WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER: Listen to Music Files

In addition to using Windows Media Center to watch and record TV, to watch DVDs, and so on, you can also use it to listen to the music files in your PC’s Music folder, and to burn music CDs.
Windows Media Center stores your music in the Music Library. If you are not certain what you want to listen to, you might opt to browse the Music Library to see what strikes your fancy. Alternatively, you might opt to search for a specific album, artist, genre, song, playlist, or composer.
Once you locate the song you want to hear, playing it is as simple as clicking a button. You can opt to hear just the song, or the entire album on which the song is found (provided you have the entire album stored on your PC).
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Search for Music

1 In the Windows Media Center window, scroll to Music.
2 Click Search.
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3 Click Search.
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4 Using your keyboard or the buttons on your remote control,type a keyword or phrase. (Note that the keypad on the screen matches the buttons on your remote control.)
• Windows Media Center displays a list of entries that match your search criteria.
5 Click the desired entry.
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Windows Media Center displays the resulting album or song.


Tips

Try This!

Windows Media Center can display visualizations — animated colors and shapes that move in time to the music. To view visualizations, click to play the song, album, or playlist you want to hear and click Visualize. For more information, see Windows Media Center’s help information.

Remove It!

To delete a music file, click it in your Music Library, click Delete, and click Yes.
In addition to searching for your music, you can simply browse your Music Library. To open it, scroll to Music on the Start screen and click Music Library. Once you open the Music Library, you can browse your music by album, artist, genre, song, playlist, or composer. After you find the music you are looking for, playing it is a simple matter of clicking a button.
In addition to listening to music files stored on your computer, you can also use Windows Media Center to play CDs. Simply open Windows Media Center and insert an audio CD in your PC’s CD drive.
While a queue is still active, it can be edited. That is, songs within the queue can be moved, and songs can be deleted.
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Browse Music

1 In the Windows Media Center window, scroll to Music.
2 Click Music Library.
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3 Click Music Library.
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4 Click the category you want to browse (here, Albums).
• Windows Media Center lists the entries in the category you chose.
5 Click the item in the list that you want to hear.
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Play a Song

1 After you locate the song or album you want to hear by browsing or searching, click Play Album to listen to it.

TIPS

More Options!

In addition to using Windows Media Center to listen to the music files stored on your computer, you can also use the program to enjoy FM and Internet radio. You can even create presets to make your favorite stations more easily accessible. For more details, view Windows Media Center’s help information.

Caution!

Windows Media Center does make it easy to rip, burn, store, and organize your digital media, but it is up to you to not copy or otherwise use copyrighted material without authorization. Unauthorized use of such materials may subject you to criminal and/or civil penalties.
If you want to enjoy a longer listening session, you can stack up songs in a queue. Windows Media Center then plays the songs in your queue in the order you specify.
If you particularly like a queue you have created, you can save it as a playlist. Unlike queues, playlists are not automatically deleted by Windows Media Center when you click a song or album in your Music Library and click Play instead of Add to Queue; access a different type of media such as Internet radio, TV, movies, pictures, or videos; or close Windows Media Center. After you save a queue as a playlist, you can then open the playlist in a later session to listen to the set of songs it contains. In addition to listening to a playlist, you can also add a playlist to a larger queue or burn a playlist to a CD. In the event you no longer wish to maintain the playlist, you can easily delete it.
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Add Songs to a Queue

1 After you locate the song or album you want to add to a queue by browsing or searching, click Add to Queue.
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Save the Queue as a Playlist

1 In the Windows Media Center Start screen, click Now Playing+Queue.
2 Click the queue.
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3 Click View Queue.
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4 Click Save As Playlist.
5 In the screen that appears, type a name for the playlist and click Save.

Tips

Did You Know?

To view a playlist, click Playlists in the Windows Media Center Music Library and click the playlist. Click Play to listen to the playlist; click Add to Queue to add the contents of the selected playlist to your queue; click Burn CD/DVD to burn the songs on the playlist to a CD or DVD; or click Delete to delete the playlist.

Did You Know?

Queues are temporary. Windows Media Center deletes a queue if you click a song or album in your Music Library and click Play instead of Add to Queue; access a different type of media such as Internet radio, TV, movies, pictures, or videos; or close Windows Media Center.

Try This!

You can edit a queue, deleting or changing the order of songs. To do so, click Now Playing + Queue in the Windows Media Center Start screen and click View Queue. Windows Media Center displays the queue; click Edit Queue, click a song you want to move or remove from the queue, and click the up and down buttons or the Delete button respectively. When you finish, click Done.

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