Putting the Music into My Music

As noted in Chapter 3, My Music relies heavily on the Windows Media Player program in Windows XP (see Figure 3.8). In fact, when you open My Music for the first time, you will be prompted to first use Windows Media Player to populate your media library.

caution

Occasionally, Media Center will display a codec error when playing back a digital audio file. If this happens to you, try opening the file in Windows Media Player, launched from the Windows XP desktop. You may need to configure Windows Media Player to automatically download codecs, but if the correct codec is available online, your file should play.

Like a media vacuum cleaner, Windows Media Player scours your system and sucks in all the audio files so that they're available for playback in My Music.

Importing Music from Your Network

One of the first places you may want Windows Media Player to look for additional audio files is on other computers in your home network. Here's how to do it:

1. Close or minimize Media Center and open Windows Media Player from the Windows XP Start menu.

2. Select Media Library from the tabs in the left margin (the Features Taskbar) of the player.

3. Click Add, and choose By Searching Computer.

4. Click to the right of the Search On box and select < User -Selected Search Path> from the drop-down menu.

5. Click the Browse button, and navigate to the network PC on which you want to search for media. Then click OK.

6. Select any search options you want to use (see Figure 13.1), and then click on Search.

   Figure 13.1. Several useful options are available when you view the Add to Media Library by Searching Computer control panel.

   

Importing Music from the Web

This is an area about which volumes could be (and, in fact, have been) written. Millions of free audio files are available on the Internet, easily accessed free through file-sharing services such as Kazaa, Morpheus, and iMesh.

Unfortunately, much of this music has been illegally copied and is being traded without the consent of the recording artists , or the distribution companies that support their art. In the past few years , some commercial music download services have emerged that allow you to acquire music files legally (see Figure 13.2). Unlike the earliest offerings in this space, these services are backed by major record labels--and, consequently, they offer access to major music libraries. Prices are coming down and selection is expanding, making these commercial services a better value proposition for consumers.

Figure 13.2. Clicking on the Premium Services tab in Windows Media offers links to content providers that have partnered with Microsoft.

caution

When you select Buy Music, you are redirected to a Web page that provides search results for media files you can buy online. However, the Web pages may not support Media Center's "10-foot experience," that is, the capability to view them from the sofa and navigate using your remote control. If this is the case, Media Center will display the error message shown in Figure 13.4. When this occurs, you can either move closer to the screen and take control with mouse and keyboard (choose View Now), or have Media Center create a shortcut on your desktop so that you can go back to the Web page later (choose View Later) using Media Center's "2- foot " user interface.

Figure 13.4. The Not Designed for Media Center error screen is shown when you are being directed to a Web site that doesn't support the "10-foot" interface.

Media Center's My Music is also configured to present you with commercial "pay to play" download opportunities. Simply choose the Buy Music menu item when it appears next to a song in the My Music audio library (see Figure 13.3), and you will be redirected to a Web search page where you can find music files similar to the one you were playing, offered for sale by an online vendor.

Figure 13.3. The Buy Music option is displayed on the Song Details page, which you reach by selecting a tune with the remote control, keyboard, or mouse.