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Windows Phone 8 Tip: Use Your Choice of Music/Audio Sync Applications

You're not stuck with Microsoft's desktop media applications if you want to sync music to Windows Phone 8
Nov. 20, 2012 Paul Thurrott

After years of Zune and Windows Phone experience, I’ve kind of lost sight of the old way of doing things. But Windows Phone 8’s support of the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) means that Microsoft’s latest smart phone platform isn’t as closely tied to the firm’s media software as were previous products. So you now have a wider range of choices when it comes to syncing music (and podcast) content.

Reader Wayne V. tipped me off to this, which is head-slappingly excellent. I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of this.

MTP is what makes Windows Phone 8 handsets available from File Explorer in Windows 8 and via Windows Photo Gallery and other photo acquisition tools. But this capability also means that you’re able to copy music, playlists, and podcasts from a variety of third party applications to Windows Phone 8 devices.

If you’re using iTunes to manage your media collection, I’ve already written about how you can use this tool in tandem with the Windows Phone desktop application in Windows Phone 8 Tip: Enjoy Podcasts on the Go. It works pretty well, in my opinion.

Of course, not everyone likes iTunes.

The tipster suggests using MusicBee, which he says works just fine with Windows Phone 8 devices, and lets you sync your PC-based music, playlists, and podcasts.

Songbird is another similar option. (Be sure to leave the “MTP Device Support” add-on enabled during Setup.) And while I didn’t do a ton of testing yet, I was able to drag and drop songs and playlists to the phone, and they work fine.

You can also use Windows Media Player, which is built into Windows (all supported versions except Windows RT) of course.

Does anyone else have a favorite media player application that works like this? Let me know, and I’ll add a link to it here.

Discuss this Article 38

abw1987
on Nov 20, 2012

Question: If you use File Explorer to manually manage your music collection, will WP8 detect any new files and add them to its library?

pdskep
on Nov 21, 2012

Yes it will.

mog0
on Nov 21, 2012

Short answer: no.
Long answer: you don't have anything to synchronise with otherwise you wouldn't be manually managing the collection. Where would WP detect files from?

TheKingsOfMS
on Nov 20, 2012

That all works well with the content that you own but not so much if you utilize Microsoft's Zune Pass. The problem a number of us are having is with the DRM'd subscription music that we've downloaded over the year's utilizing the Zune Service. While I can successfully sync the music to my new WP8 device, when you attempt to play the file the dreaded "cannot verify media usage rights" message appears. I'm really hoping that this gets sorted out quickly!

GoodThings2Life
on Nov 20, 2012

Exactly. I just (angrily) spent the whole weekend re-downloading a significant portion of my music via Xbox Music in order to get around the issue. Unfortunately, some of what I had previously downloaded was only available for purchase now, so I ended up spending quite a bit on music too.

On top of that, I find the Xbox Music app to be VERY slow, unstable, and in general unfriendly for navigating and managing my content.

I did end up using WMP to manage the music once I had downloaded it though. It was much easier to manage and sync the content to my phone.

mrpither
on Nov 20, 2012

I've heard Windows Media Center works - how is that one?

meelahi
on Nov 20, 2012

Two questions.
Does it mean Windows Phone 8 can be synced with all modern media player, except for Zune? Or does this mean an update to Zune may be in the horizon?
Is there any software that can sync media playback progress for video and podcasts?

reader_since_at...
on Nov 20, 2012

My favorite media application is the Zune software. I've invested 3 years into it, meaning it has 3 years worth of play counts and date added metadata. Microsoft now expects me to completely abandon it and use their petty companion apps with none of the advanced awesome yet simple functionality of Zune? What were they thinking, or what were they smoking?

GoodThings2Life
on Nov 20, 2012

I agree. I *LOVED* using the Zune app. It is STILL a great experience... except the DRM doesn't work, which is really bad follow-through on their part. This kind of experience is why people end up hating Microsoft. One day they have to realize that this is the big reason why people don't "need" Microsoft anymore.

Then again, the whole thing is probably Sinofsky's fault. Zune wasn't his baby, and why would he want to embrace something that wasn't his?

rwburnham
on Dec 7, 2012

I was really hoping they would take the functionality of the Zune software and turn it into a Modern UI app. Or just add Windows 8 functionality to the Zune software. Neither happened. So no Windows Phone 8 for me until they work this stuff out. I don't want my media strewn about the place.

DaveLessnau
on Nov 20, 2012

Everyone always focuses on media syncing. But, what about document syncing? I've got documents that I don't want sitting unsecured on SkyDrive. How do I sync them with a Windows Phone 8 device?

