According to Tom Warren of The Verge, Microsoft’s Xbox Music streaming service will see a web-based interface launching next week. This would provide a substantial boost for the service as it is currently only available on Microsoft based platforms. Bringing Xbox Music to the web would allow access for Linux and Mac OS X users.
The Verge announced that unspecified sources had revealed the plans, and that Xbox Music will be accessible next week at music.xbox.com allowing users to stream content in addition to managing their playlists. We expect to see a preview of the web interface this week at BUILD 2013, before it launches.
Microsoft’s music service has been struggling to catch up with more popular services such as Spotify, Rdio, and MOG; in part, this may be due to the poorly designed interface Xbox Music has had on Windows 8. The current interface is bearable on touch screen PCs, but cumbersome to use with a keyboard and mouse.
Xbox Music’s backend has also not been as tight – users have constantly reported trouble syncing playlists and content between devices using the Xbox cloud. Hopefully as Microsoft redesigns the front ends of the experience and adds new ways to access their content – they will also put more focus on the backend.
We have already learned that Windows 8.1 will feature a newly designed Xbox Music UI that makes navigation and music discovering easier, but with Spotify being the “Facebook of music services” – is it enough? Microsoft might have to pull a few marketing miracles to make users notice their entrance into the music marketplace. Many Windows 8 users still don’t know that the service offers ad-supported free streaming in over fifteen counties with no restrictions for the first six months.
Do you currently use Xbox Music – are you having better luck than we did or are you still using a different service?
Source: The Verge
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