Microsoft Windows Media Player stops serving up CD album info
- Reference: 1767971574
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/09/microsoft_windows_media_player_forgets/
- Source link:
Readers of a certain vintage will remember inserting a CD into their PC and watching Windows Media Player populate with track listings and album artwork. No more. Sometime before Christmas, the metadata servers stopped working and on Windows 10 or 11, the result is the same: album not found.
We tried this out at Vulture Central on some sacrificial Windows devices that had media drives and can confirm that a variety of compact discs were met with stony indifference. Some 90s cheese that was successfully ripped (for personal use, of course) decades ago? No longer recognized. A reissue of something achingly hip? Also not recognized.
[1]
Windows Media Player - guess the album - Click to enlarge
We asked Microsoft if the service had indeed been retired or if there might be a reprieve or workaround, but we were met with equal indifference from the tech giant's PR organ.
A [2]message on a Reddit forum purporting to be a chat with a Microsoft support representative suggested that the servers have indeed been shut down, and that a third-party alternative should be sourced.
[3]
Alternatively, customers can manually enter the information, like it's the 1990s all over again.
[4]
[5]
The timing is unfortunate. Tired of content vanishing from streaming services or disappearing into algorithmic feeds, consumers are returning to physical media like [6]CDs .
[7]What if Linux ran Windows… and meant it? Meet Loss32
[8]Baby's got clack: HP pushes PC-in-a-keyboard for businesses with hot desks
[9]Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella becomes AI influencer, asks us all to move beyond slop
[10]How Microsoft gave customers what they wanted: An audience with Bill Gates
[11]The most durable tech is boring, old, and everywhere
Physical media drives have yet to completely disappear from Windows devices, but the default service used by Windows Media Player for album information, musicmatch-ssl.xboxlive.com, does not appear to serve up any metadata.
Windows Media Player has a long history with Windows. First released as part of the Multimedia Extensions for Windows 3.0, it evolved over the years, gaining support for streaming, ripping, and burning CDs. It survived Microsoft's Zune experiment and remains in Windows 11 - though now branded "Legacy" as Microsoft pushes users toward its modern Media Player app.
Microsoft does not share its device telemetry, but it clearly concluded too few users still play CDs to justify maintaining the metadata services.
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Apple's iTunes, on the other hand, recognized every CD we threw at it. ®
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/09/windows_media_player.jpg
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/WindowsHelp/comments/1pnn8qz/comment/nvz1a7f/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aWE0LmUpTMwko5BdQgxt-wAAAks&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aWE0LmUpTMwko5BdQgxt-wAAAks&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aWE0LmUpTMwko5BdQgxt-wAAAks&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/14/dvd-cd-revival-sales/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/06/loss32_crazy_or_inspired/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/06/hp_keyboard_pc/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/02/microsoft_ceo_satya_nadella_calls/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/01/microsofts_approach_to_customer_service/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/31/long_lived_tech/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aWE0LmUpTMwko5BdQgxt-wAAAks&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Unfortunately most media players use a public database for the info and, just like Wikipedia, you're at the mercy of whoever uploaded the data.
Mazda CX-5 track information
I had a very similar issue with a Mazda CX-5. I ripped my CDs for use in the vehicle - all track information and cover art. The entertainment system decided it knew better and would get alternative information from its own database, including art that certainly didn't match the CD.
The only "fix" I could find online was to initiate an update to the database and interrupt it, so that it failed. Apparently, in the absence of the database, it would revert to use the information embedded with the music files. Shouldn't that be the other way around? I didn't consider that "fix" to be a good option, and so didn't try it.
No longer an issue, for me, as the vehicle has been sold.
E14n
Enshittification, thy name is Micros~1 [sic].
consumers are returning to physical media like CDs
Some of us never left.
For what it's worth, I ripped a boxed Allman Brothers' set last night, and Rhythmbox just did it, pictures and all.
Re: consumers are returning to physical media like CDs
I understand that problems often occur on a Monday but by Tuesday they're not so bad.
(Yes, I know, but these are the words I want for the song in this context.)
CDDB
Other software such as VLC or EAC have long been able to obtain metadata from various CDDB sources when WMP failed or refused.
I thought MS had dropped their metadata service some time ago, but that might have only been for W7 and W8.
time for MusicBrainz
I assume Microsoft stopped paying Gracenote for their CDDB fork.
The answer would be to use a media player that can use MusicBrainz. Personally, I rip my CDs then get Picard to tag all the tracks.
I wish my car's MP3 player would take a similar line and stop pulling info in from a central DB. The info to display,often including album art, is embedded in the file but incorrect album identification is standard, as is album art and its not unknown for the album title to be presented as the name of the track.
If the quality of Microsoft's sources was similar they might accidentally have made an improvement.