Listen to music

How to listen to music on your Roku streaming device

Along with watching movies and TV shows on your Roku^® streaming player or Roku TV^™, you can also listen to music, radio stations, podcasts, and more from popular streaming services like Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn and Spotify. If you want to dramatically enhance your listening experience, you can enjoy exceptional audio from a Roku Streambar^®, Roku Streambar Pro, or Roku Smart Soundbar which has a Roku streaming player built in, or add studio-like sound to your Roku TV with Roku wireless speakers or a Roku TV Wireless Soundbar. You can also add deeper, richer bass to your Streambar, soundbar, or wireless speakers with a Roku Wireless Bass or Roku Wireless Bass Pro.

This article provides more details about where you can find music and other audio content, and introduces voice control of your music using a Roku voice remote or the Roku mobile app. You will also learn how to enjoy your private collection of music files using Roku Media Player, or the Play On Roku feature of the free Roku mobile app for iOS^® and Android^™.

Using voice commands: Any of the examples in this article can be used as a push-to-talk voice command with any Roku voice remote, or a hands-free voice command with the Roku Voice Remote Pro. To issue a push-to-talk command, press and hold the voice button microphone icon on your remote. To issue a hands-free command, simply keep your remote nearby and say "Hey Roku..." followed by your request. For detailed instructions, learn more about both ways you can use your voice to search and control your Roku streaming device.

What music channels are available?

Many great music channels 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 channels, 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 channels 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 channels. You can also enjoy features that let you customize your favorite music channels, and listen to SiriusXM shows on Demand.

To find and install any of these music channels or others, open the Roku Channel Store by selecting Streaming Channels on your Roku device, and then browse the Music genre. You can also browse the Music & Podcasts genre on the Roku Channel Store website from your computer or smartphone. To add a channel, you will need to sign in to your Roku account when prompted. For detailed instructions about installing music streaming services, read about how to find and add channels on your Roku device.

Do I need an account to listen to music channels?

For the best experience, most music channels 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 channel 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 channel will log you in as part of the process. Some music channels 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 channel.

For more help signing up for a specific music service, visit the website for that channel 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 microphone icon (or magnifying glass button magnifying glass icon on Roku mobile app 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 channel 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 channel name for every voice command?

No. If you use a simpler command that does not include the channel name like "play classic rock" or "listen to Z100", your Roku device will determine the channel to open based on the configuration of the Default apps page on your Roku account. By default, all content types are set to Auto. Your Roku device tries to launch your default provider or picks one for you if you do not have one selected.

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 channel 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.

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 a channel available for download through the Roku Channel 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.