How to stream music from your PC or Mac

Use the TiVo Desktop application to stream your MP3 music library from your PC or Mac to your network-connected TiVo box.

To stream music from your computer, you'll first need to "publish" the music you want to hear. Publishing your music means making MP3 files available over your home network to your TiVo box. Publishing does not copy music files to your TiVo box, so published music does not use any of your box's recording space.

This feature is available on:

  • Series2
  • Series3
  • TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL
  • All TiVo Premiere boxes
  • TiVo Mini

Publishing music with TiVo Desktop (PC)

To publish a playlist or folder of music on your PC, follow the steps below.

Note: TiVo Desktop works with music in the MP3 format, and with playlists in the following formats used by common PC music players: M3U, PLS, ASX, and B4S.

Show the steps
  1. Open TiVo Desktop and select the Publish Media icon. .
  2. Click the "Music" tab, then click "Add Music."See it
  3. Navigate to the folder containing the playlist or folder of music you want to publish. When you select a folder, any MP3 files within that folder are listed in the right frame of the "Add Music" window.
  4. To publish a whole folder of music, select the folder and click "Add." To publish individual MP3 files, select them from the list on the right, then click "Add."

Note: To unpublish music files, select the files you want to unpublish and click the "Remove" button. These files will no longer be accessible from your TiVo box, but they will remain on your computer.

Publishing music with TiVo Desktop (Mac)

To publish a playlist or folder of music on your Mac, follow the steps below.

Note: TiVo Desktop works with music in the MP3 format, and with playlists in the following formats used by common Mac music players: M3U, PLS, ASX, and B4S.

Show the steps
  1. From the Apple menu, click "System Preferences."See it
  2. Under "Other," click "TiVo Desktop."
  3. Click "Start" to begin publishing content.
  4. Click the "Music" tab, then click "Publish My Music."See it
    • To publish all of your iTunes library, select "Publish My Entire iTunes Library."
    • To publish only some of your playlists, select "Publish Only These Playlists," and then select each playlist you want to publish.

Note: To unpublish music files, select the files you want to unpublish and click the Remove button. These files will no longer be accessible from your TiVo box, but they will remain on your computer.

Streaming music on your TiVo box

To listen to music on the TiVo box:

Show the steps
  1. Go to TiVo Central and do one of the following:
    • On TiVo Premiere with HD menus: select "Music & Photos."See it
    • On all other TiVo boxes or on TiVo Premiere with SD menus: select "Music, Photos, & Showcases."See it
  2. Select your music on your computer. See it See it
  3. You will see any playlists or folders that you have published. Highlight one and press PLAY. In a few seconds, music starts playing. After the first song ends, the second song in the playlist or folder begins.See it

Changing music play options

The "Music play options" screen lets you choose how music plays on your TiVo box.

Show the steps
  1. Select the music you want to hear.
  2. Highlight "Play," then "Options," and then press SELECT.
    • Shuffle. When shuffle is on, the TiVo box plays songs in the selected playlist or folder in random order. When this option is off, the TIVo box plays songs in a folder alphabetically by file name, and songs in a playlist in the order shown on the screen.
    • Repeat. When repeat is on, the TiVo box plays songs in the selected playlist or folder repeatedly. You can choose to repeat all songs, or just one. When this option is turned off, the TiVo box plays the entire playlist or folder only once.
    • Include Subfolders. When this option is on, the TiVo box plays:
      • All the songs in the selected folder.
      • All the songs in other playlists or folders inside the selected folder.
      When "Include Subfolders" is turned off, the TiVo box does not automatically play songs in other playlists or folders within the selected folder.