Music on Xbox 360
Published December 1, 2008
Your Xbox 360® console is an entertainment powerhouse. Not only can you play games, but you can turn it into a media hub, blasting your tunes right from your TV or home theater.
A Plethora of Music
Your console can play music from almost any source:
- CD: Pop a CD in the disc tray. Your disc will spin up and start playing automatically. You can listen to it right there on the Xbox Dashboard, or you can start up an Xbox LIVE® Arcade game and listen while you play.
- Hard Drive: While your CD is playing, select Rip CD to save tracks to your hard drive. You can build playlists, or just play by album or artist. Just like a CD, you can play right in the dashboard or during a game (even disc-based games).
You can store a lot of music on the 120GB hard drive.
- Devices: Got a Zune, iPod, MP3 player, or other USB device? Plug it in! Your console will stream music straight from the device in the dashboard or any Xbox 360 game.
For the iPod, you'll have to get the optional media update from Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Sign in to Xbox LIVE, go to Game Marketplace, Explore Game Content. Browse all games, and slide down to O. Select Optional Media Update and download it to your console. This only supports non-DRM AAC audio.
- PC: You can also stream music from any PC on your network running Windows Media Player 11, Zune, or Windows Media Connect. Set up media sharing in the software on your PC, then, on your console, select your PC as a source in your music library or in the Xbox Guide.
Add Your Own Soundtrack
While playing a game, you can replace the game's soundtrack with your own. Press the Xbox Guide button in the middle of the controller to open the Xbox Guide, then select Media, Select Music. Choose your source and tracks to play, and off you go.
Your music controls are also right there in the Media blade on the Guide. Pause, fast forward, shuffle, and volume, it's all there at your fingertips.
To get the game soundtrack back, in the Xbox Guide, go to Media, select the song, then press X.
Party Central
Just want to rock out? In the Xbox Dashboard, go to My Xbox and open Music Library, then choose your source and a set of tracks. You can select your music and control playback in the Now Playing screen.
Here's the cool part: while in the Now Playing screen, hit the Y button for a full screen visualization. While it's showing, fiddle with the controller to make the graphic move around. Each controller moves it differently. Press the right and left bumpers to change the visualization. You can even plug in an Xbox LIVE Vision camera to add wild visual effects.
Seamless play
It doesn't matter whether you started your music in the Xbox Dashboard or the Xbox Guide—you can control it from either place and it'll continue to play as you hop in and out of the Dashboard and from game to game.
Xbox 360 is your home for music games, music videos, and more.
Windows Media Center
As if that's not enough, you can also play your music through Windows Media Center. It's not quite the same as playing it through your music library on in the Xbox Guide. You'll first need a Windows Media Center PC or a PC running Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate. Then, to access your Windows Media Center content, in the Xbox Dashboard, select My Xbox, Windows Media Center, and browse from there.
But Wait, There's More
Not content with just playing music on your console? How about music videos? Yeah, we have those too. Sign in to Xbox LIVE, then go to Video Marketplace, Explore Video Content. Once there, go to the Music Videos channel and enjoy!
If that's not enough for your music fix, check out our Live Your Music and Game with Fame pages, or just grab some content for your favorite music-based games. Xbox 360—it's an entertainment powerhouse.
Article by Elle
