Purchasing Music From Xbox Music Store

The Music app works great in playing all your favorite music and having them grouped and organized so you can easily search the ones you want and play them in an instant but there’s even more to this built-in Windows 8.1 app that you need to learn about and one of it is how you can purchase the latest songs from the Xbox Music Store using a verified form of payment that is on file and is linked to your Microsoft account.  To learn how these things are done, simply follow the steps below.

Linking a Payment Method with Your Microsoft Account

Before you can even purchase some music from the Xbox Music Store, you will need to have a verified form of payment that is linked with your Microsoft account. If you still don’t know how this is done, simply open the Music app by clicking on its tile that is pinned on the Start Screen and once it opens in full screen, simply access the Settings charm by pressing on the Windows + C keys and clicking on the icon that is labeled “Settings” at the bottom of the Charms bar.

After doing so, you will be able to access the Settings screen and from here, you will need to click on the “My Account” link in order to access some tweaks and options which you can do to the Music app.

This is also the place where you can access the settings for your form of payment that is linked to your Microsoft account. If you still don’t have one yet, you can set it up by following these simple steps.

1. After clicking on the “My Account” link on the Settings screen, you will be taken to another screen that contains options and links for making tweaks with your account. From here, you will need to click on the “Manage Payment Options” link in order to start setting up or changing your payment option that is linked to your Microsoft account.

2. After doing so, your default web browser will open on the desktop screen and take you to the Microsoft login page. From here, all you need to do is input your email address and its password then hit the “Sign in” button.

3. After logging in, you will be taken to the account verification step which will ask you to enter the last four digit of your mobile phone number. Just enter these details and click on the “Next” button to send the verification code into your mobile phone.

4. Next, after receiving the verification code on your mobile phone, you will need to enter it on the designated input box that followed after you clicked the “Next” button. After doing so, simply hit the “Submit” button. If you don’t want to be asked for a code whenever you sign in to your Microsoft account, simply tick on the option that says “I sign in frequently on this device. Don’t ask me for a code” located below the verification code input box and finally, you can hit the “Submit” button.

5. After doing so, you will arrive on a screen where you will need to enter your billing address and other information. Just enter all required details on the page and hit “Save” then follow all the other steps that comes next to complete the setting up of your payment account and have it linked to your Microsoft account.

Finding Music to Purchase Through Browsing

There are a bunch of ways in finding music to buy from within the Music app but one of the best is done by browsing for what’s new and those that are on top of the charts. In this section, we will learn how to look for music to purchase by way of browsing. To start, you will need to open the Music app and click on “Explore” from the navigation pane located at the left portion of the screen.

After doing so, you can click on the “View genres” link located at the right portion of the screen in line with the “New Albums” label. This will allow you to view all available albums which are grouped according to the genre where they belong.

Now, on the Albums by genre screen, you can again click on the arrow that points down just beside the “All genres” link and you will be able to access a drop-down list of different genres to choose from. Searching for albums by genre is an effective way of looking for a song or music regardless of who the artist is. However, if you are looking for specific song or sang by a particular artist, you will need to do use the search feature instead of relying on the browsing capability of the app. Once you find the album or music that you want to purchase, simply click on its album thumbnail and you will be taken to the screen where you can click a link in order to start the purchasing process.

After clicking on the link that says “Buy album for <Album Price>”, there will be a prompt that will appear on the screen telling you to input your password so that you can verify your account. This is a security step that protects you from any unauthorized purchases done by other people who’s using your computer.

After entering your password, just follow all the steps that are required to be completed before you can finally pay for the music you want using the payment option that is linked to your Microsoft account.

Finding Music to Purchase Through Searching

As I have mentioned earlier, you can find a specific song or music performed by an artist by way of searching instead of browsing and this would be applicable if you really know the artist’s name or the song title. The Music app comes with a perfectly integrated search feature that will return exact results of whatever you search in it for as long as Xbox Music has the song on their database. To use the search feature, simply open the Music app and when you are on its main screen, simply start typing the name of the artist or the title of the song and you will notice that the words you typed will appear on the search box located at the top-left portion of the screen.

You will also notice some suggestions that will appear at the bottom of the search input box. Just click or tap on the item that you are looking for and you will be taken to the screen where you can again click on the link that says “Buy album for <Album Price>” and simply follow all the other steps that comes next.

Get the Music That You Want Anytime, Anywhere!

The Music app in Windows 8.1 really helps you get all the music that you want in just a few simple steps. Take time and get to know this amazing app and you’ll surely love every feature of it together with all the capabilities that it has. Now that you’ve learned some of its features and got acquainted with the steps that are needed in doing some music related stuff with it, you are on your way to using it like an expert!