What is the Difference Between Groove Music and Windows Media Player?

Windows operating systems have two similar applications for playing music. Both Groove Music and Windows Media Player are known by the Windows 10 users. By default, the MP3 files will play in Groove Music, which is the latest application for Windows operating system.

Difference between Groove Music and Windows Media Player

However, there is also the older Windows Media Player application that most of us have been using for audio and video for decades. The users are wondering what is the difference between these two and which one is better than the other one. In this article, we will talk about these two applications and the differences between them.

What is Groove Music?

Groove Music is an audio player application for the Windows operating systems. Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 operating systems have Groove Music as the default application for audio formats. This was once a music service similar to Spotify, however, it was discontinued since January 2018.

This was introduced primarily for Windows Phones first and then later on it was expanded for other ecosystems as well. Since it is a Microsoft product, users can use the OneDrive to upload their music and then stream music anytime by using the Groove Music application on any device.

Groove Music Application

What is Windows Media Player?

The Microsoft Windows Media Player is a full-featured media player that is included for free with every Windows operating system. It has been the default and most used media player for all Windows users. Users can play music and watch videos through the Windows Media Player.

It also has the feature to rip music from and copy to a CD. Windows Media Player cannot play music files that are available on OneDrive by using the Internet. The latest version that we have is Windows Media Player 12. It is not the default application on the latest Windows, but you can change and make it the default. You can also use Windows Media Player to convert MP4 to MP3 formats.

Windows Media Player

Difference Between Groove Music and Windows Media Player?

Windows Media Player is famous as a default and a great media player for decades, whereas Groove Music is a new music service from Microsoft. Groove Music is the Universal Windows application through which users can stream music on other devices such as Windows Phone and Xbox. Whereas Windows Media Player is not a universal application.

Groove Music is a newer application, so it is still developing and updating. However, Windows Media Player has stopped developing further. Groove Music has more features and the Windows Media Player lacks features and is a bit old-school.

However, Windows Media Player can also play video formats, whereas Groove Music is only for audio formats. In the end, it all depends on the interest of the user, how and what they want from these two applications. Users can also uninstall one of the applications which they don’t need for their system if they want to.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Arrows


Kevin Arrows is a highly experienced and knowledgeable technology specialist with over a decade of industry experience. He holds a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification and has a deep passion for staying up-to-date on the latest tech developments. Kevin has written extensively on a wide range of tech-related topics, showcasing his expertise and knowledge in areas such as software development, cybersecurity, and cloud computing. His contributions to the tech field have been widely recognized and respected by his peers, and he is highly regarded for his ability to explain complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner.