Plex will show off some upcoming music features at CES 2015

By John Callaham
last updated

The media streaming app company Plex has announced it will be demoing some new music features at CES 2015, including "music videos powered by Vevo, automated organization and recommendations, enhanced artist info, and more." The new features will be added in the coming weeks.

Plex sent over an email with the details of what they will be adding to their service:

Audio Fingerprinting plus Enhanced Music Recognition and Artist Info via GracenotePlex now uses Gracenote, the leader in music metadata and discovery technologies. Gracenote is the industry standard for music recognition and is supported by the largest source of metadata, featuring descriptions of more than 200 million tracks. Plex has added Gracenote's world-class matching via audio fingerprinting to ensure the accuracy of the information associated with the music in your library, such as artist, album, and genre. Regardless of the original source and associated metadata (or lack thereof), songs can be appropriately tagged. Plex now also fully supports one-click import from iTunes, so you can easily import all of your iTunes playlists, smart playlists, ratings, and more.HD Music Videos from VevoNow, Plex Pass subscribers can watch their favorite music videos matched with music from their personal library. Taking advantage of Plex's rich audio and video streaming capabilities, these HD music videos can be streamed to any mobile or home device using the Plex app to create the ultimate music experience.Mood and Genre-Driven Playlist and Listening RecommendationsPlex will now allow you to create personalized Plex Mix playlists with the click of a button based on Gracenote's descriptive information about a song such as genre, mood, and tempo. It also features a robust recommendation engine for re-discovering songs in your music library.Best-in-Class Format and Streaming SupportPlex natively supports all major audio formats, including full support for FLAC. Plex transcodes your music files on the fly, if needed, automatically adjusting format and quality based on bandwidth to give you the best playback experience from any chosen device

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John Callaham
John Callaham
30 Comments
  • Just one word 'YouTube'.
  • just two words, 'completely different'
  • 2nd class experience, plex is much nicer
  • YouTube? Surely you jest. YouTube is the worst place to view Music Videos back-to-back.
  • Plex is an amazing service for what it does. I figuratively kicked myself for not picking up the lifetime plex pass before the price went up. If only my NAS natively supported the plex media server, things would have been easier. I guess I might grab one of the recently announced HP Pavilion Mini to run the server, just gotta make sure the HP can handle all the transcoding.
  • I love Plex, I'm a lifetime PlexPass holder and love what it has to offer --- I use it on Roku, Android, FireTV, Windows 8 & the web -- all hosted on my WSE 2012 box. I love that they have a "no man left behind" attitude when it comes to what system & OS's its available for. One feature I've been hoping for is song ratings, readable and writeable to/from the MP3 ID3v1 tag information.
  • Any news on updates for the XBox One version? Hoping for a free version so I can stream from my NAS. At least a trial version to test it. The built in Media Stream is lacking and the Music app can't even see my collection. 
  • Just grab the Plex Pass, well worth it.
  • That's the thing, I don't want to pay for Plex Pass, without being able to try it out first. Yeah a one month pass isn't going to break the bank, but don't feel I should have to pay just to sample the service. 
  • You can try the service for free, just not on the Xbox. Besides, that seems like a stubborn reason not to spend $4.99 on a service that works as well as Plex. Other companies should really learn something from them and their "no man left behind" strategy when it comes to OS's.
  • It may in fact be stubborn, but it's my decision to make. While I do appreciate their OS agnostic approach and have heard mostly good things, I'm just not willing to dole out the cash quite yet. Of course I reserve the right to change my mind!  A one day trial would be enough, just to see if it's the right solution for me. 
  • Create a new KickStarter to raise the 4.99...
  • I'm with him, I don't feel like it's worth the price to pay $5 a month or $150 lifetime, just to watch movies I already own. Hoping Plex makes the app $5 on the XB1, just like all other devices, soon.
  • I wish they made the Windows apps fully featured before adding other stuff.
  • What features do you miss?
  • Music streaming for XB1. You currently can't stream your music library with the XB1 app.
  • Any news about this thing being a universal app? I've got the paid version for WP. Looks like I need to repurchase for Windows.. AND get the "pass" for xbox one..which is lame. Why can't I just buy the app for $5 or something for xbox instead of paying $130+??   I'd also like the ability to use Plex from my phone to stream to my xbox...
  • I'm waiting for this too. I already played the game of having to buy the app for every platform (Android, Windows Phone and Windows). All I am missing now is Xbox One app.
  • I purchased it on my WP and got if for free on my Surface. It is in fact a "Get once, download on compatible Windows devices too" app.
  • I see that verbiage in the store, but it won't let me download to my win8 desktop or venue 8 pro without purchasing again..
  • Just press purchase button or update licenses. You wont be charged twice, you could even temporary change the store user on foreign pcs and download it there again.
  • Also Plex for Xbox one is currently for Plex Pass holders only, with a regular version coming out later. I assume when that version is released you can buy it
  • Plexpass owners get free access to the apps. Still amazing how people seem to expect these applications to be free,
  • Not expecting it to be free. It's just that the plex pass value propostion isn't there, for $130+ when all you want to do is use this on xbox!
  • No one said they wanted them for free. They just don't want to spend $130 just to get an app. Sell us the app and we will be happy.
  • Microsoft should have aquired Plex by now.. It's only a matter of time before one of the big players does and IMO is so many ways this is a perfect fit for Microsoft and still respect them for jumping on to Windows Phone very early on. 
  • I've been thinking the same thing. Especially since Microsoft has been supporting other platforms lately.
  • If Microsoft's track record is any indication, acquiring Plex would leave the Windows Phone version behind. Still, better than Google or Apple, they would drop support and pull the app entirely.
  • I've been a Plex fan for about 8 months now. It does exactly what I want and does it pretty well. Works with my XBOXOne, my Amazon Stick and my new Samsung smart TV. My phone too but I'm not a big video on my phone watcher but I could if I want. Plex seems to be everywhere I am.
  • Wow I hope this update fixes the many issues with video there is too -_-