This post shows how to Add Pandora to Alexa speakers. Note that Amazon Echo Dot devices do not come with either Pandora premium or basic accounts enabled by default. Indeed, Pandora will not play if not first set up. E.g. If you ask an Echo Dot to play Pandora when not set up, she says something like, “To play a station, first register your Pandora account using your Alexa app.”
So, we discuss here how to do just that. How to set up Pandora on the Amazon Echo Dot line of Amazon smart speakers.
If you subscribe to Pandora (whether you have a standard or premium Pandora account), you can now play your stuff on Amazon Echo Dots. Pandora stations will indeed stream to Echo devices like the Echo Dots 1, 2, and 3 talking speakers. With a few easy Pandora account linkage steps that we’ll show you below, you’ll gain access via voice commands to your favorite Pandora content.
How to Add Pandora to Alexa Instructions
Prepare
1. Add your Speaker to Alexa
Before you can access any of the services offered by Alexa, connect your Alexa speaker to the internet. Then register it with Amazon via the Alexa app. See our piece here for details on how to perform these tasks.
2. Set Up a Pandora Account
If you do not have one already, visit the Pandora web site here. Click the Sign Up link in the top right quadrant of the screen. Then, follow the prompts to set up a new Pandora account. Also, take advantage of any trial free offers that might appear during signup.
How to Add Pandora to Alexa, Step-by-Step Instructions
0. Find the Alexa App on your Tablet or Phone
We’re running this demo on an iPad tablet by Apple, which uses the iOS operating system. So on our Home screen, we find the Alexa app on the third page, as shown next.
1. Start the Alexa App on your Mobile Device
You’ll then see the Alexa home screen, as shown next.
2. Tap the Hamburger Control
Find the Hamburger item, in the top left corner of the Home screen, as pointed at by the green arrow in the last screenshot above.
This brings up the Alexa App’s main menu, as shown next.
3. Tap the Settings Menu Option to Continue with How to Add Pandora to Alexa
Find this link in the dark blue menu on the left side of the screen.
Tap the item, and then you’ll then see the Settings screen, as shown next.
4. Tap the Music Item
You then get the Music screen, as shown next.
5. Tap the Link New Service Option
Find the Link New Service item, as shown in the last screenshot above, pointed at by the green arrow. It’s in the top left section of the screen.
Running the Link New Service option brings up the Link Service screen, as shown next.
6. Tap the Pandora Button to Continue with How to Add Pandora to Alexa
Find the Pandora music service option in the top left screen area, as pointed at in the last picture by the green arrow.
Tapping Pandora brings up the Pandora Skill Screen, as shown next.
7. Tap the Blue Enable To Use Button
Find the Enable to Use link on the Pandora screen, shown in the last picture, pointed at by the green arrow, near the top of the page.
Pressing this button enables the Pandora skill on your Alexa Amazon account. Enabling the Pandora skill is necessary to before you can type in the login credentials for your account on Pandora.
Then, once you turn on the Pandora skill, you get the Link Account screen, as shown next.
8. Tap the I Have a Pandora Account Option
Find the I Have a Pandora Account link on the previous screenshot, pointed at by the green arrow. It’s the dark blue bar in the center of the screen.
Note that if you haven’t set up a Pandora account before now, rather than the next screen, the Alexa app will prompt you to sign up for one. Alexa will guide you through several screens. But eventually, once you’ve answered all the questions, you’ll return to the next screen, where you can enter your new Pandora account credentials.
9. Enter your Pandora Login Email Address and Password to Continue with How to Add Pandora to Alexa
10. Tap the Log In Button
The Log In button is the dark blue rectangle at center screen in the last screenshot picture, pointed at by the green arrow.
Tapping Log In logs you into Pandora.
Then, assuming that you entered your correct Pandora user Id (email address) and password, you’ll see Alexa prompting for permission to access your Pandora account, as shown next.
11. Tap the Approve Access Button
We find the Approve Access button in the previous screenshot, again, in the center of the screen, as highlighted by the green arrow.
Approving access for Alexa allows the Alexa assistant to request media streaming data from Pandora on your behalf when you play Pandora on your Alexa speakers.
When access approval occurs, you get a screen from the Pandora Alexa skill, informing you that Pandora is now successfully linked to your Alexa Amazon account, as shown in the next screenshot. This means that you can now play Pandora content on your Amazon Alexa Echo smart speakers linked to your Amazon account.
Note that the system no longer prompts you to set up your device the way it used to in earlier versions of the Alexa app. Nowadays, once you link Pandora to your Amazon account, all the speakers linked with that same Alexa account may play Pandora, without any further device authorization steps.
12. Tap the Done Button to Continue with How to Add Pandora to Alexa
Tapping Done closes the Pandora Linkage Succeeded screen, and takes you back to the Pandora Skill Enabled screen, as shown next.
13. Tap the Back Button on the Pandora Skill Screen
The Back button is the left arrow (less than math symbol) in the top left corner of the Pandora Skill Enabled screen, as highlighted by the green arrow in the last screenshot.
Tapping Back returns you to the Link Service screen, as shown next.
Now that we’ve successfully added Pandora to Alexa, that music service with your Pandora login credentials is now connected to your Amazon account. Therefore, Pandora no longer appears on this screen. Only streaming services that have not yet been added show up here.
14. Next, Tap the Back Button on the Link Service Screen
Again, find the Back button (the less-than symbol) in the left top corner of the Link Service screen, as the green arrow shows in the last picture.
Tapping Back returns you to the Music screen.
However notice now that Pandora is now listed on this screen. Remember when we last saw this page above in step 4, that Pandora did not yet appear. Why? Because Pandora had not yet been enabled and linked to your Amazon account. But its appearance now shows that Pandora is in fact, activated. So, it will now work with your Alexa smart speakers.
See the Pandora music service pointed at by the green arrow in the next screenshot.
15. Test out Pandora on your Alexa Speaker
You may now speak commands to your Alexa to play or create custom stations from Pandora’s library of millions of recordings. Just ask, as in
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- Alexa, play disco on Pandora.
- Computer, play some arena rock music on Pandora.
- Echo, play 1980s hits on Pandora.
16. Done with How to Add Pandora to Alexa !
Alexa Pandora Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can Alexa Play Pandora?
Yes, your Alexa smart speakers do indeed play Pandora stations! Once you add either your free / basic or premium Pandora account in the Alexa app, you can then access your Pandora favorite stations and other content.
How do I add Pandora to Alexa App?
Adding Pandora to your Alexa account as we showed how to do earlier in this post, also adds it to the Alexa app. If you followed our instructions above, then you’ve successfully added the Pandora music service to your Alexa app.
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Revision History
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- 2019-04-25: Added tags.
- 2019-01-08: First published.