Author Topic: Microsoft opens Xbox Music to all developers with full access to catalog, stream  (Read 18140 times)

jordel

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This.

I am a last.fm-user for 9 years now, I loved their radio and I used the subscription even more when I discovered MusicBee. But since their radio is gone and ex.fm does not exist anymore - would an access to Xbox Music be an option?

Many times I use the MusicBee Auto-DJ to keep on listening to similar artists in my archive when an album is finished. It would be great to have access to unknown, similar artists again.

Thank you.
I'm sorry for several language mistakes. Please feel free to ask if you don't understand, what I am trying to say. I am always willing to improve my English skills :)

Steven

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i wont say yet if i would do this but just to point out the auto-dj in the latest v2.4 version uses soundcloud for streaming artists

so_la_la

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Man, I was going to be the first one...
Forums are freaking out on the prospects of finally getting a decent music player for Windows Phone 8.1.
http://www.wpcentral.com/microsoft-opens-xbox-music-api-all-developers
Could this be useful in enhancing MusicBee's syncing options with Windows Phone or even in (dream) making a MusicBee Windows Phone app?
See also my posts on syncing issues here in the forum.
Music Bee 3; EAC; MP3Tag; Music on Synology NAS 115; Logitech Media Server on RPI 3; RPI 2 with Hifiberry; Poweramp for Android/Lineage

ma_t14

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I can already see the prospect of this getting implemented as a huge thing. It's something that could easily mark the release of a major version, MusicBee v3 anyone?  ;)

ma_t14

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The only thing I'm a bit worried about is, what exact requirements has Microsoft set for software that will use their API? There surely is some sort of "catch"? I can see that there is an "affiliate program" that allows developers to earn commissions from music sales, so on one hand this might be a chance for Steven to earn something in return for all the hard work he has done and is still doing but on the other hand I am concerned that user experience might be affected in some way if this goes through  :-X

I would definitely like to hear other peoples thoughts as well and eventually Steven's after he takes a better look at this.

so_la_la

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I really don't know but the prospect of a fusion of Windows Phone 8.1 or 9 with Windows RT (or at least the global app thing or whatever they call it) should be a good reason to develop something.
Also, I have tested a lot of the music apps for Windows Phone 8.1 and most of them lack features Android users regard as standards, really basic stuff, and these apps aren't even free.
So, a good app could make good money.
Music Bee 3; EAC; MP3Tag; Music on Synology NAS 115; Logitech Media Server on RPI 3; RPI 2 with Hifiberry; Poweramp for Android/Lineage

Steven

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just an update on this - i have looked at this and have the basics working which includes streaming 30 second previews of tracks. However in order to get access to the full stream for users with x-box music passes, MusicBee needs to get approved on to a pilot program. I have applied but unfortunately i havent had any response and i'm not sure if the pilot program is closed now.
I will post an update if anything changes but just having access to 30 second previews probably isnt worth including.
I would be looking to integrate the music streams into the auto-dj and also the web track search function

ma_t14

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just an update on this - i have looked at this and have the basics working which includes streaming 30 second previews of tracks. However in order to get access to the full stream for users with x-box music passes, MusicBee needs to get approved on to a pilot program. I have applied but unfortunately i havent had any response and i'm not sure if the pilot program is closed now.
I will post an update if anything changes but just having access to 30 second previews probably isnt worth including.
I would be looking to integrate the music streams into the auto-dj and also the web track search function

Thanks for the update. Hopefully you will get a response soon.

Steven

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just an update on this - MusicBee has been accepted onto the XBox Music API pilot program and I have already got the basics working so it looks like it will be feasible to implement this.
As well as what i discussed above about how this would be used, I also plan to enhance the Track Search functionality as a tool to discover new music by integrating with recommendation services to select tracks for streaming but I will see how well that works first.
Any other suggestions are welcome.

@ma_t14, i dont see any catches with this. They have requirements about branding when content is sourced from the xbox music catalog so I will need to consider how that is done to meet the requirrements. I think they are mostly looking for this as a way to encourage people to sign-up to get a music pass which will allow you to stream full tracks rather than having 30 second previews.

jeyoung

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This is excellent news! I just started using MusicBee yesterday and love it, but I was a bit disappointed that it didn't play my Xbox Music tracks.

Does the API allow you to play downloaded DRM tracks too? Or, is it only for streaming?

Steven

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Does the API allow you to play downloaded DRM tracks too? Or, is it only for streaming?
Only the official Xbox Music applications are allowed to download encrypted files for offline playback so its only streaming

ma_t14

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So to clarify something, does that mean that you access the whole xbox music database and play full songs but not download them? Or you can't play full songs just previews? If it's only for previews it's kinda shitty  :-\

Steven

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if you have an xbox music pass then you can stream entire songs from the whole catalog. If you dont have an xbox music pass you can listen to 30 second previews of each song from the entire catalog - you could then purchase and download a song/album if you like it.

From what i can tell, an xbox music pass is effectively the same as a Spotify subscription where xbox music is supposed to have more songs in the catalog
Last Edit: August 25, 2014, 05:09:34 PM by Steven

ma_t14

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if you have an xbox music pass then you can stream entire songs from the whole catalog. If you dont have an xbox music pass you can listen to 30 second previews of each song from the entire catalog - you could then purchase and download a song/album if you like it.

Okay, thanks for the clarification. Are there any plans for supporting streaming songs through having an xbox music pass?

Steven

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yes i already have that working and will be doing the following:
- track/ artist search which is currently implemented for Soundcloud (already done)
- catalog browse functionality utilising last.fm recommendations/ similar artists
- integrate into the auto-dj - i will also integrate that into last.fm stations in the dj (if thats possible, i havent looked into it in detail yet)
- radio station based off last.fm stations but playing from the xbox catalog
- i guess people will want synching playlists to/from their x-box music accounts