Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows® XP Media Center®

5. When you have selected all the songs for your new playlist, highlight Add

Items, and press OK on the remote control.

6. A text entry box will appear, allowing you to input the name of your new

playlist using the text entry keys on the remote control. Press the up arrow to

type in uppercase, and the down arrow to return to lowercase. (For more

information on the fine points of text entry with your remote control, see the

section “Searching by Title,” in Chapter 7, “Finding Shows to Record.”)

7. When finished, press OK on the remote, select Done, and then select Exit.

Now go to My Music and select Playlists. Your new playlist will appear, sorted with

other playlists into alphabetical order. Select the new playlist and press the Play but-

ton on the remote control to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Working with Internet Radio Stations in Media

Center

Tired of your own music collection and hankering for something new? Try to resist

the urge to download “pirated” songs from an online file-swapping service, and

instead try tuning in the fresh sounds of Internet radio.

These stations run the gamut from commercial radio stations that take their pro-

gramming right off the airways and stream it live over the Net, to tiny operations

that are little more than a solitary music enthusiast with a PC, a Web connection,

and arguably too much time on his hands.

220

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

FIGURE 16.2

The Playlist

Editor PowerToy

for Media

Center lets you

select the songs

you want, and

then add them

to a new, cus-

tom playlist.

The result is a musical mish-mash of global proportions, and an endless opportunity

to sample new sounds and styles. All you have to do is locate these virtual radio sta-

tions on the Web, and add them to your Media Center music collection. There are

various ways to accomplish this task, and we’ll take them in turn.

In general, there are two places in Media Center where you can access Internet

radio: My Music and Radio.

Adding Internet Radio Stations to My Music

Until the 2004 version of Media Center came along, with its support for FM radio,

My Music offered the only means of accessing Internet radio stations from within

Media Center. The process is fairly simple, but not very intuitive, and it does require

that you leave the Media Center interface and do all the dirty work using Windows

Media Player. Here’s how it’s done:

1. In Windows Media Player, click on the Radio Tuner button.

2. Select a station by clicking on one of the links, such as Featured Stations, Find

More Stations, Search, or one of the categories listed on the left side of the

screen (see Figure 16.3).

CHAPTER 16 CUSTOMIZING THE MEDIA CENTER AUDIO EXPERIENCE

221

FIGURE 16.3

The Radio Tuner

in Windows

Media Center

allows you to

locate hundreds

of Internet radio

stations from all

over the world.

3. Find a radio station you want to play, and then double-click the radio station

link to view details. Click on Play or Visit Website to Play.

4. After you hear the station start playing, open the File menu in Media Player,

highlight Add to Media Library, and click on Add Currently Playing Playlist.

5. Type in a name for the new playlist, and click Save. The streaming radio

station is now stored under Playlists in Media Center’s My Music (see

Figure 16.4).