How To Stream Music Through your Chromecast

You would be forgiven for thinking Chromecast was all about movies and TV. It isn’t and it is capable of more. One seemingly underused feature is the ability to stream music through your Chromecast. If your TV has good speakers or you have a surround or a soundbar, listening to music through your TV is a highlight of using this device.

You have a couple of ways to stream music to your Chromecast. You can use Google Play Music, you can use a different app and you can stream your local content through it.

Stream Music Through Chromecast

If you’re going to be streaming a lot of music, you may want to look at Chromecast Audio. It’s a dedicated device for streaming directly to a set of speakers. It connects to smartphones, tablets, computers, and anything with a jack plug. If your phone still has one of these connectors, this may be more to your liking.

If you’re only going to stream occasionally, the standard Chromecast is capable of doing it. Casting music is the same as casting anything. Make sure the source device and Chromecast are on the same wireless network and can talk to each other.

At one time we could easily cast music from Google Play Music but now the service no longer exists. Instead, YouTube has taken over as the default music service for Android devices. Fortunately, this will also work with iPhones.

To cast music from an Android or iPhone:

1. Open YouTube and start playing the music you like.
2. Tap on the Cast icon in the upper right-hand corner.
   
3. Select your Chromecast device.
   
4. The music will begin to play immediately.

The audio should play directly from the app over your TV speakers.

Stream Music Using an App Through Chromecast

If you don’t want to use YouTube, you don’t have to. There are a bunch of apps you can use to stream audio to your TV. From Spotify to Pandora, you have a lot of music options. In this section, we’ll walk you through casting our favorites.

Cast Spotify Music to a Chromecast

Spotify is a popular streaming service with both a paid and free subscription. What makes it even better is that you can cast music from an iPhone, Android, and even a computer.

1. Install Spotify on the device you’re going to cast from if you don’t already have it.
2. Select the audio you want to play within Spotify.
3. Select Devices and select the Chromecast from the list.

The casting icon is slightly different on Spotify from other services.

If you want to stream from a web browser you’ll need to open the Spotify web player. Then, play your song or playlist and tap the Cast icon. Select your Chromecast device and you’re all set.

Spotify makes it really simple to stream music to a Chromecast device.

Stream Pandora to Chromecast

If you prefer Pandora to other services, you can easily stream to Chromecast too.

All you need to do is:

1. Open Pandora on your smartphone and start playing the music you’d like to listen to.
2. Tap on the Cast icon in the lower right-hand corner.
   
3. Tap on your Chromecast device.
   

Your music will automatically begin to play as soon as you’ve connected it to your Chromecast device.

Amazon Prime Music to Chromecast

Another option you have at your disposal is casting Amazon Prime Music to your Chromecast.

Just like the other services, it’s really simple to begin casting. Just follow these steps:

1. Open Pandora and start playing the music you want to listen to.
2. Tap on the Cast icon in the upper right-hand corner.
   
3. Tap on your Chromecast device.
   

Just like the other streaming services we’ve mentioned, your music will begin to play through the speakers connected to your Chromecast device automatically.

Troubleshooting

As wonderful a technology as casting is; the Chromecast isn’t always perfect. If for any reason your music doesn’t immediately play through the speakers, there are some troubleshooting steps that we can take to get it working.

First, the most common reason you aren’t getting a connection is because of the internet. Sure, you’re probably aware that most devices need an internet connection. But, a lot of people run into an issue with connecting to the same network. Check that both devices are on the same network (either 2.4GHz or 5GHz). This is the most common issue when your Chromecast device doesn’t appear in your device list.

Next, if for some reason you can’t connect, start by switching your Wi-Fi network altogether. A slow or inconsistent network will cause problems.

If your music simply won’t play but the devices are connected you may have a security setting issue. The streaming service will need permission to access your Chromecast. The easiest way to scope out which permissions are needed is to open the Settings on your iPhone or Android and head over to the streaming app you’re working with (you can type the name in the search bar on both operating systems). Then, check the appropriate permissions needed.

If you’re still having trouble you may want to use the Google Home App to reconnect your smartphone to your Chromecast device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Although casting is fairly simple, there’s a lot to learn. If you have more questions keep reading!

Which music apps are compatible with Chromecast?

Most music apps are compatible with Chromcast devices. The problem occurs with iOS and Chromecast which do not play well together. This means that if you are trying to connect Apple Music, your Chromecast will never appear in the list of available devices.

Can I stream movies to a Chromecast?

Absolutely! While some applications or devices (like Apple products) may not give you the option, most do. Find some movies, tv shows, or videos that you’d like to stream and tap the Cast icon just like we’ve shown you with the music services.

It is refreshingly simple to stream music through your Chromecast and you have several options with how to do it. Got any other ways to do it? Tell us below if you do!