Valve announces Steam Music, making Steam a little more like iTunes

[Kamina]

Do we really need a beta for every little feature...

[Albatross]

Ah cool! I would only use it for games like GTA and shooters, but the idea is really neat.

 

Intergrate Spotify, Last FM and SoundCloud then allow us to add our own music and I'm in Something like sound/music detection would be cool so like lets say you play a game and a soundtrack comes on and Steam Music would notify you what the track is and possibly direct you to where you could obtain it.

 

Definitely.

[JcGross]

Do we really need a beta for every little feature...

That's exactly what I was thinking about. Steam is getting really annoying with their closed betas. I understand that if something is still in development they can't guarantee it's working (although that never seems to stop EA (oh yes, I went there)) but isn't that what the frickin' "opt in beta" is in the steam options? I mean, why can't they just release it as open beta?

[martinrox1568]

They'd need to do a lot more than that if they want to win the living room. Look at the consoles. For the steambox to win, it needs to be more than just a pc. It needs to be able to game as well as play movies and tv and music. Netflix integration would be awesome

[TopWargamer]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/02/03/coming-soon-to-steam-os-steam-music-integrates-your-music-with-in-game-overlay/

 

 

Steam OS and Big Picture modes will soon include a music interface, as revealed by Valve last week. Gamers will be able to listen to their personal music collection while playing games with the integrated music player, which can organize music by album or artist. For gamers who spend hundreds of hours in a game, this added feature will be an added convenience for anyone who has special playlists for exploring in Skyrim or strategizing in Crusader Kings 2.

 

Anyone who wants to take part in the Steam Music beta can join the community group; members of the group will receive invites in waves. After pointing Steam to the directory that houses your computer’s music collection, you’ll be able to navigate a display of songs, albums and artists directly from the in-game Steam overlay. For me, a big perk for this type of integration would be managing volume levels without having to alt+tab out to iTunes.

 

Valve promises that the future of in-game music integration will be based on beta feedback, so participation counts. Head over to the community group, where pleas for integration with streaming music services like Last.fm and Pandora have already begun.

 

Notes

-Music overlay for SteamOS and Big Picture mode

-You can get in now by joining the Steam Music group

-Beta invites will be in waves

-Let's you "Point Steam to the directory that houses your computer's music collection" so that you can easily play your songs in game

-In-game msuic integration will be evolved over time via community feedback

 

You can join the group right here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steammusic

 

Man, took them long enough. Xbox and PlayStation (for example) have had this for quite some time. I mean, there really isn't a huge need for this, since you can just open up your music, minimize it, and then play your game, but if you wanted to switch tracks or something, you would have to minimize your game in order to do so. So, cool, glad to see that they're finally adding this into Steam, even if it is just for Steam's Big Picture mode, for the time being. 

[Bluejay0]

Already posted News man

[TopWargamer]

Already posted News man

Hey hey, I've been a little off with the news the past few days. Cut me some slack man.

;_;

(Plus I didn't see this posted already, I swear.)

[TheRuke]

*Gasp* WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH TOPWARGAMER

[TopWargamer]

Can you make a blog? You always seem to be posting nice news and information. I would probably follow you. 

Maybe, maybe, someday, but not today. 

[Bluejay0]

Hey hey, I've been a little off with the news the past few days. Cut me some slack man.

;_;

(Plus I didn't see this posted already, I swear.)

 

<3 I is sowwy

[TopWargamer]

<3 I is sowwy

It's ok bb I 4giv u.

<3

[_ASSASSIN_]

LOL REPOST

aww darn it I'm late to the party ;__;

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Man they need to clean up that interface, it looks properly terrible.

[Humbug]

The thing is technically Valve does not have to do anything. Since it's on linux you can simply go the desktop and install programs to handle whatever extra functionality you want. The question is does Valve want to take that approach or do they want to make the steam interface the one-stop-shop for everything so that mainstream users don't have to switch to other applications.

[PillowSmoke]

 

Remember Software on Steam? No? That’s because the initiative didn’t quite explode in popularity like Valve would’ve hoped. The most notable additions to Steam’s Software library are the countless GameMaker and RPG Maker iterations that flood the category. Now, Valve is moving its efforts to a new non-gaming initiative, Steam Music, but it’s being handled differently than Steam Software.

 

Probably for the better

Instead of having a store stuffed full of music you can purchase on Steam, Valve’s new program will scrape your local music libraries and add them to one cohesive library within Steam. Borrowing a tactic from a plethora of iOS and Android games, Steam Music aims to let you listen to your own music while you game through Steam, rather than having to listen to a game’s audio tracks on which some poor guy worked too hard to just be bulldozed by your Panic! At the Disco discography.

 

Steam Music will offer the same comforts of any music player, such as allowing you to organize your library using various filters, and make and manage playlists. It won’t — for now, at least — have a store where you can purchase music. You’re still stuck with Amazon or iTunes.

 

Seeing as how the Software initiative didn’t explode and become the number one App Store on the internet, Valve appears to be making a smart decision by using the music you already have to populate Steam’s library. Whenever you’re stuck on public transportation or in the bathroom and peruse iOS and Android game reviews out of morbid curiosity, one of the most popular complaints is that the game doesn’t allow you to listen to your own music while playing.

 

Valve is now mollifying that complaint and giving us the option, although why anyone would want to disrupt the carefully crafted atmosphere of their favorite game by listening to The Used or Nicki Minaj is beyond us.

 

Valve will launch a beta of the service for Steam Big Picture mode and SteamOS (which are essentially the same thing) soon. To sign up, you can join the group at Steam Music’s community page.

 

Source: http://www.geek.com/games/valve-announces-steam-music-making-steam-a-little-more-like-itunes-1583999/

[AlwaysFSX]

My only question is WHY??

[BRiteBak]

MAD!

[Snickerzz]

My only question is WHY??

because they can and everyone seems to hate itunes

[BRiteBak]

My only question is WHY??

If they really want to take over the living room they need music like all the other platforms do

[AlwaysFSX]

If they really want to take over the living room they need music like all the other platforms do

I guess so but... That's kind of un-valveish

[Kamina]

because they can and everyone seems to hate itunes

Steam is the new all-in-one hipster app.

[iruixos]

Irrelevant in my opinion, though I'd check it out just to see what's what.

[Humbug]

This sensationalist article makes it sound like valve was ever interested in music distribution, and comparing to itunes to generate hits.

Whereas in reality it's probably a feature for playing your existing music while you game in full-screen mode, for people with controllers who don't want to have to exit the steam interface and go to desktop mode and launch vlc and then find a way to get it to play while a fullscreen app is running..

[Audio]

foobar2000

[Kevinkt]

repost.....