Where a step uses Listen Now!, it says so. Everything else applies to any Shopify store.
Should I use background music, a podcast player, or text-to-speech?
They solve different problems, so choose by what you want visitors to experience:
- Background music or ambience — a player that sits in the corner of every page. In Listen Now!, choose All Pages when you add a track.
- Podcast episodes, audiobook chapters, samples or testimonials — audio attached to a specific blog post, page or product, so it appears exactly where it's relevant.
- Text-to-speech — reads your written content aloud with no recording needed. Useful for long blog posts and for visitors who prefer to listen.
You can combine them, for example a sitewide music player plus text-to-speech on your blog. See the Overview.
How do I add audio to my Shopify store?
With Listen Now! it takes four steps and no code: open Library → Upload Track, choose where the player should appear, add your track, then turn the player on in the Shopify theme editor.
You can put audio on every page, your homepage, a specific product, a general page, or a blog post. The Quickstart walks through each step.
How do I add an MP3 to a Shopify blog post?
The simplest way is Listen Now!: in the Upload Track wizard choose Blog Post, pick the post, add your track, and turn on the block. No HTML needed, and you get a styled player. For a series of episodes, see How to Upload a Podcast to Shopify.
Without an app: upload the MP3 in your Shopify admin under Content → Files and copy the file's URL. Then open the blog post, switch the editor to HTML view (the <> button) and paste:
<audio controls src="YOUR-FILE-URL"></audio>
That gives visitors the browser's basic built-in player. A dedicated player adds playlists, styling, and the ability to assign different audio to different pages.
How do I add background music to my Shopify store?
In the Upload Track wizard, choose All Pages. A small player floats in the corner of every page of your online store, and visitors press play to start the music.
Music won't start by itself. Web browsers block audio that plays automatically before a visitor has interacted with the page (MDN explains the policy), so background music on any website starts when the visitor presses play. See the autoplay question below.
Does the Listen Now! player play audio automatically?
No. The player never starts on its own when a page loads. Playback begins when a visitor presses play, and in a playlist it then continues to the next track.
That keeps visitors in control of when audio plays, and it matches how browsers behave anyway, since they block audible autoplay by default.
Can I add audio to a Shopify product page?
Yes. In the Upload Track wizard choose Product, search for the product, and add your track. The player appears on that product's page, so each product can have its own audio, such as a sample, a demo, or a spoken description.
To show product audio on your collection pages, Listen Now! also includes an Audio Player (Collection) block for your theme. The Text-to-Speech block is available on product pages too.
How do I add a podcast to my Shopify store?
There are two ways. You can upload episodes one at a time and assign each to a blog post, or, on the Pro plan, import your podcast's RSS feed so episodes are added to your blog automatically.
RSS import is available on the Pro plan and brings in your full feed. See How to Upload a Podcast to Shopify and RSS Feed (Podcasts).
Can I add text-to-speech to my Shopify blog?
Yes. Turn on Listen Now!'s Text-to-Speech widget on your blog article template and it reads the post's title and content aloud, with no recordings needed. You can choose a Classic or Modern look, set the colors, and adjust the voice and speed.
See Text-to-Speech (TTS) for setup.
What audio file types and sizes can I upload to Shopify?
Shopify stores audio as a generic file under Content → Files. According to Shopify's file requirements, generic files can be any format except HTML, up to 20 MB each.
Plan matters: on a paid plan you can upload any of those formats, but on a trial plan Shopify only allows a short list (JS, CSS, GIF, JPEG, PNG, JSON, CSV, PDF, WebP and HEIC). MP3 uploads aren't available until you move off the trial plan.
In Listen Now!, the Upload Track wizard accepts MP3 and WAV, and Bulk Upload also accepts M4A, OGG and AAC. The wizard allows files up to 50 MB, but to stay within Shopify's documented limit, keep each track under 20 MB. At 128 kbps that's roughly 20 minutes of MP3 audio. For longer recordings, lower the bitrate or split them into chapters.
Why won't my audio play on mobile?
Mobile browsers only let audio play after the visitor taps something, so a player that tries to start by itself stays silent. Listen Now! waits for a tap on the play button, which is the reliable way to start audio on a phone.
If a track still won't play:
- Use MP3, the most widely supported audio format across browsers.
- Try a smaller, compressed version of the file. Very large files can be slow on a mobile connection.
- Open the same page in a second browser to rule out a browser-specific issue.
- Play the track inside the Listen Now! Library to confirm the file itself is fine.
Why can't I see the audio player on my Shopify store?
Work through this checklist:
- Theme support. App blocks need an Online Store 2.0 theme. If the Listen Now! block isn't listed in your theme editor, your theme likely doesn't support them.
- Block added and saved. Add the block to the right template in the theme editor and click Save. The wizard's Turn on the player step checks the page and tells you whether the player is live.
- A track is assigned. The player stays hidden until a track is assigned to that page. On product pages, tracks are assigned per product.
- The right page. A block on the product template only shows on products that have a track assigned.
Still not showing? Email help@acceleratorcommerce.com with your store URL and the page you expected it on.
Have a question that isn't covered here? Email help@acceleratorcommerce.com.