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Rolling Your Own Jukebox System?
Nurgled asks: "I've been tasked with implementing a client-server jukebox-like system using normal bits of PC equipment. The general idea is to have a central server with all of the music available and then one or more clients which have a kiosk-type interface for browsing the available music and enqueueing it on the central server, all connected to a normal ethernet network. It's important that none of the kiosks should be able to perform any operation other than enqueue new tracks, but it would also be handy if there was a separate administrative console where tracks can be skipped, which would then be available to the venue owners. The kiosks don't have very fancy hardware and most don't have touch-screens, so ideally it should support both mouse and keyboard-based operation. Is there any software already out there that can do this, or am I going to have to write my own? I'd prefer an integrated solution, but I also wouldn't mind separate client and server software as long as I can tweak both to make them work together. Any ideas?"
I have to say that an Xbox paired with XBOX Media Center works best as a Jukebox. Even better yet, you can set the dashboard to XBMC, and lock it down so that all they can do is listen to music or even watch Music Videos (or Divx). It supports almost all formats under the sun, except DRMd ones like iTMS AAC, but it even supports normally encrypted AAC. You can use a joystick as the controller, or the infrared remote.
Not only that, in newer versions you can even get weather forecasts, and listen to Internet radio. Xbox Media Center truly does rock. Keep all of your music/media on a central server and just mount it with SMB.
"When the president does it, that means it's not illegal." - Richard M. Nixon
I got one of these for christmas, and, with the exception of the screen dying 2 weeks after I installed it, I've had no problems with it (customer service was very responsive, and replacing the screen took about 10 minutes from start to finish).
It's interesting that you say you couldn't enable multiple clients to listen to different audio, as they clearly intend you to be able to do that with the squeezeboxes. From the FAQ:
Can I use multiple Squeezeboxes with a single server?
Yes, you can have any number of Squeezeboxes on your LAN, using a single instance of the SlimServer software. Thanks to the efficient design of our software and streaming protocol, even a low-end PC can service more than a dozen Squeezeboxes. Each player operates completely independently of the others, so you can have different music playing in your garage, kitchen, bed room, living room... wherever! In addition, if you have multiple Squeezeboxes, you can synchronize them so that they play back the same audio in every room of your house.
Did you check with them before you gave up on it? Maybe it's a feature that's limited to when squeezeboxes are used as the clients?