Why is CD data not loading in Windows Media Player?

Question

Why is CD data not loading in Windows Media Player?

BC365 130

Starting a few days ago, Windows Media Player no longer recognizes artist, album or song information from CDs. I have the "Media info" setting set to "On". How can this be fixed?

It worked fine last week. Thank you.

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Robert Cacciatore 0 Reputation points

2025-12-27T00:05:05.7566667+00:00

Guessing this an end of life issue. Now what?
SW987 5 Reputation points

2025-12-28T10:49:51.17+00:00

I'm having the same problem as everyone else. Been using WMP without a hitch for ages. Now today it can't find album info online. My internet connection is fine. All my settings are as recommended. Would be great to have a fix soon...
Audry B 0 Reputation points

2025-12-30T17:36:20.54+00:00

Hello, I'm also having the same issue. Connecting to internet and enabling "Retrieve media details from the Internet" doesn't help. It also doesn't work on my other computer as well.
Mabbett Reckord 35 Reputation points

2025-12-31T01:33:48.0733333+00:00

Well, Googling this turns out the mother ship has shafted us and discontinued some sort of digital rights management. The article said they're trying to drive WMP to a new player based on a Groove player, which is being reported as glitchy and not recognizing meta data very well either. I'm not happy here at all. Microsoft has indeed cut us off from the meta data information. They wouldn't renew some sort of license with the data providers.
Mark 15 Reputation points

2026-01-08T18:22:24.62+00:00

Same issue, of course. Been using (and prefer to use) Windows Media Player for listening to music. FIX THIS MICROSOFT! Please.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
sandra brown 10 Reputation points

2026-02-02T17:15:40.1033333+00:00

It has come to my attention that Microsoft has discontinued the CD artist and playlist identification feature. I believe this decision is inequitable, particularly for users who prefer to utilize Media Player for listening to and ripping their CD collections. My personal preference leans away from streaming services, and I am disinclined to incur subscription costs for platforms like Spotify, especially given my extensive collection of CDs that can be easily transferred to a flash drive for in-car playback. I urge Microsoft to reconsider these alterations to its features, as the adage "if it's not broken, don't fix it" remains highly pertinent.
Lee zimmerman 0 Reputation points

2026-02-22T18:09:55.57+00:00

So what fixes this issue?
Lee zimmerman 0 Reputation points

2026-02-22T18:10:42.3766667+00:00

Plug ins?

Answer accepted by question author

0 additional answers

Robert Cacciatore 0 Reputation points

2025-12-27T00:05:05.7566667+00:00

Guessing this an end of life issue. Now what?
SW987 5 Reputation points

2025-12-28T10:49:51.17+00:00

I'm having the same problem as everyone else. Been using WMP without a hitch for ages. Now today it can't find album info online. My internet connection is fine. All my settings are as recommended. Would be great to have a fix soon...
Audry B 0 Reputation points

2025-12-30T17:36:20.54+00:00

Hello, I'm also having the same issue. Connecting to internet and enabling "Retrieve media details from the Internet" doesn't help. It also doesn't work on my other computer as well.
Mabbett Reckord 35 Reputation points

2025-12-31T01:33:48.0733333+00:00

Well, Googling this turns out the mother ship has shafted us and discontinued some sort of digital rights management. The article said they're trying to drive WMP to a new player based on a Groove player, which is being reported as glitchy and not recognizing meta data very well either. I'm not happy here at all. Microsoft has indeed cut us off from the meta data information. They wouldn't renew some sort of license with the data providers.
Mark 15 Reputation points

2026-01-08T18:22:24.62+00:00

Same issue, of course. Been using (and prefer to use) Windows Media Player for listening to music. FIX THIS MICROSOFT! Please.
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
sandra brown 10 Reputation points

2026-02-02T17:15:40.1033333+00:00

It has come to my attention that Microsoft has discontinued the CD artist and playlist identification feature. I believe this decision is inequitable, particularly for users who prefer to utilize Media Player for listening to and ripping their CD collections. My personal preference leans away from streaming services, and I am disinclined to incur subscription costs for platforms like Spotify, especially given my extensive collection of CDs that can be easily transferred to a flash drive for in-car playback. I urge Microsoft to reconsider these alterations to its features, as the adage "if it's not broken, don't fix it" remains highly pertinent.
Lee zimmerman 0 Reputation points

2026-02-22T18:09:55.57+00:00

So what fixes this issue?
Lee zimmerman 0 Reputation points

2026-02-22T18:10:42.3766667+00:00

Plug ins?

