How do you get a song to play at a certain time?

Scheduling a song to play at a specific time allows you to create a personalized music experience or soundtrack for different parts of your day. You may want to schedule songs for waking up, working out, relaxing, or getting pumped up before an event. Scheduling songs can help set the mood and energy level you want for certain activities or times of day. Some common reasons people schedule songs include:

• Playing upbeat, energetic songs in the morning to help wake up
• Setting a relaxing playlist for evening wind-down time
• Scheduling pumped up songs before a workout or competition
• Creating a playlist of favorite songs to accompany a special event like a birthday or anniversary

Scheduling songs in advance provides consistency and convenience compared to manually selecting music in the moment. With song scheduling, you can create a seamless, tailored soundtrack for your day.

On a Computer

One of the easiest ways to schedule music playback on a computer is by using media player software like iTunes or Winamp. These programs allow you to create playlists of songs that can be scheduled to start playing at specific times. For example, in iTunes you can access the preferences menu and select “Playback” to set a start and end time for music playback each day.

Winamp has a similar scheduling feature that allows you to configure the time and playlists for automated music playback. After creating your playlists, simply go to Tools > Scheduled Playback in Winamp to set the date, time, and frequency for your music schedule.

There are also third party apps like NextKast and Scheduled Audio Player that provide advanced scheduling options for music playback on a Windows computer. These tools allow you to set very precise schedules, repeat certain playlists on different days/times, and more.

On a Smartphone

One of the easiest ways to schedule music on a smartphone is by using music streaming apps like Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora. These apps allow you to create playlists and schedule them to start playing at specific times.

For example, in the Spotify app, you can access the “Made For You” hub and select “Add Timer” to schedule a playlist. Simply choose the playlist, select the time you want it to start, and confirm. The app will begin playing the playlist at the scheduled time automatically (as long as the app is open).

There are also dedicated scheduling apps available like Muzical and Scheduled Music Player that provide advanced options for queuing up music to play at certain times or on repeat. Muzical lets you set start and end times, shuffle or loop playlists, and more. Some even integrate with streaming services like Spotify.

The key benefit of scheduling music through a smartphone app is convenience – you can set it up anywhere in just a few taps. It’s perfect for playing music to match your daily routine like waking up, working out, or commute times.

On a Smart Speaker

You can schedule music to play at certain times on smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home using built-in voice assistant features. The most popular method is to create a routine in the Alexa app or Google Home app.

To schedule music with Alexa Routines (source):

1. Open the Alexa app on your phone.
2. Tap “More” then select “Routines”.
3. Tap the “+” to create a new routine.
4. Choose “When this happens” and set the time you want the music to play.
5. For “Add action” select “Music” and choose the song or playlist you want.
6. Tap “Save” to finish creating the routine.

Alexa will now play the selected music daily at the scheduled time. You can create multiple routines to build a full daily music schedule.

Google Home also lets you schedule music playback using routines you set in the Google Home app (source). The process is very similar to Alexa.

So if you want to wake up to music or have a certain playlist come on during dinner, you can automate it with smart speaker routines.

For an Alarm

One of the most common reasons to set a song to play at a specific time is to use it as an alarm ringtone. Both smartphones and dedicated alarm clocks allow you to customize the sound that will wake you up in the morning.

On most Android phones, you can set a song for your alarm by going to the Clock app, selecting the alarm you want to edit, tapping on the current ringtone, and choosing a song from your music library. On an iPhone, open the Clock app, select an alarm, tap “Sound,” then scroll down and select “Pick a Song” to choose from your music library. You can also buy alarm clock apps like Zedge that have large libraries of ringtones and alarm songs.

For a standalone alarm clock, look in the device settings or manual to find the ringtone selection option. This lets you switch from the default tones to mp3 files or songs on a connected device. Some models may have a companion app to manage ringtones.

Setting a favorite energizing song as your custom alarm tone can help you wake up happy and ready for the day ahead!

