Last week, someone noticed Xbox Live honcho Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb using something that looked a lot like music-streaming service Spotify running on an Xbox. Turns out that was no fluke: Microsoft just announced Spotify is indeed finally coming to the Xbox One, effective immediately, and with a full-court press: it’s available in a total of 34 markets worldwide.
I just turned on my spotify on xbox one yesterday to find that it is playing songs but absolutely no sound is coming out. I've done a hard reset.nothing happens. I checked my TV speakers and they're fine. The xbox is playing sound for everything except spotify. The Spotify app is now available on the Xbox One, Microsoft said Tuesday. You'll be able to stream Spotify in the background while gaming on the Xbox One, and control the app using Spotify Connect. Spotify is planning to release an Xbox One app soon. Pictures of Microsoft’s Larry Hryb (Major Nelson) testing a Spotify app for Xbox One were spotted on Reddit earlier this week, fuelling.
To get it, you just have to visit the Xbox Store, download the new Spotify for Xbox app, and you’re in business. What happens next depends whether you’re already paying for the service.
Spotify offers two listening options, Free or Premium. Free, which only requires signing up for an account, offers access to the service’s vast music catalogue, but with ads (including audio spots that play every so many tracks) and the requirement that you have to shuffle-play tracks. Premium, which runs $10 a month, removes the ads and shuffle-play strictures.
With the Xbox One version of the app, you can listen to music while playing a game, use an Xbox One gamepad to choose from saved music, rifle through Spotify’s 30 million song catalogue or check out select playlists (like “Epic Gaming Soundtracks” or “Power Gaming”) in a devoted gaming hub. Want to know what Major Nelson’s into? He’s apparently curated a playlist to kick things off. You can even futz with your listening queue by using Spotify Connect on a phone, tablet or computer: just make sure everything’s on the same wireless network, launch the app on one of those devices, start playing a song, select “Devices Available,” and pick your Xbox One.
PlayStation 3 and 4 owners have of course been enjoying access to Spotify for years, so calling the streaming service’s arrival on Xbox One belated definitely understates the arrival gap. Microsoft has its own background-play-capable music service, called Groove, with an even bigger music catalogue (38 million songs), which may have weighed on the decision not to pursue a Spotify app sooner.
Like the latter version, the Xbox One Spotify app doesn’t support listening to tunes offline — not a huge deal, since consoles aren’t really mobile. But my deeper concern, based on complaints about the PlayStation 4 version, was that streaming quality might not be up to snuff with the desktop version.
Xbox One Spotify App Sign Up
Spotify offers three streaming quality tiers, a barely listenable 96 kbps for mobile devices, a subpar 160 kbps for desktop and web players, and if you’re a Premium desktop or mobile user, a far more listenable 320 kbps. I’ll grant many listeners don’t need or care about rates as high as 320 kbps, and on mobile that sort of pull-down can understandably be a data quota killer. But static consoles with options like optical audio ports are more likely to wind up connected to high fidelity audio systems (as well as unlimited broadband modems). And the audio gulf between 160 kbps and 320 kbps (as opposed, say, to 192 or 256 kbps) on even moderately decent speakers is chasmic.
Xbox One Spotify App Download
The good news: Microsoft tells me Spotify for Xbox One supports “higher quality” streaming, though it’s not clear if that’s full-on 320 kbps, or something a bit lower. The company is currently checking with Spotify to confirm the actual rate, and I’ll update this piece when I know more. [Update: Great news, Microsoft just confirmed that high quality is in fact 320 kbps.]
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At long last, Xbox-owning Spotify users can stream the service's music directly to their consoles. The new app drops on Tuesday, Aug. 8, in 34 markets around the world.
SEE ALSO: Xbox One's dashboard is about to change in a major way
Spotify For Xbox 360 Download
We haven't been able to test the app out yet, but if it's anything like the PlayStation 4 app that launched in March 2015, you'll be able to access the full library of Spotify music and playlists to have running behind whatever else you're doing on the console.
To celebrate the occasion, Spotify is also launching a new curated playlist from Microsoft exec Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson. You can find that here.
Spotify Music For Xbox
You can control the app on your console, but it's much easier to pair your Xbox with your smart device app or Spotify Connect on your PC. Either of those options allows you to control your music without ditching out of whatever game you're playing.
As an added bonus: an Xbox Live Gold subscription is not required to use the console app, nor is a Spotify subscription. Free and paid users alike can take advantage of the app; all you need is an account with the service.
That's pretty much the whole deal. Spotify and Xbox One are both known quantities, so this is largely a case of 'two great tastes taste great together (finally).' You can find more info about the new app on Spotify's website here and here.