How to listen to music on your Roku streaming device

What music apps are available?

Many great music apps are available on your Roku device offering a wide variety of audio content. You can listen to top tracks from your favorite artists, radio stations from across the globe, trending podcasts, the latest news, and more. Among these popular apps, there are some that can even be controlled using voice commands with a Roku voice remote or the Roku mobile app, providing additional features and easy access to your content.

• Spotify – Discover, manage and share over 35 million songs for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features including improved sound quality and ad-free listening. Control playback directly from the Spotify mobile app on your smartphone or tablet using Spotify Connect.
• Pandora – Create personalized stations from songs, artists or genres, or upgrade to Pandora Premium to search and play any song, album or featured playlist, with the option to create your own, and access personalized soundtracks based on changing moods.
• iHeartRadio – Listen to live radio stations from across the country, popular podcasts, custom artist stations, and more. When you upgrade to iHeartRadio All Access, you can skip songs an unlimited number of times, access millions of songs on demand, and create unlimited playlists.
• TuneIn – Listen to music, news, podcasts, and internet radio from around the world, or subscribe to TuneIn Premium for commercial-free music stations and news coverage, and live play-by-play sports.

Other popular music apps available on your Roku device include:

• Amazon Music – Find and play a curated catalog of two million songs, playlists, and stations with Prime Music, always ad-free and included with a Prime membership. Unlock tens of millions of songs with Amazon Music Unlimited.
• SiriusXM – With a SiriusXM subscription, stream commercial-free music, sports, news, talk, comedy, and entertainment. Not to mention exclusive live performances and artist-dedicated apps. You can also enjoy features that let you customize your favorite music apps, and listen to SiriusXM shows on Demand.

Do I need an account to listen to music apps?

For the best experience, most music apps require you create an account and log in to start listening to free or premium content. If you want to begin listening right away, iHeartRadio gives you access to free content without an account, but you will need to create one if you plan to subscribe to their premium services.

The sign-up process varies slightly with each music service, but typically, once you launch the app you will see a message asking you to log in if you have an existing account, or sign up if you need to create an account. To sign up, follow the on-screen instructions and the app will log you in as part of the process. Some music apps only provide the option to log in, with instructions to visit a website to create an account. Once you complete that process on your smartphone, tablet, or computer, you can return to your Roku device to log in to the app.

For more help signing up for a specific music service, visit the website for that app provider, or contact their support team.

What you need to use voice commands

Before you can take advantage of the latest enhancements to voice search and voice control, make sure your compatible Roku streaming device is running Roku OS 9.4 or higher, and you have one of the following control devices:

• Roku Voice Remote
• Roku Enhanced Voice Remote
• Roku Voice Remote Pro
• Roku Touch^™ tabletop remote
• Roku mobile app for iOS^® and Android^™

To learn more about which streaming devices support voice, or to determine if your existing remote has voice capabilities, read about what you need to use voice commands with your streaming device.

What to say to listen to music with a voice command

To listen to music with a voice command, follow the instructions below.

Push-to-talk voice

Speaking naturally to any Roku voice remote, press and hold the voice button (or magnifying glass button on older remotes) and say a voice command like, "listen to classical music on Pandora", "play Stuff You Should Know on iHeartRadio", or "play Today's Hits on TuneIn". Your Roku device will launch the specified app and begin playing the music, radio station, or podcast audio.

• Note:
  • Your remote must be paired to your Roku device for voice control to work.
  • When using a handheld remote, hold it 2 to 3 inches from your mouth when issuing a voice command.
  • With a tabletop remote, you should be no more than 2 to 3 feet away.
  • A Roku voice remote is only "listening" when the button is being pressed. You must press and hold to successfully issue a voice command.

Hands-free voice

In addition to supporting push-to-talk voice, your Roku Voice Remote Pro listens for hands-free voice commands any time the slider switch on the side of the remote is 'green'. When hands-free voice is enabled this way, you can simply say "Hey Roku..." with the remote nearby and add a command like "...play Daft Punk on Spotify". Or, say something like "Hey Roku, listen to Radio Disney on TuneIn" all without needing to press a button.

• Note:
  • Your remote must be paired to your Roku device for voice control to work.
  • For the best hands-free experience, use the following guidelines:
  • Speak to the microphone in your remote, and not your TV.
  • Keep your remote nearer to you than it is to your TV. Otherwise, your remote may not hear you over TV noise.
  • Try keeping your remote close to you, within 10 to 12 feet at the most.
  • Speak naturally. Speaking too slow or over-pronouncing syllables does not work as well as a clear and direct"Hey Roku...".

Roku mobile app

• Tap the voice icon from the Remote or Search screen and speak normally into your mobile device. Tap anywhere in the middle of the screen when finished speaking.

For more instruction issuing voice commands, read about how you can use your remote or the mobile app to search and control your Roku device with your voice.

Do I have to specify the app name for every voice command?

If you prefer, you can turn off the automatic setting and configure voice commands to only launch a specific app for each type of audio content you play. Remember, if you ever want to launch a specific music service, just include the app name in the voice command (e.g., "play hip hop on iHeartRadio").

How to control playback with a voice command

After you begin playing audio content on Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, or TuneIn, you can issue a voice command to your Roku voice remote similar to those below.

• Playback commands
  "fast forward"
  "rewind"
  "pause"
  "stop"
  "resume"
  "continue"
  "skip"
  "next"
  "replay"
  
  
• Interact with your streaming service
  "thumbs up/down"
  "like/dislike"
  "what song is this?"

Read a more comprehensive overview of the types of voice commands you can use to interact with your Roku devices.

How to listen to music when the Roku TV screen is off

Enabling a feature on your Roku TV called Fast TV Start lets you listen to audio content from Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn when the TV screen is off. If you have a compatible Roku device, you can also stream audio via Bluetooth from a smartphone, tablet, or computer when the TV screen is off.

After you enable Fast TV Start, try issuing a voice command as described above when the TV screen is off. After a brief moment, you will begin to hear audio from the speakers in your Roku TV while the screen stays off, unless of course a Roku audio device is connected. If that is the case, you will hear full, rich sound from your Roku audio device, also while the TV screen remains off. At any time, press Power on your Roku TV remote to wake the TV screen while music continues to play.

To turn the TV screen off, simply press Star after you begin playing music from a voice command and select Turn off display.

How to share music files with Play On Roku on the Roku mobile app

The free Roku mobile app has a feature called Play On Roku that lets you share personal media files including songs stored on your mobile device to your Roku streaming player or Roku TV. To use Play on Roku, you must install the latest version of the Roku mobile app on your iOS or Android device. Your phone or tablet must also be connected to the same wireless network as your Roku device.

For a list of supported file types and help sharing your library of songs, read about how to use Play on Roku.

How to listen to music files with Roku Media Player

Roku Media Player is an app available for download through the Streaming Store. It may also be pre-installed on some Roku devices. Roku Media Player allows you to watch your own personal video files, listen to your music files, and view your photos using the Roku device’s USB port (if available) or by accessing a media server on your local network.

For detailed instructions, including a list of supported file types and instructions for setup with a home media server, read about how Roku Media Player lets you listen to your private collection of music files.