I need to get over myself and get some music-playing device into the house. Klara loves music, and I’m depriving her of something so important because I have a weird relationship with music.
I think I’ll get Alexa in the end because the very idea of futzing with music devices and trying to get them to work freaks me out. If I can just say “play music” and not have to think about it beyond that, it will be easier for me.
Clarissa's Blog 
If all you say to Alexa is, “Play music,” you’d better be prepared for anything from Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer to Die Fahne Hoch.
A.I. devices don’t have a brain, or any programming approaching human intelligence, so understand that you’ll be talking to the digital equivalent of an idiot.
LikeLike
It’s all just annoying noise to me. I’ve had a country music station on in the car because that’s all I could find on the radio. Nothing can be harsher than that.
LikeLike
Don’t like realism, eh, lady? Songs about sky-high interest rates or divorce settlements don’t break your heart?
(Okay, I’ll admit that I’ve wondered why country music songs are always about truck drivers and rodeo riders, and never about doctors or bankers.)
LikeLike
I almost never understand the words in these songs. So I have no idea what they are on about.
LikeLike
“Nothing can be harsher than that”
Challenge…. accepted!
More where that came from….
LikeLike
Country or folk music is all I can listen to while I am driving. Anything else is dangerously distracting.
LikeLike
Your computer already is a music-playing device if it has an internet connection and some speakers. Just go on youtube, search for “bandname/genrename playlist”, and Klara can enjoy. There are even children’s rhymes playlists, if that’s the sort of things she likes.
I’d advise against an Alexa or similar, because, even if you’re not creeped out by the idea of an always-on microphone in your home (I know I’d be) it’s still not a no-fuss device, judging by how much effort my co-workers seem to spend on getting theirs to do what they want. It also doesn’t deal well with accented English. Plus, children have managed to order stuff off the internet with it, access NSFW material etc… and while there are ways of stopping this, you said you wanted something no-fuss
LikeLike
The desktop is in my study and I taught Klara not to go there because it’s where I have my papers and everything. Plus, there’s no space for dancing.
You’re right, though, in that the accent is an issue. No speech recognition apps ever understood me.
LikeLike
Your phone + a bluetooth speaker, then. Or, if your phone still has a headphone jack, regular computer speakers will also work.
LikeLike
Get an account on Spotify, and Alexa can be set up to play whatever you want from Spotify.
LikeLike
If you already have Amazon Prime, it comes with a lot of free music. Not every song in the world, but a lot. Also, I think Alexa has an algorithm that learns the type of music you like after you have played a number of songs. She will then suggest a “station” of songs that you will like. (She suggests this to us if she doesn’t understand the song we requested. I let her play her station one time and the music was indeed to my taste.)
LikeLike
I just installed it and it understands my accent. I feel very vindicated. The only minor problem is that it refuses to give weather forecasts in Celsius.
LikeLike
Can’t you just tell Alexa, “Convert XX degrees Fahrenheit into Celsius”?
Or is the device not that smart?
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.js
LikeLike
Good idea. Yes, she does that very well.
LikeLike