ProGeek
on Nov 20, 2012

I don't think you will find any support for the line of thinking that your phone is more secure than SkyDrive. Use a strong password and put documents in a folder shared with no one.

Of course this approach also assumes that you don't auto-signon your PC to your Microsoft account in an unsecured location.

DaveLessnau
on Nov 21, 2012

The very last paragraph of this article:

http://winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-tips-protect-portable...

says:

"Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 both included a BitLocker-based full disk encryption technology that is always-on by default."

So, yes. I think there IS some support for the line of thinking that my phone is more secure than SkyDrive. Unless I enter a password to unlock the phone, the contents are securely encrypted. SkyDrive documents sit on Microsoft's server unencrypted. ANYONE with access to those servers (misconfiguration, employees, hackers, the government) can look at that data.

Anyway, that's not the point here. Along with media, there needs to be some way to SYNC documents from a computer directly to the phone.

JTF
on Nov 20, 2012

Agreed. Bring back Zune!

christosays
on Nov 20, 2012

I wish this whole thing was one big joke. But it's both too early and too late for an April Fools.

I commend Microsoft for adding Media Transfer Protocol. This is fantastic for downloading pictures to the computer and quickly moving various files back and forth. It could be argued we should have had this with Windows Phone 7. Alright, we have it now. And sure, it even gives consumers the ability to use third-party options should they so choose. Great. This makes me excited.

Okay, so let me go sync my music collection I've been using for the past several years through my Zune Music Pass, now Xbox Music Pass. We quickly find out the Zune software does not work with Windows Phone 8. This isn't exactly a surprise, but no problem as Microsoft has been diligent enough to replace that with Xbox Music. But wait, Xbox Music doesn't sync with Windows Phone 8. Again, no problem. We have the Windows 8 sync apps, both desktop and Windows Store options.

We could argue the Zune client software was not the best way to sync media back and forth between Windows Phone 7, but one thing it did quite well was give you a clean and easy to understand UI that revolved around your music collection. On Windows 8, the desktop app looks like some crudely skinned Explorer window that lacks any significant functionality other than a list of check boxes and the Windows Store app is fantastically dumbed down. Not to mention the lack of podcast support.

Joe Belfiore pointed out to me via Twitter that I could use OTA subscription management on the phone (which is fine unless you live outside the United States) or I could use iTunes to manage my podcasts and sync it through that. I think it's sad that Microsoft itself is telling me that if I want to manage and sync podcasts from my computer to my phone that I should use iTunes. This wouldn't be such a virtual slap in the face if they didn't have a wonderful system that worked before Windows Phone 8. The Zune client did a good job of managing podcasts. I'm a person that likes to listen to my podcasts both at home and on the go. If I listened to a podcast at home on my PC, the client software would sync it with my phone and I could pick up where I left off in the car or visa-versa. I did this all with one single program. This functionality isn't possible with Windows Phone 8, not natively. If it is, please point me in the right direction.

Then there's the Zune Pass music. I may be a fringe case but virtually none of my Zune Pass music is playable on my Nokia Lumia 822 if synced from my PC. Windows Phone Support's suggestion: re-download the music. I had tried that previously, didn't work. Did it again after they suggested it, didn't work. I've tried downloading music from both the Zune client and the Xbox Music app, neither works on my phone. Music downloaded from the Music app doesn't play in the Zune client and music from my Zune client doesn't work in the Music app. If I want music on my phone I have to download it OTA from the store on the phone or stream it. Thankfully I still have unlimited data for the time being. I even tried syncing the music I got from my phone onto my PC. The music won't play in either program. And yes, my computer is a registered PC on my account and each of the pieces of software work independently of each other.

Right now I'm left wondering if the subscription I have is even worth its money at this point. From my perspective as an Xbox music subscriber, music syncing for Windows Phone 8 is a disaster. It's not better, it's not even equivalent. Compared to the all-in-one experience on the Zune client, it's a much inferior process split between equally inferior software.

I'm sitting here typing this with a Zune 8, Zune HD, HTC Trophy and Nokia Lumia 822 resting beside me on my desk. Two Windows 8 systems, with a third one about to be upgraded and a tablet on its way within the next few months. I'm all in. I love the overall experience. I think Windows Phone 8 is fantastic. But when the services I pay a subscription for are broken and crippled like this... we have a problem.

Am I completely off base here? Because I feel like I am blowing this out of proportion not to mention typing much more than I had originally planned.

