If you’ve spent any time trekking across the post-apocalyptic American wasteland in Death Stranding 2, you know long, quiet stretches between delivery points can feel endless without a good soundtrack. That’s where the Death Stranding 2 music player comes in: it’s not just a throwaway quality of life feature, it’s a core part of making those cross-country runs feel personal, immersive, and way less tedious. I’ve put over 80 hours into the game so far, and I’ve used the Death Stranding 2 music player on every single one of my long hauls, and I can’t imagine playing the game without it turned on. I’ve messed with every setting, hidden track, and playback trick you can find, so I’m breaking down everything you need to know to get the most out of this tool.
How to Unlock the Death Stranding 2 Music Player Early
You don’t have to grind 20 hours of main story to get access, contrary to what a lot of new players assume. The unlock trigger is a low-priority side delivery for the veteran porter stationed at the first relay station west of Capital Knot City. All you have to do is bring him a set of vintage vinyl records you can loot from a ruined music store 2km south of the station, and he’ll hand over the first iteration of the player as a thank you. You can unlock this feature as early as 2 hours into your playthrough if you skip non-essential main story beats first, which I highly recommend for anyone who hates silent hikes. Once you have the basic Death Stranding 2 music player, you can upgrade its storage capacity by turning in extra vinyl you find to any porter outpost. The early version only has 5 pre-loaded tracks, but you can upgrade it later to hold over 70 official and hidden tracks.
Top Customization Settings for Your In-Game Music Player
The Death Stranding 2 music player has way more customization options than the first game’s version, so don’t be afraid to mess around with the menu to find what works for you. Shuffle priority is the most underrated setting in the entire menu. By default, the player will play the same 10 most recently added tracks on repeat, but you can toggle this setting to prioritize low-play tracks so you don’t burn out on your favorite songs after three runs. You can also set the player to automatically pause whenever you enter a BT area, which is a huge help if you rely on audio cues to spot hidden BTs before they spot you. I used to forget to pause my music constantly, and I got grabbed more times than I can count because I couldn’t hear the characteristic BT whispering over a rock track. If you’re playing in multiplayer mode, you can also share your custom playlists with other porters who connect to your Death Stranding 2 music player via the chiral network.
The best customization tweaks aren’t always obvious, so I’ve rounded up the ones I use every playthrough:
- Enable auto-pause for BT zones and timefall storms to avoid missing critical environmental audio cues
- Toggle the "contextual track" option to have the game automatically play fitting tracks during high-stakes delivery moments
- Set the playback volume to 60% max to keep dialogue and environmental sounds audible at all times
- Create custom playlists for different terrain types, like upbeat tracks for flat plains and slower, ambient tracks for snowy mountain climbs
Most players never dig past the basic play/pause button, but these small tweaks turn the music player from a nice extra into a tool that actually improves your gameplay experience. Custom playlists sync across your save file even if you start a new game plus run, so you don’t have to rebuild your collection from scratch if you replay the game.
Where to Find All Hidden Unlockable Tracks
The base music player only comes with 12 licensed tracks and 8 original score tracks, but there are 52 more hidden tracks scattered across the map, most of them tied to minor side content you might otherwise skip. Most hidden tracks are found in abandoned residential basements and ruined music stores, so always take 2 minutes to explore every ruined building you pass within 500m of your delivery route. Every vinyl you collect adds a permanent track to your Death Stranding 2 music player library, so even if you abandon a delivery to pick one up, it’s always worth the detour.
For example, the fan-favorite cover of "Asylums for the Feeling" that’s exclusive to DS2 is hidden in a locked safe in the basement of a ruined record store in the central region, and you can only get the safe code by completing a delivery for a former musician living in a nearby cave. Also, some tracks are unlocked by hitting specific porter milestones: if you reach the top 100 porter ranking for on-time deliveries, you’ll get access to 3 exclusive unreleased tracks from the game’s original score. Don’t waste time trying to find tracks in BT zones or snowy mountain tops, I’ve searched almost every high-risk area and haven’t found a single music unlock there, so stick to lower-risk, abandoned civilian areas for the best results. If you’re a completionist, tracking down every hidden track to fill your Death Stranding 2 music player can add an extra 10 hours of fun side content to your playthrough.
Common Music Player Bugs and How to Fix Them
No feature is perfect, and the DS2 music player has a handful of annoying bugs that a lot of players run into, but almost all of them have simple fixes you can do in 30 seconds or less. The most common bug is the player randomly stopping playback mid-hike, even when you haven’t hit a BT zone or touched the controls. This bug is almost always triggered by a weak connection to your online network if you’re playing in multiplayer mode. The fix is super simple: just toggle your online connection off and back on again, or turn off the "shared playlist" feature that syncs your music with other porters on the map.
Another common bug is tracks showing up as locked even after you’ve collected the corresponding vinyl. For this, all you have to do is fast travel to any delivery outpost, save your game, and reload, and the track will be unlocked permanently. None of these bugs are game-breaking, and the devs have already announced they’re rolling out a patch next month to fix the most common Death Stranding 2 music player issues players have reported. If none of these quick fixes work, you can also reset your Death Stranding 2 music player settings to default without losing any of your unlocked tracks. I’ve only run into one bug that doesn’t have a quick fix: if you delete a custom playlist by accident, you can’t recover it right now, so make sure you back up your save file regularly if you’ve spent hours curating the perfect set of tracks.
At the end of the day, the Death Stranding 2 music player is more than just a fun extra to pass the time on long deliveries. It’s a small, thoughtful feature that makes the game’s huge, open world feel more personal, and it’s well worth taking the time to unlock, customize, and fill with your favorite tracks. Even if you’re the type of player who only cares about hitting main story beats, the Death Stranding 2 music player is a feature you won’t want to skip. Next time you’re planning a long cross-country delivery run, take 10 minutes to tweak your playlist settings first, and you’ll be surprised how much more enjoyable the whole trip feels.
