Steam Music beta has begun

Valve has sent out its first wave of invites to the Steam Music beta this week, allowing some big picture mode and Steam OS users access to the feature. Steam Music is one of Valve's steps in to making the Steam Machine a competing entertainment platform with access to more than just games.

A desktop client is currently in the works but for now, the feature is only available to some who use big picture mode and everyone on Steam OS, invites will continue to be sent out in waves until it is eventually available for everyone.

Support for file types is very limited at the moment, only allowing users to playback MP3 files but support for other file types is reportedly coming soon. In addition to being able to listen to all of your local music through Steam, game soundtracks will also be available. Valve's Steam Community post also explains why Valve is now adding a music client:

“For years, customers have been asking us to provide a basic way for them to access and play music while in-game. Task-switching between resource-intensive 3D games and other desktop apps has never been a graceful experience for gamers, so an in-game player can help by eliminating that pain point. Beyond addressing this context-switching hurdle, we see an opportunity to broaden Steam as an entertainment platform which includes music alongside games and other forms of media.”

KitGuru Says: I haven't tried out the Steam Music feature yet but if it can automatically adjust volume levels to allow users to still hear in-game sounds comfortably then I think more users would enjoy having the feature. 

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