Is it time to say hello to MixRadio?

[HeyCori]

I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of ditching Xbox Music and signing up for MixRadio. The biggest reason I haven't left yet is because I have a grandfathered Zune pass with free songs. The other big reason is because my girl listens to Xbox Music through the Xbox One and our computer.

The Zune Pass isn't a huge issue since MixRadio is only $4 a month versus $15 for Zune. However, she'd hate to lose playback on other devices. While MixRadio is accessible through the web, she'd rather have a dedicated app for simplicity.

My other concerns is playlist syncing and song catalog. MixRadio has a good selection but (last I checked) Xbox Music dwarfs it. And I have no idea if MixRadio playlists sync between devices. If I create a MixRadio playlists using my own music on a tablet, will it sync with my phone?

Then there's the app quality. Enough has been said about how bad Xbox Music is on Windows Phone. However, I don't have any major problems with it on my Surface 2. Whereas, MixRadio on WP is far superior. It's a little slow to start up but everything is much smoother after that. I haven't tried MixRadio on my tablet yet.

I think what I might do is subscribe to them both and see how much I like MixRadio.

 

[Silviu Bogusevschi]

I use MixRadio (only) since I bought my phone and I love it, especially the Offline Mix and Play Me.
The only con I think is that the song database is smaller than other services (Xbox probably as well, didn't use it).

 

[HeyCori]

Update:

For general music playback, MixRadio is pretty fresh. I started the 7-day free trial but I haven't tried streaming any music. I've just been listening to my own tracks. Needless to say it works way better than Xbox Music. As mentioned before, start-up is a little slow (still faster than Xbox Music) but the UI is clean and it doesn't lag when scrolling through songs. It even loaded up my Xbox Music playlists.

Still, I'm just not sure if I want to drop my Zune subscription for it. There's an easy workaround to get MixRadio on the Xbox One. I just pinned the website to my home screen. And accessing MixRadio from a computer isn't hard. Still, there's just so much more music available through Xbox Music. Plus, MixRadio was designed more for streaming than purchasing and I've noticed that buying tracks isn't as convenient.

Yet, general playback is still a big win for MixRadio. And being able to pin "My Music" straight to my start screen makes it easy to access my songs.

And how the heck is it that MixRadio has a live tile with artist images and not Xbox Music?!?! GEEZ!

 

[anon(5383410)]

i did.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I'm doing the exact opposite. I've been a MixRadio+ subscriber for over a year, and I'm doing the Xbox Music trial now.

I tend to stream, not download, so I'm not sure if I'll continue Xbox Music once the trial period ends.

 

[LumiaWorld]

Too bad MixRadio is not available here. How is it? Is there an improvement?

Been checking its reviews lately in the Store and I was surprised to see lots of 5 star reviews... The exact opposite situation before. Looks like Nokia nailed it this time!

 

[Laura Knotek]

Too bad MixRadio is not available here. How is it? Is there an improvement?

Been checking its reviews lately in the Store and I was surprised to see lots of 5 star reviews... The exact opposite situation before. Looks like Nokia nailed it this time!

What country/region are you in?

 

[LumiaWorld]

What country/region are you in?

Philippines

 

[Leximus723]

I'm from the Philippines too, and I've been able to enjoy MixRadio on my Lumia 520. How? I changed my phone's region to US

 

[LumiaWorld]

I'm from the Philippines too, and I've been able to enjoy MixRadio on my Lumia 520. How? I changed my phone's region to US

Changed my phone's region to US already but it still doesn't work

 

[RTGent]

I've already said hello and goodbye to MixRadio. As I said last month's discussion (http://forums.windowscentral.com/xbox-music/291243-drm-free-music-where.html), there's no comparison between Xbox Music Pass and MixRadio - + or not. It's great to have another free or low-cost music option, along with Pandora and Spotify, and it's a very sensible fit for lower-cost phones. It's especially great for countries that still don't have access to Xbox Music Pass.

Xbox Music Pass is for downloading an unlimited amount of music you know and that you select with all the specificity you want, and you can choose to rent all of it for an unlimited term or purchase any part of it. I also have the original music pass, but these features hold for the current one. MixRadio is fine for discovering or exploring music -old and new, and may very well be a good buy if it fits/fills your music tastes and desires; but, the service allows very limited choosing, as such, limited downloads of what you do choose, and limited periods to rent such music.

For discovering music, I use the standard XBM app on my Surface and can spend hours sampling the Explore section. Occasionally, I also use the Pandora app exploring selected artists.

The XBM app on my Lumia 1020 is a separate matter. While it has serious limitations for me because I can't sync the 1020 with my Windows 7 desktop Collection, the app playback works fine. Fortunately, I mostly use my Fujitsu desktop and Zune players to enjoy my entire collection at home and anywhere I roam. About 45 GB of the collection consists of beautiful, rented Xbox Music Pass downloads.

 

[onlysublime]

I love Xbox Music! It helped that I got it for about $50 for a year. Hopefully there's another sale like that.

I just love downloading virtually any song I want for offline playback. I don't do streaming because I watch my data quota on my phone a lot . On my desktop and laptop (with LAN connections), I stream but not on my phone.

 

[HeyCori]

With today's news that MixRadio is in "maintenance mode" until it's sold off, it is definitely not time to say hello to MixRadio. :sweaty:

 

[eadbhard]

Well, since yesterday I am a Mixradio+ paid subscriber for the following reasons, in order of importance (to me of course

1. High quality audio.- I don't know about any other streaming service that gives you Dolby encoded HQ audio online and offline for $3.99 a month.
2. No ads.- Just hate them. They're the reason I don't use the free XBM app on my Surface. Forces me to watch the same video every 4 songs or so.
3. Unlimited skips.- Great for long listening sessions on the couch.

So I think it has the best price/audio quality ratio in the market today, plus offline listening and other goodies like lyrics sync.

Oh, and also there's this thing: I'm not willing to pay more than $5.00 a month to any music service no matter what it offers, and for me, the Mixradio offering is perfectly enough. Even in maintenance mode, what it does today is well worth the price and I could live with that for a year or two. I must say that I will consider switching to another service that offers HQ audio + offline + no ads for $5 a month, though. So if you know about one, please let me know.


Ed, using a Lumia 925.