[Mellifluous]

The music player itself is not that bad. The UI is similar to WP 8.0 and I like the back and forward buttons being on the bottom.

However, it is unoptimized and will lag when you open it as it looks for new content. I also notice it lags more on my 520 than it does on my 920, so it is certainly unoptimized for lower end devices.

Personally, it is by no means a dealbreaker and is more than usable. Microsoft just need to optimize it more or have the option to manually check for new media rather than doing it on every startup of the app.

[MSFTisMIA]

The music app is semi useless because of how unoptimized it is. The metadata isn't really up to scratch and there are some features in 8.0 that got removed that on a personal level, takes away from the experience.

However, it has some serious potential to be nice. I thought 8.0 was a step down from 7.8, personally...but if once 8.1 goes official the loading times get optimized and metadata reading improves, it'll be worth it. They really need to add better audio support and an good stock equalizer.

[Kunal Dudwadkar]

I seriously hate the Xbox video app. It always loads to sign in and it is so damn slow, Y the need to sign in.

[anon(5445874)]

I seriously hate the Xbox video app. It always loads to sign in and it is so damn slow, Y the need to sign in.

You must not be on 8.1 yet, because now there is no sign in (its all automatic)

[byobg]

But is the app at least slightly on par with the music app I currently have with 8.0? I just don't want to upgrade to windows 8.1 to find that the music app is so bad I'm crying that I upgraded.

The music app in 8.1 is very similar to the "preview" Xbox Music app that got released for 8.0 last December (Music | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States))

So if you want the 8.1 Music experience without upgrading your phone, install that app, and then imagine it crashing more often and being a lot slower. (But on the plus side, in 8.1 it can save to SD cards, which it couldn't do in 8.0 - so there's that.)

[anon(5445874)]

The music app in 8.1 is very similar to the "preview" Xbox Music app that got released for 8.0 last December (Music | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States))

So if you want the 8.1 Music experience without upgrading your phone, install that app, and then imagine it crashing more often and being a lot slower. (But on the plus side, in 8.1 it can save to SD cards, which it couldn't do in 8.0 - so there's that.)

On my 920, there's no crashing. And it is slow, but it's still way faster (after the update last week) than the old preview Xbox music on wp8.

[loribinca]

why couldn't they just port the player from the Zune32HD - that worked pretty much flawlessly .. In fact, I'm almost tempted to bring mine out of retirement and use that instead of the alpha code that is currently installed on my phone .. hopefully they fix this

[herbertsnow]

The music app works just fine now. It's still in beta but I've had no problems with it. People here just like to cry and complain because the hub nobody used is gone. They also like to compare every music app to some zune thing. If zune was so great it would still be around.

[Squatting Hen]

The music app works just fine now. It's still in beta but I've had no problems with it. People here just like to cry and complain because the hub nobody used is gone. They also like to compare every music app to some zune thing. If zune was so great it would still be around.

Umm...my music app won't stay open for more than 5 seconds before it crashes.

[loribinca]

just this afternoon i've had issues where i remove all the files (including hidden ones after several phone reboots) from the device using explorer and it STILL reckons it's got stuff on the phone somehow!! I had to delete them from the phone app to clear it.

i'm also not entirely clear onto how to get songs onto the phone that are not available / wont't match on xbox music. do I just drag/drop them to the phone manually using explorer?

​

[herbertsnow]

Umm...my music app won't stay open for more than 5 seconds before it crashes.

It's never crashed on me. Maybe you need a hard reboot.

[DennisvdG]

Can't be worse than Spotify! Ugh I have been waiting three years for a reasonable Spotify experience on WP...

[Squatting Hen]

It's never crashed on me. Maybe you need a hard reboot.

Yes, well...because neither one of my 920's on 8.1 will do a backup, I would have to set everything up from scratch...again. 😐

[Stephen Pedersen]

The music app works just fine now. It's still in beta but I've had no problems with it. People here just like to cry and complain because the hub nobody used is gone. They also like to compare every music app to some zune thing. If zune was so great it would still be around.

Every day I have problems with it. It crashes, it freezes, it slows down, it tells me I cant play my music right now. Glad your experience is nice though! :)

[pdelvo]

Next week should be a update week ;)

[DennisvdG]

Next week should be a update week ;)

Really, how do you know?

[xconomicron]

I'm done with using Xbox music on my 1520 and 1020. I brought out the ole' Titan again for Zune.

On my 1520 the app would literally not open until I closed out of it the first time.

On my 1020... I've noticed that whenever I transferred the same music I had on my 1520's SD card to the phone, the metadata gets all f*****d up....causing songs to be split up.. (which btw should have all the correct metadata since I spent about 4 hours going through mediamonkey and correcting everything.

I figured I can't win here no matter how hard I try...I guess I'll play the waiting game till Xbox music becomes decent again....

[Ed Boland]

If were a programmer, I would be sitting down right now and writing my own music player app that was just for playing locally stored files, screw streaming music from Xbox.

Thank God for Nokia Mix Radio!

[Ed Boland]

I'm done with using Xbox music on my 1520 and 1020. I brought out the ole' Titan again for Zune.

On my 1520 the app would literally not open until I closed out of it the first time.

On my 1020... I've noticed that whenever I transferred the same music I had on my 1520's SD card to the phone, the metadata gets all f*****d up....causing songs to be split up.. (which btw should have all the correct metadata since I spent about 4 hours going through mediamonkey and correcting everything.

I figured I can't win here no matter how hard I try...I guess I'll play the waiting game till Xbox music becomes decent again....

Nokia Mix Radio works perfectly!

[Noahma]

"How is this even possible ? Just port the one from Windows 8.1 .. it seems decent enough "

It is the one from 8.1.... its a universal app.

[Noahma]

Really, how do you know?

They stated that they are on a bi-weekly update.

[xconomicron]

Nokia Mix Radio works perfectly!

Well butter my bread...I believe it does :) now...just have to get metadata to show....

Thanks Ed! And thank you Nokia!

[byobg]

Next week should be a update week ;)

Technically, *this* week should be an update week (i.e., Wednesday is two weeks after the last update was scheduled, and tomorrow is two weeks after the last update was released).

[Guzzler3]

Thank God for Nokia Mix Radio!

I've tried it. Don't like the interface.

[Chin Voon Lai]

Just update to 8.1 two days ago and everything was fine after initial scare where the phone appears to be dead. Then today when I tried to play my wma audio files from music app most of the album could not play and only a few could be played. Downloaded Music Player app from the Store and it could play all my albums without any problem. Disappointed with the Music app in 8.1