HomePod Mini failures

Is there any way to get HomePod Mini (HPM) to play what I want? After needing 30 minutes to set it up, I was finally able to hear music from an unknown source, which continued even after I force-quit the two active devices nearby (iPad Pro; iPhone 12). Continuing to de-power the HPM temporarily solved this problem, which also allowed me to manually set it up using the Home app. And then by using Siri, I was able to request an artist from my iTunes account. But I have not been able to connect individual songs using Music or Home, much less playlists. What am I doing wrong?