How to Play Music on Xbox One

Many video games have great soundtracks accompanying their gameplay, but sometimes you want to listen to your own music in the background while you play. The Xbox One has multiple ways of allowing you to play music in the background while continuing to do other things on the console. Here's how to set up a background music player on Xbox One, and a look at what apps support the feature.

The information in this guide applies to both the Xbox One X and the Xbox One S.

Which Apps and Services Are Compatible?

Rather than having a dedicated media player, the Xbox One has a store that provides plenty of apps and services for you to download to suit your taste. You can get apps such as Groove Music, Pandora, Spotify, VLC, as well as Casts for your podcast listening needs. Which app you use depends on what you use elsewhere and what you're looking to do.

Here are some simple ways to play music through your Xbox One and how to download the relevant apps to your console.

How to Download Apps to the Xbox One

In all cases, you need to download a music app before you can use it. Here's how to do it.

Tap the glowing middle button of the Xbox One controller.
Highlight the Microsoft Store and press A to open it.
Select the Search bar and type the name of the app using the onscreen keyboard.

It should show up after typing a few keys.
Scroll to the app icon and press A.
Select Get to download and install the app.

How to Find Xbox One Apps Once Installed

Once you download and install a music app, you need to know how to find it. It might not be immediately visible on the console's dashboard. Here's how to locate it:

Tap the glowing middle button of the Xbox One controller.
Select My Games & Apps.
Select See All.
Scroll down to Apps, and select the app to open it.

How to Play an Audio CD While Playing a Game Using Groove Music

Previously a music streaming service, much of Groove Music's features have been discontinued. Still, it's a great and easy way of playing audio CDs in the background. Here's how to do it.

You need to play a digitally downloaded game rather than a physical game that requires the game disc in the Xbox One disc drive.

Install Groove Music from the Microsoft Store.
Put the audio CD into the Xbox One disc drive.
The audio CD should play automatically. If it doesn't, open the Groove Music app and select Audio CD.
Tap the glowing middle button of the Xbox One controller.
Scroll down and select My Games & Apps.
Select the game you want to play. After a brief pause, the game loads, and the music continues playing.

How to Play Music on Xbox One While Playing a Game Using Spotify

Spotify is one of the biggest music streaming services out there. You can use it while playing a game on your Xbox One. Here's how:

Download and install the Spotify app.
Log in to the service with your usual account details.

If you're near your computer and it's logged in to Spotify, use a PIN to log in without having to enter your account details again.
Choose a playlist you want to listen to.
Select Play to play it.
Tap the glowing middle button of the Xbox One controller.
Scroll down and select My Games & Apps.
Find the game you want to play and press A to launch it. After a brief pause, the music continues to play while the game loads.

How to Play a Podcast While Playing a Game Using Casts

Sometimes, you might prefer to listening to a podcast rather than music while you game. Here's how to do so via the Casts app:

Download and install the Casts app from the Microsoft Store.
Open the app.
Select Browse in the catalog.
Search for a podcast that interests you.

The Top Feeds section is a great starting place.
Select the podcast's thumbnail.
Scroll down the list of podcast episodes and select the one you want to listen to.
Tap the glowing middle button of the Xbox One controller.
Scroll down and select My Games & Apps.
Find the game you want to play and press A to open it. After a brief pause, the podcast continues to play while the game loads.