What's New in Music, Radio, and Podcast Skill API version MSK.2021.1
(This is not the most recent version of the MSK change log. Use the Other Versions option to see the documentation for the most recent version of the MSK change log)
Amazon updates the Music, Radio, and Podcast Skill API quarterly to improve the experience for end users and skill developers. You can periodically check this page for announcements about new or updated features, bug fixes, known issues, and deprecated functionality. These announcements include implementation details and documentation to inform you where you need to make skill changes to support each new feature. For questions, contact your Amazon Business Development representative.
The Music, Radio, and Podcast Skill API version number reflects the year and quarter in which the latest new features become available through this API.
Version MSK.2021.1 introduces new features and capabilities for Alexa music, radio, and podcast skills.
These features are available as of January 19, 2021.
Podcast search filters
Three new search filters let podcast providers handle targeted customer requests to play episodes by topic, by timeframe, or by season and episode. See Implement Podcast Skill Features for details. Implementation is mandatory.
- By topic: Alexa, play The Armchair Expert interview with Tom Brady.
- By timeframe: Alexa, play The Daily from Tuesday.
- By season and episode: Alexa, play season 1, episode 3 of Revisionist History.
Premium audio, badging, and DRM support
Music, podcast and radio providers can now offer DRM-encrypted premium audio content to Alexa customers on supported Alexa-enabled Amazon devices. By supporting dynamic or static badging, providers can indicate stream quality during playback to customers on multimodal devices and in the Alexa app. See Add Premium Audio, Badging, and License Retrieval to a Music Skill for details. Implementation is optional.
Music recommendations
Allow your customers to discover new music by providing music recommendations based on what they're currently listening to. Recommendations are featured on the customer's Now Playing screen on multimodal devices. For documentation, please reach out to your Alexa Music representative. Implementation is mandatory.
Background images
To complement the listening experience, providers can now choose to display a static background image on the Now Playing screen for Alexa customers with multimodal devices. See the background field of the BaseMetadata object for details. Implementation is optional.
Previous MSK versions
Last updated: Nov 27, 2023