ProGeek
on Nov 20, 2012

christosays I do not think you are blowing this out of proportion. There is a real problem here for those of us who are "all-in". Although Xbox music pass does make it pretty easy to just listen to what you want on the fly, there is not a good experience for those of us who have an existing organized music collection to manage.

One suggestion, use Zune to create playlists that point to ALL the music you want to sync to your phone. From there, just let the new Windows Phone application sync the playlists and just ignore the explorer style check boxes.

The funny part is that Windows 8 seems to be reverting to the iTunes model of a single library on a single device with very little variation. I used to relish the fact that Zune let me manage my music and devices all-in-one while iTunes expected a single PC with a single set of music synced to a single device (type).

I have to believe that Microsoft will come to the realization that you have and fix it. I'm guessing that Sinofsky was a closet iTunes user...

pdskep
on Nov 21, 2012

I don't think you're blowing this out of proportion. If I was using my phone as an mp3 player as much as I was a year ago while commuting to work I would:

1. Return my 920 and get an iPhone 5
2. Toss my computer I just upgraded to W8 and get a Mac
3. Return the Surface I just bought and get an iPad.

AND I HATE APPLE, but at least they support their products and I know iTunes will be around in 5 years.

THIS IS the reason why people hate Microsoft. So quick to abandon good products and replace it with crap. The phone and software is beautiful and elegant. The music sync issue is a disaster! Someone should be fired!

And another thing, the idea of using cloud music as a primary source to stream on phones with limited data plans is f*cking stupid.

TheKingsOfMS
on Nov 21, 2012

Great post Christosays as this sums up my experience as well. I too share your frustration as a loyal Zune Pass subscriber for the past five years. My library is vast and it just truly is not feasible nor desirable to re-download my entire collection. I've made the decision to stick with zune pass for another 60 days in hopes that the team will fix the mess that is Xbox Music. If not, I will cancel my subscription :(

ReachJasonHere
on Nov 21, 2012

I posted this on another site. It's what worked for me in getting my Music moved over to xBox without having to manually "redo" it all.

Anything that is not DRM-Free from Zune will not work on Xbox music. I do believe that this aspect of media handling in Windows 8/WP8 is not yet "fully-baked" and MS runs the risk of losing customers over it -especially when compared to the relative ease of working with iTunes and the like.

Now, I've been a Zune user for years. I've had my Windows 8 PC and my Lumia 920 with WP8 for less than a week. I had resigned myself to clumsily deleting the files that wouldn't play on my Xbox from Zune and replacing them with Xbox downloads. This is made more difficulty by the poor navigation layout of the interface that I hope will improve in the future.

I made a discovery tonight that "saved my sanity" and may help others. To get your Zune collection moved over to Xbox while also preserving your Zune collection if you've got any legacy devices to support (like my 4GB Zunes and the 30GB monster (all pre-HD).

Steps:

1. Allow Xbox music to enumerate everything in the "My Music" folder -this will include all Zune-encoded music that will not play on Xbox Music.

2. Verify the files are in Xbox music and will not play -they will throw errors and simply not function.

3. Create a new folder for your Zune/DRM-encoded music within your profile but OUTSIDE of the "My Music" folder structure. Move the "Subscriptions" & "Playlists" folders from the "Zune" folder there -not copy, cut & paste/move.

4. At this point, your XBox music software if open will likely begin downloading the replacement files.

5. Within Zune settings, remove "My Music" from being monitored for your Zune collection and add only the new folder you made for the zune-encoded music and any other folders on your PC where you keep DRM-Free music you want to be able to access via Zune.

I also disabled the "Xbox Music cloud collection" so it would only play music I had sync'd to my phone. I "unchecked" "Include music from the Xbox Music Store in my Smart DJ mixes" as well -both to keep data usage down.

Well, I hope that helps someone. Not a lot of fun but now I've got both my full collection powered by Xbox Music on my phone and my full Zune Collection on my zune devices powered by their software -no more conflicts.

TheKingsOfMS
on Nov 21, 2012

Thanks for the tip! Your suggestion sounds reasonable and I'll give it a try. At this point, I'm willing to try most anything to get my collection working again. I too have legacy Zune devices to support!

jahuber
on Nov 26, 2012

I am gonna try this as nothing else is working for me. Do I understand correctly that you are now able to play Zune Pass DRM songs on your 920? and they are then stored in the collections or playlists as well? And If so, I am adding my new zuen pass songs either on the phone or on my xbox?

mc5
on Nov 21, 2012

I'd like to hear if others are finding happiness using Winamp to sync to WP8.