Answer 1

Restee Miranda 14,095 Independent Advisor

Hello,

It seems Windows Media Player gets CD information, such as the artist and album, from an online service. If the internet fails or the service settings are blocked, the information may not load. First, ensure your computer is connected to the internet. Then, in Windows Media Player, go to Tools > Options > Privacy and check that Retrieve media details from the Internet is enabled. If it is enabled, we should verify that your hosts file or registry is not blocking the metadata source. I can help you with that if needed. Are there any error messages, or does it just display Unknown Album and Unknown Artist?

BC365 130 Reputation points

2025-12-19T22:50:09.1433333+00:00

The Retrieve media details is on (and has been). There's no error message; the Media Player says "Unknown artist" and lists track numbers and song lengths, but does not recognize the album.
Graham Witt 65 Reputation points

2025-12-20T07:36:30.6533333+00:00

You say in Windows Media Player, go to Tools > Options > Privacy" but there is no Tools icon in Windows Media Player.
Jim Williams 15 Reputation points

2025-12-20T07:39:23.39+00:00

Mine quit working a few days ago. I have 3 computers and it isn't working on any of them. It worked fine 3 days ago on all of my computers but 2 days ago it just quit loading any information. Prior to that it would initially not recognize the cd, but after it would start up, it would suddenly 'find' it and load whatever it had on it, but if I wanted to have it update the information, it was always coming back saying it could not find the information. Has the database WMP uses changed their URL location? It looks like it is searching but not finding the onfo....
Jim Williams 15 Reputation points

2025-12-20T07:45:02.7533333+00:00

I'm surprised that there are very few others reporting the issue with Windows Media Player. Why have all 3 of my computers been affected?
Mabbett Reckord 35 Reputation points

2025-12-21T01:51:47.0466667+00:00

I have two pc's that suddenly over the last couple of days can't find music cd info. Two pc's, two locations and completely different networks, one home one office. No cd music data coming through at all. update 12/28/2025 Unfortunately I'm being joined by a bunch of other folks who are having the same problem, and who still enjoy having a hard copy of our music on cd. No change in my machines, all are still checked to update music data, we're connected to the internet, and I've taken no upgrades or updates lately. I've always thought the WMP was a great program, easy to use, and it handles my large library no problem once I got enough computing power behind it to drive it. What shudder went through digital world that caused us all to have this problem????????
Rob Staeger 5 Reputation points

2025-12-21T05:05:12.3833333+00:00

Mine can't find it either. It tells me to check my internet connection, but it's working. (Obviously, as I'm leaving this message here.)
Maurice Spagnola 5 Reputation points

2025-12-21T19:32:33.59+00:00

Same here. Ripping CDs to flash drives was never an issue, but now the CD info is not being read. Getting the same "not connected to the internet" message. Never had this problem before. At least I'm not the only one...
Ian Jamie 5 Reputation points

2025-12-24T19:38:35.62+00:00

I have the same issue on 3 different PCs - WMP no longer updating info nor finding info on web. This was working approximately 1 or 2 weeks ago. PC and WMP settings have not changed across all 3 PCs and used at two different networks/locations.
Mark Laybourn 5 Reputation points

2025-12-26T10:02:04.8733333+00:00

same for me. I still buy music CDs, which I rip so I can listen on portable players etc. I then store my CDs. If this is a cancelled service, then I am gonna be pished :|
Steve Gardiner 5 Reputation points

2025-12-26T20:56:49.37+00:00

Same problem. This worked a few days ago.
Neil 10 Reputation points

2025-12-28T20:49:44.31+00:00

The source it's trying to use is musicmatch-ssl.xboxlive.com the error is a 404 - looks like you've taken the metadata source for WMP offline, and either need to stand the server up again, or issue a patch to redirect WMP to one of the free services that are still up. Source does not appear to be user configurable.
Graham Witt 65 Reputation points

2025-12-29T01:12:07.76+00:00

It's clear that Microsoft have no interest in fixing this bug. It's not the first time: there were bugs in Office products that didn't get fixed in subsequent versions. I've now downloaded Express Rip, a free ripper that is faster than WMP and had no problem finding and displaying CD metadata.
Maurice Spagnola 5 Reputation points

