Why does my Amazon Music keep stopping on Alexa

Nothing can be more frustrating than having your music stop playing through your Echo Dot. Listening to music is one of the few activities that light up the entire brain and can even be therapeutic. So, while staring at a Netflix buffering screen might be annoying, having your music cut off is downright cruel.

There are several reasons why your Echo Dot may stop playing music:

• No Wi-Fi connectivity
• Poor signal strength
• The device is connected to the wrong bandwidth

Any one of these is a potential issue worth checking into to get your Echo Dot up and running reliably again. To figure out which of these is the culprit behind your device no longer playing music, follow the troubleshooting tips below.

Why Isn’t My Echo Dot Playing Music?

As mentioned above, there are a few reasons why your Echo Dot will stop playing music, most of which involve a poor Wi-Fi connection.

Connection issues with Wi-Fi generally stem from interference, too many linked devices, outages, and distance between the Echo Dot and the router. You can check the status of your Echo Dot—or any linked devices—by visiting your router’s configuration page. To do this:

1. Look at the bottom or back of your router. The information for accessing your router’s settings and configurations will be there.
2. Once you’ve logged on, you can view the status and signal strength of every device that is linked to your router.
3. If your Echo Dot has a weak Wi-Fi signal, try moving it closer to the router. You should also be able to change the connection from 2.4GHz to 5GHz.

Every router has a limit on how many devices can connect at one time. If it is overwhelmed, try turning devices off that are infrequently used or removing them entirely. Ultimately, you may have to upgrade your router if you have too many devices and are unwilling to part with any.

Of course, if you’re still experiencing issues, you may need to reboot your device.

Try Rebooting the Router and Echo Dot

This involves unplugging both devices and plugging them back in.

1. Unplug both the router and Echo Dot for a solid two-minute period.
2. Plug the router back in first and allow it to cycle back up.
3. Next, plug in the Echo Dot and wait for it to cycle up and reconnect.

You can also factory reset your Echo Dot and reconnect it to your router like a first-time setup.

• On a generation one Echo Dot, insert a paperclip into the small hole located on the back of the device.
• For all other generations of Echo Dots, press and hold both the microphone and volume down buttons. Do this for twenty seconds or until you get an orange light.

[Source: Amazon]

You can also do a factory reset directly from the Amazon Alexa app—iOS or Android.

1. Open the Alexa app and go to Devices at the bottom of the screen.
2. Then select Echo & Alexa at the top.
3. Choose which Echo Dot device you want and scroll to the bottom of the screen, where you will select Factory Reset.

The Issue May Not Be Your Echo Dot

All things considered, it may not be your Echo Dot that’s giving you the problem after all. Before resorting to any drastic measures, try playing music through other devices throughout your home. Of course, those devices need to have a connection with the same Wi-Fi network—and preferably the same bandwidth—as your Echo Dot.

This could be especially true if you enjoy streaming music from Spotify, Pandora, or other internet radio sources. The problem could be on their end. Even the best and brightest companies have server issues now and then. Try listening to the same music through the same app as your Echo Dot, but from a different device. If the same thing happens, you’ll know that there is no reason to reset or otherwise troubleshoot your Echo Dot.

Final Thoughts

Amazon products typically come with at least a one-year limited warranty. There is also the option of purchasing a one, two, or three-year additional warranty on any Echo devices that you purchase on Amazon. If you’ve exhausted all of the above options, take advantage of the warranty.

Also, always consider purchasing the additional warranty when buying electronics. It’s generally pretty low-cost—ranging from $5 to $10—and will cover you if anything goes wrong. The Amazon Echo lineup is full of high-quality, excellent products, so don’t give up on the Echo Dot if your music has suddenly stopped. Follow the troubleshooting tips above, and you’ll be back to listening, uninterrupted, in no time.