Since getting my WP7 2 years ago I've been using both Zune and Winamp to manage the same music collection, and sync duties to a variety of ipods and phones, finding the two of them together to form a complete product. Winamp is even able to play my DRMed Zune Music Pass downloads. Now that WP8 exposes itself as a vanilla USB device, Winamp sees it as any other device that you can sync or 'Send To'. The only problem - Winamp always crashes when I try to sync more than a few songs at a time - A problem I was also having with ipods before I got the latest version of Winamp a month or 2 ago... So close! Anybody else have this or better luck?

all5horizons
on Nov 21, 2012

Windows 7 PC & Zune Pass + Windows Phone 8 & XBox Music = TOTALLY SCREWED.

You're not off base christosays. My issue is a little different still being on a Windows 7 PC. Some Zune Pass subscription songs work on my Lumia 920 after the intial 'unable to confirm media rights' message. Other songs don't. No rhym or reason. No way to manage Xbox subscription music from my phone on my windows 7 PC. Its a total mess.

The expirence with Windows 7, WP7 & Zune Pass was great. Now I feel like I'm in no mans land.

ramrandhawa
on Nov 21, 2012

Sadly, this still doesn't work for podcasts. It syncs them, but they end up showing up as songs, not as podcasts. Everytime I select "podcasts" I feel like my phone is mocking me . . . it says "It's lonely here. Go to the Store to add some podcasts."

I've tried, phone. I've tried.

I remember once I had some hope that when the desktop app finally came out of beta it would fix this problem, but I've more or less given up and decided I can't use the built in media player to listen to podcasts. I have to use a third party app.

Used to work on my Samsung Focus.

Honestly, this has made me how solid the foundation at Microsoft really is. They're trying, but they just can't seem to get it right. Did you know that the web app for Exchange 2013 has a beautiful new mobile interface? Works great, if you're using iPhone or Android. Windows Phone is not supported.

Really.

rwburnham
on Apr 19, 2013

I might have a solution for you. If the podcasts you listen to have a feed already setup but they are not in the Microsoft Store, you can contact Microsoft and have them add the feed. You'll need the feel URL, a URL for the podcast image, the title and the author (such as the host). I have done this for a handful of shows and they usually in the store within 24 hours.

If the shows do not have podcast feeds and you have access to the audio files, you can use www.feedburner.com in conjunction with www.blogger.com to make your own free feed. If you need online storage for the files, check out Amazon's S3 online storage service. They charge based on usage, so if you only have a small amount of traffic, it will be free.

I did this for some shows I made awhile back and it works for me. It takes a bit of learning up front to figure out how things work, but one of the sites (I think Feedburner) gives you a tutorial. It's a bit of a complicated solution, I know. I wish we still had the Zune software. But it's a solution, and a good learning experience about the inner workings of podcasts.

Johnny Alexandru
on Nov 21, 2012

We recently launched Style Jukebox for Windows Phone, a music app that automatically keeps your music in the Cloud and lets you play it from your Windows Phone or other devices.

Never worry about managing your music content between your computer and Windows Phone device again.

You can stream your music playlists over 3G+/WiFi, download songs locally for offline playback and every modification is immediately synced across all your devices, including stuff like playlists and play queue.

Never miss a chance to sing to your favorite songs ;)

http://bit.ly/juk-wp7

pthurrott
on Nov 21, 2012

So I normally bounce ads from the Comments for obvious reasons. This one seems on-topic, so I'll allow it. But I've not tried it yet.

Johnny Alexandru
on Nov 21, 2012

Thanks Paul. Give it a try. We also have a client for Windows too. I'm really interested in your feedback.

jahuber
on Nov 26, 2012

can you use songs DRM on this app- like Zune Pass Subscription

bobdonkey
on Nov 22, 2012

I got an 8x and I am actually thinking of returning it and getting another WP7 device, probably a Lumia 800. The hardware is beatiful, but I can no longer use podcasts which is a big issue for me. I am also missing some key apps - Spotify being the main one, as bad as it is. The 2 main things I used the phone for, Spotify and podcasts, don't work.
And really, WP8 doesn't have many features that I will miss that are not included in 7.8 - so I figure I might just get an 800 sim free, hopefully get 7.8 soon, and then I will have almost the best of both worlds - new start screen (which is not that great anyway and takes too much management), the new colours, etc, and still be able to use podcasts and Spotify. In the meantime I'll wait for this mess to get sorted out and pick up an 8x cheap later in the year, or the next round of hardware.
Does that sound crazy?

