Alexa meets your Logitech Media Server & Squeezebox players !
Our non-affiliated MediaServer skill controls all aspects of the venerable
Logitech Media Server (LMS) platform. From basic transport commands like play/pause/next plus muting or
changing the volume, to playing favorites and playlists — you can request specific songs and
albums by artist/title or genre. MediaServer also allows you to set up and control multi-room groups using
just your voice. Moving to another room? With the follow me command you can transfer the current
playlist to other player(s) as you move about. You can even stream audio from LMS to play on the Echo itself,
with no need to fuss with Bluetooth !
An installer is available to automatically prepare your LMS instance for secure cloud-access over
https. Combined with Amazon's app-to-app account-linking, it makes installation a breeze !
As you get used to the Voice User Experience, you'll want to employ it in all aspects of
your life — so too with selecting the music you listen to. The original Squeezebox pioneered
wide-scale streaming of audio from your own server so you no longer had to handle physical LPs or CDs to
change the playlist. Now, our Alexa skill frees you from having to select LMS music by App or in a browser.
Controlling everything using just your voice makes for a truly hands-free listening experience !
Being a MultiModal skill, MediaServer makes extensive use of Amazon's APL to display persistent Cover
Art and other metadata on Echo's with screens.
Most responses have touchscreen support to facilitate a hybrid voice/touch control
paradigm !
The MediaServer skill is free to enable and use for transport and audio related
commands such as changing the volume, asking "what song is this?", commanding "skip ahead 2
minutes", or requesting "go to track 5". All of the 'Stream' commands are also available for free.
In fact, 94 out of the total of 129 intents can be used with no charges!
To access premium commands for playing specific album/track/genre/favorite/playlist choices, a monthly
subscription is available via In-Skill Purchase (ISP). It's free to evaluate for 7 days for first-time
subscribers, thereafter costing $2.99/£2.99/CAD3.79 (ex. taxes) per month. There's no minimum contract and
you can cancel at any time using just your voice. For much less than the cost of a subscription to e.g.
Spotify, you can enjoy audio streaming from your own locally-stored music with no device-limits. Just enable
the skill and say "Get me a subscription" to enjoy LMS streaming to your Echos plus full voice control
of all your Squeezeboxes !
MediaServer has a free sister-skill called LMS-lite that uses exactly the same
account-linking and setup process to add all your players to the Alexa app as smart home devices. From
there, you can add your players to room-groups and to routines to do clever things like switch them
on/off together with your amplifier, control them in scenes, or add them to your Goodnight routine. This also
provides invocation-name free access to the most popular control commands. Besides English, LMS-lite features
French, German, Spanish and Italian language support. Install both skills for the ultimate LMS
voice-control experience !