For Events

Many event planners want to schedule background music to play during their events. This helps set the mood and ambiance. There are a few options to schedule background music for events:

You can create playlists in audio editing software like Audacity and schedule songs to play at certain times. You can then connect your computer to the sound system at the event venue and play the playlist you created at the scheduled times.

Another option is using a digital audio player like an iPod. You can create playlists with songs timed out and connect the iPod to the sound system. The songs will play as scheduled on your playlist.

Some sound systems at event venues allow you to schedule audio through their software or equipment. Check with the venue ahead of time to see if they offer these capabilities.

You can also use apps like Sound on Time to schedule audio playlists and connect wirelessly to sound systems at your event. This gives you control through your mobile device.

For background music at large events, a dedicated computer with audio software designed for performances and events may be needed, like Q-Sys. This gives robust control for scheduling and playing background music.

On Streaming Services

Most major music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and Pandora allow you to schedule playlists and radio stations to start playing at specific times. Here’s an overview of how scheduling works on some popular streaming platforms:

Spotify has a feature called Spotify Automated Scheduling that lets you schedule playlists and podcasts to play at certain times. You can set up automated schedules in the Spotify for Artists dashboard. There are options to repeat playlists daily or weekly at the same time. You can also schedule a one-time playback of a playlist or podcast episode. Refer to Spotify’s help guide for step-by-step instructions (https://www.5centscdn.net/scheduler/).

Apple Music does not have a built-in scheduling feature, but you can use third-party apps like Soundiiz to schedule playlists. Soundiiz lets you set a date and time for when you want a playlist to start. It will automatically open Apple Music and begin playing the playlist on schedule (https://soundiiz.com/).

YouTube Music allows you to schedule video and music playlists to automatically play on your YouTube channel on a set schedule using YouTube Studio. You can set playlists to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. There is also an option for a custom weekly schedule. Refer to YouTube’s support page for instructions.

The other major streaming platforms like Amazon Music, Pandora, and Tidal currently do not have built-in scheduling options. However, Tidal offers an API that developers can use to build scheduling integrations.

With Automation Apps

One way to schedule music playback at certain times is by using automation apps like IFTTT or Zapier. These platforms allow you to create automations and workflows that trigger actions based on certain events. For example, you could create an automation that plays a specific Spotify playlist every morning at 7am when your alarm goes off.

To do this with IFTTT, you would use the Date & Time service along with the Spotify service. Set up a trigger so that every day at 7am, it activates an action to play your morning playlist on Spotify. With Zapier, similarly connect the Date/Time Zap trigger to the Spotify action of playing a playlist or song. The flexibility of these automation tools allows you to schedule music playback for alarms, events, times of day, or any scenario you want.

With a Remote

One way to schedule music playback is by using a universal remote or TV remote. Most modern remotes have options to set timers that will power on your TV and audio device at a scheduled time. For example, the Universal Remote・TV Control app for iOS allows you to create custom schedules to turn on your devices and start playing music from streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify at preset times.

If you have a smart TV, you may also be able to use the remote that comes with it to schedule power on and start playback. Check your TV user manual for instructions. Some remotes like the Apple TV remote have dedicated music buttons that can start playback when pressed.

For scheduling music in the background, most streaming services have options to keep playing music when the TV screen is off. Be sure this setting is enabled. Then create a power on schedule with your remote to turn on audio playback at the desired time.

Overall, utilizing your remote’s scheduling and timer functions provides a straightforward way to get music playing automatically at preset times.

Conclusion

There are a variety of ways to play songs at specific times across devices and platforms. On a computer, you can use media players, scheduling features in music services, and automation apps. Smartphones provide alarms, automation apps, and streaming service scheduling. Smart speakers have alarms, routines, and voice commands. Each method has pros and cons depending on your needs.

For one-off occasions, alarms are quick and easy to set up on phones and smart speakers. For frequent or recurring playback, automation apps provide the most flexibility across devices. On computers and smartphones, streaming service scheduling works well if you use a particular platform regularly. On smart speakers, routines are best for regular music playback. Overall, automation apps provide the most options, but the other methods can be simpler for basic, occasional use cases.