Xbox Music launches on iOS and Android, offers free Web streaming

By: Ted Kritsonis

September 9, 2013

Xbox-Music-LogoMicrosoft has expanded its Xbox Music streaming and download service to iOS and Android devices, as well as launching a browser-based version that will be free of any paid subscription for the first six months. The move puts the service’s 30 million song catalog across a wider gamut of devices in taking on established competitors.

Xbox Music has been live for a year, but was limited to Windows computers, tablets and smartphones. The new Web browser version will be free to all users, though it does require a Microsoft ID to either sign up or log in (an existing Hotmail, Xbox or Bell email address already qualifies). The freedom isn’t forever though. Open-ended free access is limited to six months, and is then cut down to 10 hours per month, unless you sign up for a subscription.

The Web player will also get a new radio feature that will play songs based on a chosen artist. It’s a feature already seen in a number of mobile apps, including Soundtracker and Jango Radio, among others.

With the impending release of the Windows 8.1 update to the operating system on October 17, a new feature called Web Playlist, which scans any artists or music available on a Web page and creates an Xbox Music playlist based on those artists or songs. An example Microsoft used was of a radio station or music festival where a custom playlist could be created automatically based on who is playing or performing. The process is said to be painless, with simple one-touch access to initiate and then access the playlist.

Xbox Music

The iOS and Android apps are subscription-based, just like on the Xbox 360 console (and soon, the Xbox One as well). Signing up to Xbox Music Pass, for either $9.99 per month or $99 for the year, the catalog is open to any and all compatible devices. For example, adding a song to your library on the Xbox 360 would also be mirrored on your iPhone or Android phone, for example. Just the same, all created playlists and favourites are also streamlined across the board as part of the service’s cloud-based structure.

The iOS and Android apps will also eventually have the ability to cache songs for offline listening when there’s no Internet connection available. No timeline has been confirmed for that other than “this fall”.

The expansion of Xbox Music falls in line with Microsoft’s grander strategy to reposition itself as a device and services company, and away from its purely software roots that focused mainly on Windows. The Xbox One console is set to launch on November 22, exactly eight years to the day that the Xbox 360 launched in 2005.

 


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