Fix 3 common technical problems of Google Home music before they happen

You bought a Google Home smart speaker or display because you wanted to do fun things using only your voice. And, if you’re like 74% of smart speaker owners, that means playing music, right? I also. So nothing frustrates me more than when I ask Google Home ($ 49 at Walmart) touch something and instead of, you know, single Playing, The Google Assistant spits out an error message or, worse, does nothing, or the incorrect thing.

For example, have you ever heard the Google Assistant pronounce this gem? “To get help with that, you’ll need to give me more information. You can do it in the Google Home app.” I once asked for a Matchbox Twenty playlist, but that’s what Google Assistant answered me. If that has also happened to you, read on to find the solution.

The fact is, for Google Home to properly receive music requests the first time, there are a handful of settings or commands that need to be dialed in perfectly, to avoid abrupt chaos. Here are a few ways to do it.

Hi Google, can you be a little more specific?

The worst part of the message “… you will need to give me more information” is how vague it is. Fortunately, however, the solution is very easy. It all comes down to a little privacy setting on your Google account called Web and app activity. To get there:

one) Open your Google Home applicationthen touch your personal icon in the upper right corner

2) Tap Wizard settings then touch Your data in the Assistant.

3) Scroll down until you see Web and app activity and turn the lever In.

Basically, for Google Home to play music, Web and app activity it has to be enabled. That means that as long as you’re signed in to the same Google account as Google Home, Google will have your permission to log everything you do on Google sites (like Google Search) and with Google apps (like Google Chrome), including the use Google’s own words, “information associated as location”.

A song by any other name

Asking Google Home to play music from the band Chvrches (pronounced as the word “churches”) seems straightforward enough, but unless you’re in the mood for Mozart’s Requiem (ie, “church music”) you can’t ask for ” Chvrches music. ” You also can’t say “Hi Google play Bad Company” and hope Google Home knows if you’re talking about the band, their debut album or the single, all of which are called “Bad Company”. “

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So how do you get Google Home to play music from Chvrches or Bad Company’s debut album in its entirety? In the same way that you play the songs of Haim or Bon Iver, or any album that shares your name with the band or one of their singles:

• Make sure you say it right: Haim is pronounced more like “high-uhm”. Bon Iver is “boney-vair”. MSTRKRFT is “mastercraft”. Search Google if you are not sure. There is even a YouTube channel that can help.
• Add a specific descriptor: Asking Google Home to play music from Chvrches gives you Mozart, but asking it to play “music from band Chvrches “takes you to Scottish synth-pop”. OK, Google, play the Bad Company album “It will take you to the whole release of 1974.” Playing the song Like a Virgin “will queue up the Madonna single, not the entire LP.

Band names that are anything but routine

Prince was not the only musician to use an unpronounceable or difficult to pronounce symbol as a stage name. I’m a fan of Brooklyn-based dance-punk outfit! (pronounced “chk chk chk”), but unfortunately Google Home expects there to be vowels in its words. To avoid this limitation, I created a routine. That is how:

one) Open the Google Home app and tap Routines (purple moon / sun icon) then touch Manage routines in the background.

2) Tap the blue + icon in the lower right corner.

3) Below When I say… tap Add commands (required) and enter the trigger phrase you want to use (for example, “Play chick chick chick“) then touch Save in the upper right corner

4) Below The Google Assistant should … tap Add action and enter what you want to happen, for example, “To play !!! (chk chk chk) Radio in Pandorathen touch Add in the upper right corner

5) Now when you say the trigger phrase Google Home should respond correctly.

Of course, asking your Google Home to play music will not work the way you want if you have not synced your Spotify, Pandora or YouTube Music with the Google Home app: here we show you how to set up music services in the right way. Also, the important thing is not only what you play, but where you play it. Here’s how to organize your Google Home into speaker groups. Follow these separate instructions to create stereo pairs from two identical Google Home or Nest speakers.