OneDrive, Xbox Music Bring Music Storage And Playback to Windows 8.1 Devices, Xbox Consoles
Most OneDrive users utilize the cloud-based software to store documents or photos, but now it also includes music storage. With Microsoft combining the Xbox Music app with OneDrive, you can now put songs in your cloud and listen to them on your Xbox or other Windows device.
The easiest way to put music in OneDrive is by placing songs in the Music folder. Then, the songs show up on the Xbox Music app as part of your collection, and you can download them so they're available for offline playback. Fortunately, OneDrive supports multiple music file formats such as MP3, M4A (AAC), and WMA.
As for devices, the feature works on any computer or tablet running Windows 8.1. Mobile devices using Windows Phone 8.1 can also use it via the Music app, and both the Xbox One and Xbox 360 gaming consoles have access as well. If you don't have any of the listed devices above, then the music can be accessed through a web browser of your choice on the Xbox Music website. Unfortunately, if you are running Windows 8 or use an iOS or Android device, this won't be available to you.
Depending on your OneDrive subscription plan, you won't be able to put all of your music in the cloud necessarily, but at least there will be enough space for a decent playlist. Subscribers to Xbox Music Pass, the company's music streaming service, get an added bonus of 100 GB of storage on their OneDrive account to store even more songs. Microsoft did say that you can put up to 50,000 songs in your collection, but again, that's limited to your storage subscription.
This added support for OneDrive is a big step in Microsoft's plan for the user to exclusively use Microsoft products in everyday life. Instead of using various third-party media players, you can now just put your favorite music in its cloud service and enjoy it anywhere. The lack of support for Android and iOS devices is a bit concerning, but if the company is willing to put Cortana on the App Store and Google Play, then maybe it can do the same thing with OneDrive's music storage and reach a whole new audience.
Follow Rexly Peñaflorida II @Heirdeux. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Rexly Peñaflorida is a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering topics such as computer hardware, video games, and general technology news.
-
alextheblue OK having support for offline playback baked in is pretty nice. I don't mind storing my music online but I don't want to stream it all the time. So having an effortless way to play it offline is nice, without needing to do anything special, and I still have access to it from any device anywhere I go. I might toss some Lossless WMA files on there I ripped from my collection.Reply -
alextheblue Oh also the third paragraph is terrible and needs fixing. Not to mention that it says it works with Win 8.1 but not Win 8. If you can use Windows 8.1 to access it, who cares about Windows 8.0?? Why would non-updated Windows 8 vanilla even be mentioned, does anyone out there run an out of date 8.0 machine? If so stop doing that! Puff puff PASS.Reply