Music stops playing on MS Surface when screen turns off.

Anonymous

I have a Microsoft Surface. I have my mp3's in my default Music folder. When I play an album, a song will play but it will not play the next song if the screen has turned off. I always need to hit the power button again to turn the screen back on in order to play the next song. This makes this device useless as a music player as I have to turn it back on every few minutes. Often the song will start skipping as well when the screen turns off. This is for the Music app but also any other music playing apps I've tried such as Music Info. And please don't tell me this is by design. It is not by design. It's a bug. It would be nice to know when this will be resolved. Playing an MP3 is a basic function that should just work out of the box. It really can't be that hard. If a $30 mp3 player can do it I sure expect my $700 tablet to.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

92 answers

Anonymous

2014-05-02T22:36:45+00:00

Well hey guys,

I guess an easy explanation to all the developers at microsoft is needed...

When i'm playing music, no matter if on native Music App, Spotify or others, the music DOES stop playing a few seconds after I push the Power/Standby Button on the top.

The music DOES NOT stop when the screen blacks out after the time which is set in the battery settings.

That just means we need an option in the advanced battery settings that just blacks the screen when you push the Power/Standby Button instead of sleeping the whole device. This option is missing. You only can choose between hybernate, sleep, idle stand and doing nothing. In all of these settings (except the last one obviously) the music stops playing after pushing the Power Button.

The best work around till then seems to be that you go into Advanced Power Settings -> Display -> Black Screen after -> 1 Minute (it's the min.), let this minute expire instead of hitting the Power Button and the music comtinues. Try that. You can then easily reactivate screen just by tapping it.

Well and btw i'm on Surface Pro (1st Gen) and I think this worked out of the box on my old Surface RT?! Correct me if not.

Hope I could help a bit.

Greetings,

Timbo
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-04-24T14:36:06+00:00

You would think that this is EXTREMELY basic functionality given that ALL other devices can do this without a hitch. Does the XBOX music team use their own products?!
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-04-24T14:25:14+00:00
Sigh. Every attempt to use my Xbox Music seems to be met with a new frustration. Just encountered this using a Surface 2 (8.1 RT - fully updated).

Real world functionality this thwarts:
- Using Xbox Music to control playback of local, DRM free music to DLNA players;
- Using Xbox Music to control playback or DRM protected subscription content to:
  
  Xbox 360 (Xboxes being the only devices I know that supports the DRM, which is a MAJOR annoyance);
  
  external speakers (via physical or bluetooth connections)
Basically, I want to use the tablet to pick some music to play in my home, then set the tablet down, and go about my day while the music plays.

Media playback doesn't prevent sleep in either Windows 8.1 or 8.1 RT? Even as an option? Why not?
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-04-04T01:27:54+00:00

Similar problem here Surface2 pro... music stops playing once you turn device screen to off... I don't want to have the screen on while listening to music. This should be basic? Using XBox Music
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-03-21T05:08:05+00:00

Well definitely isn't a solution yet
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments