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 a free and simplistic 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 formerly known as Xbox Music but assumed its current branding in 2015 to make it more accessible to non-Xbox platforms.
Groove Music was the client app for the Groove Music Pass, once a music streaming service on Windows, Android, and iOS. However, Groove Music survived the discontinuity of the streaming service and established itself as the best desktop music player for Windows computers.
Groove Music’s defining feature is its simplicity and ease of use. It had a robust integration with cloud storage services, but this feature is no longer available.
The Top Features of Groove Music
Groove Music remains relevant even in the face of more popular music streaming platforms. As expected of 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 features 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. Moreover, you obtain instant feedback about the difference in audio quality.
In addition, the sound equalizer offers a selection of pre-configured settings to match various environments and audio output devices. You can choose configurations like TV, Car, Headphones, and Bass Boost.
You can access the sound equalizer by clicking the Settings button on the bottom left of the menu and navigating 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 accustomed to in little time. Its UI is not cluttered with confusing settings and menus. However, despite its simplicity, Groove Music does not leave you wanting any extra features.
This application is feature-rich without being overwhelming. With little effort, you can create custom playlists and populate them with music. You can rename, delete, and even combine playlists. In addition, Groove Music allows you to pin playlists and albums to the start menu for quick access.
Furthermore, 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 the music volume independent of the PC’s volume.
3. Music Auto-Detection
Groove Music automatically detects all music files in the Music folder of your Windows PC. These files must be in one of 13 supported formats, including .mp3, .wav, .3gp, and .aac. As a result, you don’t need to add each music file to the audio player manually.
You can also add other folders where Groove Music can look for music. To do this, click the Settings button and navigate to Music on this PC > Choose where we look for music. From there, you can click on the + button to select folders that contain music files.
Aside from folders on your computer, Groove Music can also detect music files in CDs on your disk drive and play them.
4. Customizable Music Information
You can set Groove Music to scan your music files and generate any missing metadata like album art, release date, and artist. The process is automatic and occurs when you have an internet connection. This feature allows you to identify songs within the app easily.
Moreover, Groove Music allows you to edit metadata for any music file within the app. You can edit music information by right-clicking on a song and selecting the Edit info 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 wish to enjoy their music without distractions from the online world. With this app, you can turn off your internet connection, select your favorite playlist, and play your music without constant notifications.
In addition, Groove Music is free to use, unlike online music players that 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 Your Default Music Player
If the benefits of Groove Music appeal to you, you should consider making this application your default music player. Fortunately, setting Groove Music as your primary music player is quite straightforward and should only take a minute or two.
The following steps outline the process of making Groove Music the default audio player app.
- Open the Settings application on your Windows PC. You can do this by opening the Start Menu and clicking the little gear icon on the left. Alternatively, you can type “Settings” in the Windows search bar and hit Enter.
- Go to Settings > Apps and select Default Apps on the left panel of the menu.
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Look for the Music Player section, click on it, and select Groove Music from the pop-up menu. After a quick refresh, Groove Music will now be the default music player on your Windows PC. Hence, opening any music file will launch the Groove Music application.
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Moreover, you can set Groove Music as the default application for individual music formats. Scroll to the bottom of the Default apps menu and click on Choose default apps by file type.
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From the resulting menu, you can search for the music formats and set Groove Music as their default player. The file formats are arranged alphabetically, so you can easily find the ones you’re interested in.
The Future of Groove Music on Windows
With the last upgrade for Windows Media Player in Windows 8, Microsoft Corporation shifted its focus to the Zune Music streaming service. However, Zune was discontinued in favor of Xbox Music which rebranded to Groove Music Pass in 2015.
Microsoft eventually discontinued Groove Music Pass in 2018. Still, it continued support for Groove Music as the default music player on Windows 8 and 10. On Windows 11, Media Player succeeds Groove Music as the official music player.
In spite of this, a lot of Windows 8 and Windows 10 users still actively use 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 Out Groove Music
While there are lots of different media players out there, don't rule out the defaults just yet. Groove Music still has a place on everyone's Windows PCs, and it's well worth trying if you haven't.