Querying Music

The IMediaLibrary interface provides methods to retrieve music metadata from the device library.

Get All Tracks

Returns every music track on the device:

var tracks = await _library.GetAllTracksAsync();

foreach (var track in tracks)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{track.Title} by {track.Artist} ({track.Duration:mm\\:ss})");
}

Search Tracks

Search by title, artist, or album name:

var results = await _library.SearchTracksAsync("beethoven");

foreach (var track in results)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{track.Title} - {track.Album}");
}

The search is case-insensitive and matches partial strings against the title, artist, and album fields.

MusicMetadata

Each track is represented by a MusicMetadata record with the following properties:

Property	Type	Description
Id	string	Platform-specific unique identifier. On Android, this is the MediaStore row ID. On iOS, it is the MPMediaItem persistent ID.
Title	string	The track title.
Artist	string	The artist or performer.
Album	string	The album name.
Genre	string?	The genre, or null if unavailable.
Duration	TimeSpan	The playback duration.
AlbumArtUri	string?	URI to album artwork. Available on Android via MediaStore; null on iOS where artwork is accessed through MPMediaItem.Artwork.
IsExplicit	bool?	Whether the track is marked as explicit content. iOS only via MPMediaItem.IsExplicitItem; always null on Android.
ContentUri	string	URI used for playback and file operations. On Android, this is a content:// URI. On iOS, this is an ipod-library:// asset URL. Empty for DRM-protected Apple Music subscription tracks.

ContentUri and DRM

The ContentUri property is critical for understanding what operations are available for a track:

var tracks = await _library.GetAllTracksAsync();

foreach (var track in tracks)
{
    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(track.ContentUri))
    {
        // DRM-protected Apple Music track
        // Cannot be played via AVAudioPlayer or copied
        Console.WriteLine($"⚠️ {track.Title} - DRM protected, playback/copy unavailable");
    }
    else
    {
        // Locally synced or purchased track — full access
        Console.WriteLine($"✅ {track.Title} - available for playback and copy");
    }
}

Note

On Android, ContentUri is always populated for all music files. The DRM limitation only applies to iOS Apple Music subscription tracks.

Platform Details

Android

• Tracks are queried from MediaStore.Audio.Media via ContentResolver.
• Only items flagged as music (IsMusic != 0) are returned — ringtones, notifications, podcasts, and videos are excluded.
• Results are sorted alphabetically by title.

iOS

• Tracks are queried using MPMediaQuery from the MediaPlayer framework.
• Only items with MPMediaType.Music are returned — podcasts, audiobooks, and movies are excluded.