotify, although not necessarily what you were listening to during your last listening session.
    • OK Google, what’s playing?  She’ll then speak the currently playing song title and artist.
Picture of the Original Google Home smart speaker, during booting, along with AC power adapter plugged Into wall outlet..
Original Google Home smart speaker, during booting, along with AC power adapter plugged Into wall outlet.




Google Home Spotify Commands to Play a Certain Song by a Certain Artist

Got a favorite song by a specific artist?  Ask your Google Home Speaker to play that song from Spotify as in the following examples.  The requests below play Fly Like an Eagle in Spotify, by the Steve Miller Band.

Caution

You may omit the artist name if no other song title, artist name, or playlist has that name.  But you must add the artist qualifier if more than one item in Spotify has that name.  Otherwise, Google Home may play the wrong song.  In the Fly Like an Eagle case though, she does play the Steve Miller version. You get Steve Miller even though versions from other artists such as Seal are there also.

Spotify Song Title by an Artist Request Examples

    • Hey Google, play Fly Like an Eagle by the Steve Miller Band on Spotify.
    • OK Google, play the Steve Miller Band, Fly Like an Eagle on Spotify.
    • Hey Google, play Fly Like an Eagle on Spotify.
    • OK Google, play Spotify, Fly Like an Eagle.
    • Hey Google, play Spotify, Steve Miller Band, Fly Like an Eagle.




Google Home Spotify Commands to Play a Certain Album 

You can request a certain album by a specific artist from Spotify, as follows.  All tracks on that album then play, in the right order, from start to end.

You may also omit artist / group names for albums with unique names in Spotify.  But to ensure that you hear what you wanted, state the album first, and then the artist. Why? Because many albums in the Spotify library have the same names as their artists.

Caution

But you may hear a short silence (inter-song gaps) in those albums with one long recording. They often subdivide these albums into tracks. This makes finding certain songs in that recording easier. E.g. Live albums or certain studio recordings like Pink Floyd’s The Wall album do this.

Asking for track numbers within the album does not yet work.

    • Hey Google, play Fly Like an Eagle album by Steve Miller Band on Spotify.
    • OK Google, play Steve Miller Band, the album Fly Like an Eagle on Spotify.
    • Hey Google, play Steve Miller Band, Fly Like an Eagle, the album, on Spotify.
    • OK Google, play the album Fly Like an Eagle, by the Steve Miller Band on Spotify.
    • Hey Google, play the album Fly Like an Eagle on Spotify.
Picture of the Google Home speaker rear view, showing the Mic Mute button (near top) and pilot lamp hole (near bottom, above the G logo).
Google Home speaker rear view. Showing the Mic Mute button (near top) and pilot lamp hole (near bottom, above the G logo).




Google Home Spotify Commands to Play a Group of Songs by a Certain Artist / Composer

Got a favorite artist or group?  Ask Google Home to play all the songs by that artist that Spotify has, as in the following examples.  Here, the following requests all result in the speaker playing the songs in Spotify by the Steve Miller Band.

Caution

The artist name you want could also be a song title. E.g. The group name Middle of the Road is also the title of a 1984 song by the Pretenders. So in this case, the smart speaker may again play the wrong song.  To stop the confusion, just add the “songs by” phrase to the request, as follows.

Spotify Play Artist Request Examples

    • Hey Google, play Steve Miller Band on Spotify
    • OK Google, play Steve Miller Band songs on Spotify
    • Hey Google, play songs by Steve Miller Band on Spotify.
    • OK Google, play songs by the Bee Gees on Spotify.
    • Hey Google, Play the Bee Gees on Spotify.

Google Home Spotify Commands to Play a Spotify Playlist

Now perhaps you’ve created personal playlists in your Spotify account. Or you just want to play the public Spotify playlists already out there. E.g. Like the Spotify Teen Party playlist). Then to do that, ask Google Home to play them as follows.  Just find the name of the playlist to play. Then ask her to play that playlist.

Spotify Playlist Requests by Playlist Name

    • Hey Google, play my Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep playlist on Spotify.
    • OK Google, play Spotify playlist Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.
    • Hey Google, play Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep playlist on Spotify.
    • OK Google, play the Spotify Teen Party playlist.
    • Hey Google, play the Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify.
    • OK Google, play Spotify playlist, Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.
    • Hey Google, play Spotify playlist, Teen Party.
Picture of the Google Home smart speaker, front view, with box open.
Google Home smart speaker, front view, with box open.




Google Home Spotify Commands to Play a Certain Musical Genre

Just ask for the genre you wish. Then Google Home will play a bunch of songs from that genre from the Spotify albums that fit that genre.

No telling what you’ll get though. Unless that is, you’ve already tried this once so that you know what’s coming. Also, what you’ll hear will often change, as they add and tag new music on Spotify.

Spotify Play Genre Request Examples

    • Hey Google, play some jazz on Spotify.
    • Okay Google, play popular music on Spotify.
    • Hey Google, play country music on Spotify.
    • Okay Google, play dance music on Spotify.
    • Hey Google, play 90s music on Spotify.

Other Posts About the First Google Home Smart Speaker

    1. Factory Reset Google Home Instructions
    2. How to Adjust Bass and Treble on Original Google Home Smart Speaker
    3. Google Home Bluetooth Speaker Pairing Instructions
    4. How to Turn On Bluetooth Pairing Mode in Google Home Smart Speakers
    5. Google Home Power Supply Specs for the Original Google Home Smart Speaker

Other Posts About Spotify

    1. How to Disconnect Spotify from Google Home
    2. How to Disconnect Spotify from Alexa

References for Google Home Spotify Commands

    1. Google Home Commands List   on Reddit.com
    2. Spotify on Google Home    from Spotify.com

Revision History

    • 2020-05-15: Added tags and optimized the post content further.
    • 2019-07-30: Removed ad script code, added more links and tags, and added key phrase targeting for ‘Google Home Spotify Commands’.
    • 2017-02-23: Updated tags list.
    • 2017-02-11: Originally published.