What's New in Music, Radio, and Podcast Skill API version MSK.2020.4

(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.2020.4 introduces new features and capabilities for Alexa music and radio skills.

These features are available as of October 15, 2020.

Music search filters

Two new music search filters let you handle customer requests to play what's new or to play what's popular. By supporting the SORT_TYPE entity type, your skill can receive POPULARITY and RECENCY indicators from the customer's utterance and return relevant music for playback. Example utterances include the following.

  • "Alexa, play the latest Dua Lipa song."
  • "Alexa, play popular hip hop."

For details about SORT_TYPE, POPULARITY, and RECENCY, see ResolvedSelectionCriteria.

Support for the new music search filters is mandatory. To support them, add the SORT_TYPE entity type to your code for the following directive.

Contact your Alexa Music representative for details about additional changes you may need to make to your skill.

Error message improvements

Music and Radio Skill API MSK.2020.4 revises Alexa's responses for playback errors and introduces new error subtypes. These changes help your skill tell the customer why it can't fulfill a particular request. The ACCOUNT_PROBLEM error type adds the following error subtypes.

  • INACTIVE_SUBSCRIPTION
  • NOT_SUBSCRIBED
  • PAYMENT_PROBLEM

For details, see ACCOUNT_PROBLEM error subtypes.

Support for these improvements is optional. To support them, add the new error subtypes to your code for the following directives.

Contact your Alexa Music representative for details about additional changes you may need to make to your skill.

For details about these new error codes, see Alexa Music, Radio, and Podcast Skill API Error Responses.

Skill rollback

Alexa Skills Kit now supports skill rollback for music and radio skills. Roll back your live skill to a previously live version without having to submit it for manual recertification. You can identify which version of the skill is a candidate for rollback, submit a rollback request for the skill, and track the status of the rollback request. For details, see Skill Rollback.

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Last updated: Nov 27, 2023