2025-12-30T18:29:44.4966667+00:00

Thank you, Neil. However, it might be nice if Microsoft either provided links or instructions on how to fix this problem. As an older guy who is not either very tech savvy or computer literate, your answer, while informative, provided nothing in the way as to how to try your remedies. A link, instructions, or even where to find the patch would be nice. Thank you and Happy New Year.
David Strand 5 Reputation points

2026-01-07T23:41:22.2266667+00:00

I have been a loyal Microsoft customer for close to 3 decades. I have a desktop and laptop of which I use for playing CD's at home and while traveling. So for the millions who use the player, all I can say this situation really sucks (to put it mildly). To add new music to my library has now became very cumbersome and antiquated, I may as well go back to using DOS on my computers. Get your heads out of your backsides... (Sorry but I am really peeved). I guess I will look at Apple products in the future, all though I have never used them before!
Sid Lao 0 Reputation points

2026-01-11T07:20:22.01+00:00

I experienced the same issue. It happened in December. What happened?
Tim Fyock 5 Reputation points

2026-01-12T02:17:41.97+00:00

Same problem two weeks now
Mabbett Reckord 35 Reputation points

2026-01-12T22:55:51.8466667+00:00

Microsoft discontinued the meta data service that loaded all the info for us. Even those of us running 11
Michael W 5 Reputation points

2026-01-15T14:54:04.3233333+00:00

Until last December Windows Media Player was a very convenient method to digitalise the albums I bought - all necessary information including songs, artists etc. were loaded promptly. Now what? Alternatives force me to download mods, drivers and more rubbish in order to get the same result as I got by simply using WMP. Please bring the feature back!
WhoWouldHaveThoughtinPA-3869 15 Reputation points

2026-01-17T20:47:31.04+00:00

I have 1000's of CDs that I've used WMP to build my library. This is a horrendous decision for all those that love music. This needs to be corrected ASAP.
John Christman 0 Reputation points

2026-01-27T21:36:09.4166667+00:00

Have done every troubleshooting tip there is and still getting unknown artist/album
Mabbett Reckord 35 Reputation points

2026-01-27T23:00:19.25+00:00

Microsoft discontinued whatever contract they had with the meta data providers. I see no info coming down the pike in the future. Sure wish they'd open up that portal again. I've been a fan of WMP for a long time. Runs my large library really well since I got enough computing hardware power behind it. I'm disappointed as well, to say the least. WMP is simple, intuative and great quality when I chose lossless. Draw sad face here..........................
Siphiwe Mphuthi 0 Reputation points

2026-01-29T15:22:37.9333333+00:00

I never experienced this with previous, user-friendly versions.

In a nutshell, Microsoft decided to suck, out of the blue.

And here I was, thinking it's a problem for users in South Africa!

If it doesn't itch, DO NOT SCRATCH!
WhoWouldHaveThoughtinPA-3869 15 Reputation points

2026-01-31T02:44:04.1733333+00:00

I've found "Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE" will allow you to rip CDs AND it will retrieve track info. It doesn't bring down the album artwork directly. But is does allow you to search different sites like G images. From there you can right-click an image and select "copy image". Not as seamless as WMP but allows you to continue to build your library. It allows saving to artist directories like WMP and similar naming conventions. You can adjust quality of the rip. PS: I've been using WMP for a long time and think that this really is terrible change. I've reached a point in my life where I can afford to get the CDs that I couldn't afford in my youth. I originally didn't know about ripping CDs until I accidently ripped one in WMP. I still have every physical CD (thousands at this point). WMP made that possible. Now that has ended. MS, please reverse this.
Mabbett Reckord 35 Reputation points

2026-01-31T11:18:56.8433333+00:00

I'm right with you. WMP does exactly what I need it to for thousands of cd's. It's simple, to the point and works well if you have enough computer hardware power to drive it. Come on MS, clean this limitation up. We've paid and supported MS for decades, how about a bit of simple help here.
stanweiss 0 Reputation points

2026-05-10T21:27:47.5833333+00:00

This musicmatch-ssl.xboxlive.com page can’t be found

No webpage was found for the web address: https://musicmatch-ssl.xboxlive.com/
Andy_L 0 Reputation points

2026-06-05T10:12:25.4766667+00:00

I installed CD Ripper by Nero from Microsoft Store £6.69/year it seems to work ok