Smart Home

Beginner

4 min read 6 stepsApril 19, 2026Verified April 2026

How to Play Music on Google Home and Nest Speakers

Control music with your voice, adjust volume, and group Google Home or Nest speakers together for whole-home audio — all without touching a button.

At a Glance

Open the Google Home app and go to Settings

~24s

Open the Google Home app on your phone (colorful house icon). In the bottom right, tap your profile picture or initials. Tap "Assistant settings" or "Google Account." Then look for "Music" in the settings list. This is where you link music services and set your default.

Quick Tip

You can also say "Hey Google, open music settings" to your speaker, and it may direct you to the right place in the app.

Link your music service

~15s

In the Music settings, you'll see a list of compatible music services. Tap the one you want (like Spotify). Tap "Link" or "Connect." Sign in to that service's account when prompted. Once linked, it will show a "Connected" status. You can link multiple services.

Set your default music service

~23s

In the Music settings, look for "Default music service" or a star/default icon next to a service. Tap the service you want to be the default. When you say "Hey Google, play music" without specifying a service, this is the one that will be used. If you subscribe to YouTube Music, it may already be set as the default — change it here if you prefer Spotify or another service.

Play music with voice commands

~21s

Say "Hey Google, play some classic rock" or "Hey Google, play relaxing music" to test it. Your speaker will start playing from your default music service. Try "Hey Google, skip" to move to the next song, or "Hey Google, set volume to 40 percent" to adjust the volume. Say "Hey Google, what's playing?" if you like a song and want to know the name.

Create a speaker group for whole-home audio

~39s

In the Google Home app, tap the plus (+) button in the top left. Tap "Create speaker group." Select all the speakers you want to include in the group (for example, kitchen speaker + living room speaker + bedroom speaker). Give the group a name, like "Home" or "Whole house." Tap "Save." Now say "Hey Google, play music on [group name]" and all grouped speakers will play the same music in sync.

Quick Tip

Speaker groups are perfect for entertaining. You can also adjust the volume of the entire group at once: "Hey Google, set Home volume to 60 percent."

Warning

All speakers in a group must be on the same WiFi network and registered to the same Google Home account to work together.

Move music from one speaker to another

~22s

If music is playing in one room and you want to move it to another speaker, say "Hey Google, move music to [speaker name]" — for example, "Hey Google, move music to the bedroom." The music will switch to that speaker without stopping. You can also say "Hey Google, play music in the kitchen" to start a new stream on a specific speaker.

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Google Home and Nest speakers are designed to play music hands-free, through voice commands. Once you've linked a music service, getting music going is as simple as saying "Hey Google, play jazz" or "Hey Google, play my favorites playlist."

If you have more than one Google or Nest speaker around your home, you can also group them together so the same music plays in every room — perfect for a dinner party, a holiday gathering, or just filling the house with sound while you go about your day.

Music services you can link:

- Spotify (most popular choice) - YouTube Music (Google's own music service, free with ads or paid for ad-free) - Pandora - iHeartRadio - TuneIn Radio (free internet radio) - Apple Music - Amazon Music

You set up linked services and a default service in the Google Home app. Once set up, voice commands do the rest.

Helpful voice commands:

- "Hey Google, play music" — plays music from your default service - "Hey Google, play [artist name]" — plays that artist's music - "Hey Google, play [playlist name] on Spotify" — plays a specific playlist - "Hey Google, pause" / "Hey Google, resume" - "Hey Google, next song" / "Hey Google, previous song" - "Hey Google, volume up" / "volume down" / "set volume to 50 percent" - "Hey Google, what's playing?" — tells you the song and artist name

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Official Resources

Amazon Alexa Help Google Nest Help How-To Geek — Smart Home

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