Despite the plethora of music services like Pandora, Rdio, Slacker, and Spotify, apparently every platform vendor thinks it needs its very own music service, too. Apple has iTunes and Apple Music, Google has Google Music, so why should Microsoft be any different? In fact the software kingpin does have and has had a music service that matches up well with the competition: Xbox Music. But wait, you say, "I don't own an Xbox, so it can be of no use to me." Not so fast: To clear up that misconception, Microsoft has come up with a new name for the music service available in Windows 10 Groove. Eventually, Groove will spread to the Web browser and to any other device you can think of, just as Xbox Music is now available on the Web, for Android and iOS, and of course for the Xbox One£299.99 at Amazon UK.
Like most other streaming services, Groove lets you subscribe to unlimited on-demand song-playing from a huge catalog for $9.99 per month, with a Groove Music Pass. But unlike the other services, Groove lacks a free, ad-supported listening option. If you don't want to pay for the subscription, however, you can still upload your music files to OneDrive to have them available for playing in Groove. You can also purchase songs and albums outright, usually for 99 cents and $9.99, respectively.
Starting the Groove
When you first run the Groove app in Windows 10, you sign in with the Microsoft account that you use to sign into your PC. Any music you upload to OneDrive (signed in with the same account as the Windows 10 PC) is playable on any device you run Groove on. Any MP3s on the computer you're running Groove on can also be added to and played in the app. You can tell it which folders to look for music in.
The interface uses the Universal Windows app standard of 2D line-drawn-looking icons that a hamburger menu button expands out to show the buttons' names. You can choose between light and dark interfaces (I prefer the latter, though the former is the default). One simple but helpful touch is a back arrow at top left that backtracks you no matter what you're doing. Finding your music is simple: You can Search or view Albums, Artists, and Songs as you'd expect. In Albums view, your albums can be sorted by genre, alphabet, release year, or artist.
From an album's page, you can, of course, play an entire record, and you can also add it to your collection if it's not already there (or add it to the Now Playing queue or to a playlist). You can also Explore Artist, to see background information on that performer you're grooving on. There's actually a Download option, too, for Groove Music Pass subscribers can download songs for offline listening. The Artist page shows not only the performer's latest albums and top songs, but also a bio and related artists. One cool interface feature that's not actually part of the app's window is that, if you tap your device's hardware volume up or down button, you'll see the now playing info and album art.
So your three main choices for playing music are from your Collection, which includes albums and songs you've added; Radio (see next section); or Playlists. You can add any songs from any album, or full albums to a playlist, and these have the option of offline listening on mobile apps like Xbox Music for iPhone.
Like PCMag Editors' Choice Slacker Radio, Groove limits you to listening on one device at a time. But Slacker has the advantage of including song lyrics, missing in Groove.
Groove Radio
As with the other platforms' music services, you can start a radio station of music similar to an artist, song, or album you select. If you simply tap the Start a Radio Station button, you'll get a search box along with suggestions of popular artists. Once you start a station, the related music plays, and the station remains available as a tile on the Radio page for later listening. There are no skip limitations, since it's a paid service.
How many songs a radio station you create generates is a matter of chance: I've started stations that produced over 250 songs, and others that yielded only 10 or so, though my eclectic music choice may be responsible for the limited results. In general, I wish the algorithm produced larger song lists. I also wish there were curated stations like those offered by Apple Music and Slacker Radio—all Groove's stations at this point are algorithmically created. Another iTunes capability I'd like to see in Groove is the ability to play Internet radio stations, such as SomaFM's Groove Salad.
Explore
If you're hankering for new sounds to listen to, you can tap on Groove's Explore button. This displays new music, top songs, top albums, and top artists. If you tap on the Show All link in any of these sections, you'll get a choice of genre—I kind of wish that option were available on the home Explore page. Nevertheless, there are plenty of good suggestions for all the 16 genres; more sub-genres would be welcome, though these cover most tastes.
If you're not a Music Pass subscriber, you don't get the Explore choice, but you do get the "Get music in Store" choice. This takes you to the same store where you get Universal apps, though, obviously, on the Music tab (there's also a Movies & TV tab). The selection is huge, and here you can browse genres from the start page. Just don't expect some hard-to-get artists such as the Beatles, but you do get Taylor Swift (not available on Spotify) and Michael Jackson. If your tastes run more alternative, you're covered: I found lots of Caribou, Real Estate, and Ulrich Schnauss. Classical and Jazz are fairly well represented, too.
Getting Your Groove On
Groove offers a massive collection, clear interface, and good sound quality. I only wish its radio feature generated larger song lists, and that there were a free option. Apps for all platforms and the Web make the paid subscription appealing, as does the ability to stream any music you upload to the OneDrive cloud storage. There's a lot to like about Groove Music, but if you're already a hardcore Pandora, Rdio, Spotify, or Slacker Radio head, there's probably not enough to make you switch.