[SUGGESTION REQUEST] MUSIC APPS

[WanderingAries]

Google finally retired my "best choice" for playing my own music library this week, Google Play Music. It enabled me to upload all of my music from my Ripped folder and MP3 purchases folder on my PC, but it also uploaded the playlists from my preferred PC app, WMP/Win7. I also got reminded that that MSFT retired the Music Database page that WMP references for the MusicID tags and artwork when Ripping music (bought some new CDs this month), so that forced me to Manually type everything in.

 

So that forces me to start looking for alternative apps to some extent...

 

Yes, my Google library seamlessly migrated to the YT Music app and it does appear to let me play the uploaded music with the screen off (as well as redownload to the SD Card), but I'm not sold yet on the interface (haven't played too much). Redownloading 3k+ songs sucks when they were already ON the device BTW. Unlimited data wins that battle.

 

WMP still works fine and I can obviously just drag artwork into the UI to update things en mass, but having to enter the data for a CD can take forever when you're trying to actually put more than just the song title. I tried using my older Roxio software since it uses a different (?) source for CD data, but the Rip quality settings appear to be lower (I use WMA Lossless on highest settings) and that won't fly. My CyberLink software had even fewer options than Roxio (and that suite wasn't cheap either), so I really don't know what else is out there.

 

I pose the question then, for both mobile (Android/iOS) and computer (PC/Mac) platforms, what apps are out there that do a good job at replacing/supplementing what I already use? What I'd Love to see is a multi-platform app that does it all, but I don't really believe in unicorns like that.

[Dynamo-Joe]

Have you tried out Winamp? It's an older program. It's outdated. Not really updated. But it WORKS and works well. 

[WanderingAries]

Oh the days of "it has awesome skins, but doesn't do the things I like.". Yeah, I've tried lots of things over time. I think I've decided to stick with the YT Music app as the most direct replacement for the retired Google Play Music. My biggest beef with that is that I'll have to go back and do a full down sampling of my library (3k+ songs) to MP3s from WMAs (lossless). It's been a while since I've done That because I was only doing so to make MP3 discs for my car (before Pandora or my Smartphone were a thing). I still have the software and horsepower to do the transcoding, so I'm not worried. I know I need to wean myself off of Win7, but the file explorer UI in Win10 is driving me nuts for some reason on this device. I never had an issue with it on my other installs, but this isn't a prebuilt system either.

[RogerWilco]

I'm still using iTunes, not sure if that could fit your needs.

It's been around since 2001, and apart from renaming it, Apple seems to be intent to keep supporting it.

But if you have Android it would not be an option, I think?

[Xeres]

I can only speak from my experience which is PC and Android.

 

For a PC I'd go with MusicBee: https://getmusicbee.com/downloads/ - I liked iTunes but hated how poorly it ran on PCs so this was almost as good.  With many skins and a lot of customization options you can do a lot.

 

For android, that's tougher.  As I ride the subways a lot and the internet connection is spotty at best, streaming wasn't an option at all.  So for my standalone music player for android, I like PowerAmp (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maxmpz.audioplayer&hl=en_US&gl=US).  That's the trial version, but it's good enough, and I use it enough that I bought the full unlocked version.

[Jawbreaker]

Does anyone know of an option for playing music on the go sans phone? My daughter is a music fiend but I need her to have the ability to carry it with her without any other internet access as she's struggling with social media addiction. I feel like I may be stuck getting her an MP3 player and having to purchase a ton of music

[WanderingAries]

21 hours ago, Jawbreaker said:

Does anyone know of an option for playing music on the go sans phone? My daughter is a music fiend but I need her to have the ability to carry it with her without any other internet access as she's struggling with social media addiction. I feel like I may be stuck getting her an MP3 player and having to purchase a ton of music

MP3 player, iPod, or a smartphone without active service. Upload the music you want to the device and go. There's always a Walkman. 😄

[Mr. Vee]

I'd second MusicBee for PC - i got it when itunes removed my preferred display mode and ended up liking it much better.

[WanderingAries]

On 11/17/2020 at 1:25 AM, Veelectric Boogaloo said:

I'd second MusicBee for PC - i got it when itunes removed my preferred display mode and ended up liking it much better.

I'll throw that on the list of things to look at for sure.

[WanderingAries]

I ended up sticking with YouTube Music for the online side of things, but I'm also using AMZ music since I purchase albums from there that come with digital versions often.

[LaconicLemur]

What, no love for Foobar? I'm using the DarkOne v4 skin. Foobar does have a bit of a learning curve, though, if you don't want it to look "basic".  Foobar has extensions for getting CD info from multiple db's, as well as bios from last.fm. Both come with the DarkOne skin, I think. Not sure because I modded mine so I can't recall whether it was stock or mod. If you're looking to just tag your mp3's, I tend to use Mp3Tag but that's super old school.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited March 28, 2021 by LaconicLemur

[WanderingAries]

50 minutes ago, LaconicLemur said:

 

Wait a minute, Who's been raiding my childhood?!?   I had their mini-tape 😛