Microsoft publishes Xbox Music app for Windows Phone 8, focused on the cloud

Hot on the heels of Xbox Video coming to Windows Phone 8 today, Microsoft has also pushed out a separate app for Xbox Music. While we’ve known about the Video app coming, a separate one for Music was not expected this early.

Heading to the Windows Phone Store, you can find the app resting at just 6 MB in size. It does require a Xbox Music Pass account to log in, as this app seems more focused on the cloud (though it can access your local music as well). In addition, Microsoft has added back Radio and editable playlist support with the app, giving it a slight edge over the native version.

Xbox Music

"Want the latest and greatest Xbox Music features on your phone? With the Xbox Music app and your Xbox Music Pass you can explore, stream and download millions of songs on your device. It’s the best way to get all the music you love on your Windows Phone."

See artist details with pictures, bios, album lists, and related artists
Manage your personal music collection, shared across all of your devices
Explore top songs, featured artists, and recommended albums to easily discover new music
Download songs for offline playback
Create and manage playlists that automatically sync across your pc, tablet, Xbox, and the web
Radio instantly creates playlists based on your favorite artists
Stream ad-free music from a catalog of tens of millions of songs

Once again, by having a separate app, Microsoft can dynamically update the Xbox Music service on the fly as opposed to having to roll them out in an OS update. For now, users can have two versions loaded on their phone, but in the future (Windows Phone 8.1) we envision Xbox Video and Music being separate apps all together and not baked in.

From the official post about the app: "Xbox Music Preview is available in all 22 markets where Xbox Music is available today... The full release will roll out in 2014. "

Regional availability: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States

We’ll follow up with a video and more info later, but for now, you can head into the Store to pick up Xbox Music for Windows Phone 8 (Music Pass required).

Thanks, WPScoops, for the tip!

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and wearable tech. He has reviewed laptops for over 10 years and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, Arm64 processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, performed polysomnographs in NYC, and was a motion-picture operator for 17 years.