Windows Media Player Ends CD Metadata Support
▼ Summary
– Microsoft has permanently shut down the Windows Media Player metadata service, which previously provided track listings and album art for CDs.
– The shutdown means Windows Media Player on Windows 10 and 11 can no longer automatically recognize or retrieve information for CDs.
– Microsoft has not provided a reprieve or workaround, directing users to manually enter data or use third-party alternatives instead.
– This service termination coincides with a reported resurgence of consumer interest in physical media like CDs.
– In contrast, Apple’s iTunes service continues to successfully recognize and provide metadata for CDs.
The recent disappearance of CD metadata support in Windows Media Player marks a quiet but significant shift for users who still enjoy physical media. For years, inserting a compact disc would automatically populate the player with track listings and album art. Now, that service has been discontinued, leaving users to face a simple “album not found” message on both Windows 10 and 11. This change effectively severs a long-standing digital lifeline for CD collections on the world’s most popular desktop operating system.
Testing confirms that the metadata servers, which once identified everything from mainstream pop to niche reissues, have gone silent. Microsoft has not officially announced the retirement of this feature, but evidence points to a permanent shutdown. Inquiries to the company have gone unanswered, while online forums cite support chats indicating users must now seek third-party alternatives. The most basic option is to manually enter all track information, a tedious process that feels like a step back in time.
This development arrives just as interest in physical media is experiencing a notable resurgence. Many consumers, frustrated with content disappearing from streaming platforms or getting lost in algorithmic feeds, are rediscovering the permanence and tangibility of CDs. While optical drives haven’t vanished entirely from PCs, the core service that made them seamlessly functional within Windows Media Player, the musicmatch-ssl.xboxlive.com domain, no longer provides any data.
Windows Media Player itself carries a legacy stretching back to the early 1990s. It has endured through numerous Windows versions, outlasting projects like the Zune, and even persists in Windows 11 under a “Legacy” label as Microsoft promotes its newer Media Player app. The decision to end metadata support appears driven by telemetry data, with Microsoft concluding that too few users still play CDs to justify maintaining the service. In contrast, software like Apple’s iTunes continues to recognize CDs without issue, highlighting a divergent approach between the two tech giants regarding legacy media formats.
(Source: The Register)
