How-to

Music + videos

Play music, videos, and podcasts

Your Windows Phone isn't just a phone. It's also a great Zune music and video player.

Listen to music while you surf the web or check your email, catch up on your favorite podcasts on your commute, or enjoy a movie on your next flight. There's no need to carry another device with you. Windows Phone has all your entertainment needs covered.

To play music, videos, and podcasts

  1. On Start, tap Music + Videos.

  2. Flick to Zune, and then tap Music, Videos, or Podcasts.

    Zune screen

  3. Find the item you want to play by flicking left or right to different categories (such as Artists, Albums, or Songs).

  4. Tap the item that you want to play.

    If you need to adjust the volume, press the Volume UpVolume Up buttonor Volume DownVolume Down button buttons on the side of your phone.

Tips

  • If you don't have music, videos, or podcasts on your phone yet, see Sync files with my phone and Get music, videos, and podcasts from Marketplace.
  • To quickly play all your music in random order, just tap Play musicPlay music icon (near the bottom of the screen).
  • If you have a lot of items in a category (such as Songs or Albums), there's a quick way to jump to a particular point in the list without a lot of scrolling. For example, let's say you're at the top of the Songs list (in the "a" section) and you want to play a song that starts with the letter "s." Tap the colored box with the letter "a" in it. In the grid of letters that appears, tap S.

Note

You won't be able to manage podcast subscriptions on your phone or watch video podcasts if your phone has 256 MB of RAM. To find out how much memory your phone has, on Start, flick left, tap Settings, and then tap About.

To adjust playback

  • When playing an item, use the following controls to adjust playback (some controls aren't available for all media types, such as videos).

    Tap this To do this

    Previous

    Previous icon

    Music: Tap to skip to the beginning of the current song or to skip to the previous song in the playlist (the behavior depends on how much of the song you've played so far).

    Videos and audio podcasts: Tap to skip backward seven seconds.

    All: Tap and hold to rewind the current item.

    Next

    Next icon

    Music: Tap to skip to the next song in the playlist.

    Videos and audio podcasts: Tap to skip forward 30 seconds.

    All: Tap and hold to fast-forward the current item.

    Pause

    Pause button

    Tap to pause playback.

    Repeat

    Repeat icon

    Music: Tap to play the current playlist repeatedly.

    Shuffle

    Shuffle icon

    Music: Tap to play the items in the current playlist in random order.

Tips

  • When playing songs or audio podcasts, you can also skip to the next and previous items in the playlist by flicking right or left.
  • When playing videos, tap the screen to display the playback controls. Press the Back Back button button to return to Music + Videos.
  • Press the Volume UpVolume Up buttonor Volume DownVolume Down buttonbuttons to show the mini playback controls.

To show the current playlist

When you're playing music, the next few items in the playlist are displayed beneath the album image. To see all items in the playlist, do the following:

  1. Tap the name of the current song (beneath the album image).

  2. To hide the playlist, wait a few seconds or press the Back Back button button.

Tip

To play a different song in the playlist, flick up or down as necessary, and then tap the name of the item you want to play.

To show what's playing now

  • Do one of the following:

    • Press the Volume UpVolume Up buttonor Volume DownVolume Down button buttons. The name of the current song is shown above the mini playback controls. This works even if your phone is locked.
    • In Music + Videos, flick to History.

To show related info about an artist or album

  1. In Music + Videos, to see more info when playing a song, do one of the following:

    • For an artist, tap the artist name.
    • For a specific album, tap MoreMore button, then tap More in marketplace.

  2. Flick left or right to see information (when available), such as other albums by this artist, album reviews, and artist biographies.

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