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Ask Slashdot: Best FLOSS iTunes Replacement In 2013?
First time accepted submitter cs80 writes "I've been looking high and low for a decent, open-source, cross-platform audio player that can import an existing iTunes library and sort my files based on their ID3 tags. Nightingale, with its iTunes-like interface, would have been the obvious answer, but its file organization feature was pulled for being too buggy. What open-source audio player did you migrate to after dumping iTunes?"
... is what I went to after ditching iTunes. In addition to getting the podcast(s) I subscribe to, it plays Grooveshark and Digitally Imported in the same playlists as my local files.
Model 551, Chambered in 6mm
I like Clementine, mostly because it seems to be the only music player in existence which displays the image embedded in a song's MP3 file. All the others I've tried insist on displaying the same single image (which they found in the first song they happened to scan) for every song in my entire playlist.
Also, If anyone knows of a music player for Android which can do the same, I'd love to hear of it.
They both have the same library management mechanisms, and come from the same place. There are a bunch of differences though.
Clementine is more old school and the development team seems to focus on online services (spotify, grooveshark and whatnot).
The playlist management is pretty basic though
Amarok is flashier and has much fewer online services, but is top notch for automatic playlists, both the automatic playlist generator and the dynamic mode are awesome.
There was a GSoC this year that brought to Amarok the ability to import and export libraries from a bunch of other media player (including iTunes).http://konradzemek.com
There's no official mac port though, because no Amarok developer uses a mac.
winamp always worked for me. So simple, so tiny...
So missed. :-(
Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
Wow. Replacing that is going to be a tall order.
You could probably go out and get a homeless person and just hand them all of your music. Just tell them to do whatever they want with it. It'll be a better interface, and at least someone will know where the hell all of your music is.
Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
I tried iTunes once. It installed crapware (Safari) and destroyed the file names of my entire music library, all without asking. I removed every trace of it right then and restored a backup of my music.
From what I did use of it, it was slow and had the worst UI I have ever seen. The only reason anyone should ever used iTunes is if they are forced to (they own an iPod or iPhone) or if they are an idiot.
Because it holds the key to millions of people's music that they paid for?
The iTunes Music Store hasn't sold a song with DRM since April of 2009. Anyone who ever bought any song, that was DRM'd off the iTunes store is able to download a free DRM-free replacement anytime by logging in to their iTunes account...so long as that music is still currently for sale on the iTunes store. Heck, that replacement copy will even be upgraded to 256kbps quality too! If the music is still not for sale on the iTunes store, then anyone can use the good-old-fashioned burn and re-rip method to remove the DRM.
In 8 years of use, I've never had foobar2000 crash, so I suspect you were either using an unstable component or you're not being truthful.
Indeed, because your truth isn't anecdotal, and the rest of us just come here to waste time telling lies.
I've used foobar200 for 8.1 years, and I've managed to launch 4 nuclear missiles with it, had it send an elephant to the moon, and just used it yesterday to bake a cheesecake. I, too, have never had it crash, but there was a near miss once on an Antarctic cruise.
cheers,
The DRM still exists, it's just more subtle - they imbed your personal account info into the tracks you buy, so if you die and bequeath your music collection to your kids, they'll lose your entire music collection at best, and go to jail at worst - or possibly pay an exorbitant fine.
Apple's claims of 'no drm' are bullshit, but most people seem to have bought into it (much like Google's 'do no evil' and look where that's gotten us). This blinkered acceptance comes part and parcel with the creeping surveillance society, apparently.
You seem to not understand what DRM is.
Tagging a file with your Apple ID is not DRM. What Apple is doing there is discouraging you from sharing your music with the entire internet, but not discouraging you from sharing it with your immediate friends and family.
An iTunes file tagged with your Apple ID will play back on any music player capable of reading AAC files.
If you die then your entire music collection isn't lost. It's just there on your hard drive. I wasn't aware that your hard drive got deleted when you die.
Your kids certainly won't be sent to jail or fined for listening to it.
Man, the Apple haters get crazier every passing day.
or maybe
1. software installs shouldn't default to bundling extra bullshit that really shouldn't be there in the first place?
2. software shouldn't have features that mess with source files turned on as start up/initial defaults?
itunes on windows is a piece of shit... hell so is quicktime. What started as a simple directshow/vfw codec turned into a monstrosity that installs tons of bullshit that is not necessary nor asked for.
It doesn't mess with your source files by default.
By default it copies the music you point it at on initial startup into its own folder. The source files are left 100% untouched, other than reading the data off the disk.
Of course, this means that it essentially duplicates your music library on install, so if you're hurting for hard drive space you'll be in a world of hurt (i.e., you get duplicates of everything, thus doubling the size taken up by the music), but once it has read that initial folder of music it never touches it again. To counter this you can tell iTunes to work with the folder system you already have and to not manage it automatically. This is *not* the default option.