MSFT_Tinkering
on Nov 24, 2012

I think the other thing that's hasn't been mentioned here is that the Zune Client would transcode during sync. I've got a lot of music ripped as WMA-Lossless which I set the Zune Client up to transcode to 192 or 128 kbps when it sync'd to my HTC Trophy. Now I've got the option of filling up my Lumia 822's microSDXC card with less music or manually transcoding the lossless titles before syncing them to my phone. Gee thanks a lot Microsoft.

Silversee
on Dec 2, 2012

You can transcode using Windows Media Player or a number of other music sync clients:

http://winsupersite.com/windows-phone/windows-phone-8-tip-use-your-choic...

Silversee
on Dec 2, 2012

I've had no problem getting music downloaded using Zune Music Pass to play in the Xbox Music app on Windows 8. For those having issue: are you sure you have logged into Xbox Music and have downloaded a track? That's the only way you will 'register' your device with the service as supporting downloads. The same may be true for the phone: try downloading a track on the device directly from the service first to ensure that it can play DRM content.

Perhaps the issue some are having is that the expect some interoperability between the Zune and Xbox Music services. Other than the fact that they share a common music catalog, the two services seem to be separate. In my experience, Music Pass music downloaded via Zune will play using most any player on the PC, while Xbox Music Pass downloads will play back only in Xbox Music.

Regarding syncing of non-DRM content, WP8 is an MTP device and so you can use a number of music clients for sync:

http://winsupersite.com/windows-phone/windows-phone-8-tip-use-your-choic...

PDADoc
on Dec 27, 2012

Well, I have a question: this has been plaguing me for awhile now, and maybe someone can help me figure this out.

I have a Lumia 920 and I'm in the process of transitioning from an iPhone 4S. As such, my [substantial] music library is in iTunes. However, as I've ripped all of my music from CDs that I've purchased, the music is all in mp3 320 format, DRM-free.

I tried the sync through the [very] stripped-down Windows Phone software and had mixed results: while my music and playlists did indeed all synchronize, the album art for about 60 percent of my music is missing. It was such a frustrating experience that I gave up and returned the phone and picked up the iPhone again. I've since had a change of heart and decided to give it another chance, so I got another Lumia, but I'm not opening it until I can be certain there's a way to do this that isn't too messy.

I'm thinking of hedging my bets here and keeping my iTunes library intact, but copying all of the music to a separate external drive without any iTunes library files or anything, just the music and the movies (those are in MP4 format). The use of Windows Media Player sounds promising, but I'll need a method that will allow me the option of downloading album art as needed, will Windows Media Player do that? And finally, is there any way to export my playlists from iTunes so that I won't have to spend hours re-compiling them from scratch?

Any help/feedback is much appreciated!

PDADoc
on Dec 31, 2012

Nevermind, I ended up re-encoding/tagging all of my music myself.

fdd
on Jan 17, 2013

I'm amazed how difficult it's been to get my media going on WP8. Just bought my first WP handset after months of waiting for 8. The desktop application that supposedly syncs with itunes really doesn't work for me at all. I actually have never had a problem with itunes, it works fine for me in managing my music and podcasts...My experience with the WP8 desktop syncing app has been horrible. The first time it synced my music okay, then I started syncing podcasts (all using itunes) and there was some kind of repetitive error that happened/keeps happening, where it keeps crashing before syncing completely and fails to import my playlists. So then there's all this music and content with no way to do playlists. I threw up my hands in frustration. How could it be this bad? I subsequently found this thread when i googled "playlists in wp8": http://forums.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-8/206708-wp8-creating-playlist... and it worked for me. i would imagine it works for podcasts too, but I've only so far used it for music. There was absolutely no guidance I could find from Microsoft that gave any instructions on creating a simple playlist! This simple method works great for me!

rwburnham
on Jan 26, 2013

Is there a way to copy local podcast files to a WP8 device and have them show up with the other Podcasts?

For example, I have a few files that I made myself but they are not available as a feed or in the Marketplace. They're just files on my computer. Could I just copy those files to the phone via file explorer and have them show as Podcasts? The files have their genre set to "Podcast."

Or perhaps there is a WP8 app that can find podcast files on your computer and bring them over to the phone?

I can do this in WP7 buy just adding the files to the Podcast library. They show up in the Zune software alongside the downloaded Podcasts. This is why I am hesitant to give up my excellent WP7 device.

GriferX
on Feb 2, 2013

Thanks for the comments, my goal tomorrow is try develop a process for my wife to "easily" transfer music from our Windows 8 desktop and her Lumina 920.

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