Today’s music market is dominated by streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. So much so that people often forget the benefits of a minimalist music player or media manager. Groove Music is one such music player, offering an easy and free method of playing music on your personal computer.
Contrary to popular belief, Groove Music is far from dead. It has managed to stay afloat and has an active consumer base. Let’s explore what keeps the app alive and how to make Groove Music your default media player.
What is Groove Music?
Groove Music is an audio player developed by Microsoft and included with Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8. It was previously known as Xbox Music but took on its current branding in 2015 to make it more accessible to non-Xbox platforms .
Groove Music was the client app for Groove Music Pass, formerly a music streaming service on Windows, Android, and iOS. However, Groove Music survived the streaming service discontinuity and established itself as the best desktop music player for Windows computers.
The defining feature of Groove Music is its simplicity and ease of use. It had robust integration with cloud storage services, but this feature is no longer available.
The main features of Groove Music
Groove Music remains relevant even against more popular music streaming platforms. As expected from a modern music player, it offers several advanced features like sorting by artist or music genre. The following list highlights other benefits of using Groove Music.
1. Sound Equalizer
Groove Music offers an easy-to-use sound equalizer that you can customize for various audio devices. This equalizer allows you to adjust the audio output of specific sound frequencies. Plus, you get instant feedback on the difference in audio quality.
Additionally, the sound equalizer offers a selection of pre-configured settings to suit various environments and audio output devices. You can choose configurations such as TV, car, headphones and bass boost.
You can access the sound equalizer by clicking on the Settings button at the bottom left of the menu and navigation to Playback > Equalizer.
2. A simple and powerful user interface
Groove Music is perfect for you if you prefer a minimalist design that you can get used to in no time. Its user interface is not cluttered with confusing settings and menus. However, despite its simplicity, Groove Music doesn’t leave you wanting any extra features.
This app is feature rich without being overwhelming. With little effort, you can create custom playlists and fill them with music. You can rename, delete and even combine playlists. Additionally, Groove Music lets you pin playlists and albums to the start menu for quick access.
In addition, the playback menu is intuitive to use. This menu contains buttons that play, pause, and skip the current song. It also allows you to shuffle the current playlist or repeat songs. Finally, you can control music volume independent of PC volume.
3. Automatic music detection
Groove Music automatically detects all music files on the Music folder on your Windows PC. These files must be in one of 13 supported formats, including .mp3, .wav, .3gp, and .aac. Therefore, you don’t need to manually add each music file to the audio player.
You can also add other folders where Groove Music can search for music. To do this, click on the Settings button and go to Music on this PC > Choose where we look for music. From there you can click on the + to select folders containing music files.
Besides folders on your computer, Groove Music can also detect music files from CDs on your disc drive and play them.
4. Customizable music information
You can configure Groove Music to analyze your music files and generate any missing metadata such as album art, release date, and artist. The process is automatic and happens when you have an internet connection. This feature allows you to easily identify songs in the app.
Additionally, Groove Music lets you edit the metadata of any music file within the app. You can edit the music information by right-clicking on a song and selecting Edit information option. You can also use this feature to edit album information and improve the sorting algorithm.
5. Free Offline Storage
Groove Music is perfect for people who want to enjoy their music undisturbed by the online world. With this application you can turn off your internet connection, select your favorite playlist and listen to your music without constant notifications.
Moreover, Groove Music is free unlike online music players which require a subscription to enjoy ad-free music. You can download songs from the best free music download sites and keep them offline without fear of losing them if your subscription ends.
How to set Groove Music as the default music player
If you are interested in the benefits of Groove Music, you should consider making this app your default music player. Fortunately, setting Groove Music as your primary music player is pretty straightforward and should only take a minute or two.
The following steps outline the process for making Groove Music the default audio player application.
- Open the Settings application on your Windows PC. You can do this by opening the The Start menu and clicking on the little gear icon on the left. Alternatively, you can type “Settings” in the Windows search bar and press Walk in.
- Go to Settings > Apps and select Default apps in the left panel of the menu.
- look for it Music player section, click it and select Groove Music from the context menu. After a quick refresh, Groove Music will now be the default music player on your Windows PC. Therefore, opening any music file will launch the Groove Music application.
- Additionally, you can set Groove Music as the default app for individual music formats. Scroll down the Default apps menu and click Choose default apps by file type.
- In the resulting menu, you can search for music formats and set Groove Music as the default player. File formats are listed alphabetically so you can easily find the ones you want.
The future of Groove Music on Windows
With the latest Windows Media Player update in Windows 8, Microsoft Corporation has focused on the Zune Music streaming service. However, Zune was discontinued in favor of Xbox Music which was renamed Groove Music Pass in 2015.
Microsoft finally discontinued Groove Music Pass in 2018. Nevertheless, it continued to support Groove Music as the default music player on Windows 8 and 10. On Windows 11, Media Player succeeds Groove Music as the default music player. official music.
Despite this, many Windows 8 and Windows 10 users are still actively using Groove Music. As such, it’s safe to say that as long as these operating systems remain in use, Groove Music will have a bright future.
Don’t count groove music
Although there are many different media players, don’t rule out the defaults just yet. Groove Music still has a place on everyone’s Windows PC, and it’s worth a try if it doesn’t.