As part of the its efforts to expand Steam's features beyond its core games market Valve has officially released its Steam Music Player from beta. The beta testing of the service first began back in February.
The Steam Music Player will be integrated to be part of the desktop client, making it easier for users to play all the music stored on their computer without the need of having to constantly switch between applications. Users can bring up the music controls by simply pressing shift+tab - as part of the Steam game overlay interface that pops up.
To add music, to access later via Steam Music, users can either manually select folders or auto-scan their drives to import music files. Any Steam Soundtrack DLC installed will be accessible when the associated base game is installed and the player will allow users to "listen to albums, queue up mixes, and create playlists you love, right in your Steam library." The music feature will also likely to be an important part of Valve's much anticipated living room-focused Steam Machine set to launch next year.
Celebration discounts and freebies
To celebrate Steam Music successfully exiting beta testing Valve is giving away the soundtrack DLCs of popular Valve games for free. Your musical freebies include Half-Life, Half-Life Two, Portal, and Portal 2 - but to qualify you must already own the base games/documentary. For those who don't own the above mentioned games Valve has dropped their prices by 75 per cent, until October 1, so you can qualify for the free music DLCs.
This Music Player news follows a Steam Store Discovery Update, implemented on Tuesday. The new Steam Store smartens up the store-front UI and it is intended to make it easier for gamers to find games that appeal to them, based upon their purchasing and playing history.
