Reviewing Linux desktop music players in an escape from Spotify.

If you haven’t heard yet, in big 2026 we’re all ditching Microslop for systems that actually respect you, and we’re also breaking up with our ever-pricier Spotify subscriptions in exchange for actual ownership of the media we consume. So, for Fun February, I thought I’d take a look at some of the apps we can use to fill the Spotify-shaped void.

  • Fizz@lemmy.nz
    1·
    4 hours ago

    I use tauron and the ui is nice but god dam I find using it to be confusing

  • nyan@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    2·
    7 hours ago

    Personally, I favour Aqualung. But really, it’s all a matter of taste.

  • Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    4·
    9 hours ago

    there’s really no need to have a giant translucent strawberry in the middle of my screen at all times.

    Alright, so, how do we tell 'em it can be toggled in the settings?

  • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
    15·
    17 hours ago

    audacious deserves a shoutout which is missing from this list; it’s basically foobar for linux with some additional features like system tray mode, winamp skin , and missing drag and drop folder generation (although it still works if you make a new playlist tab)

    • rozodru@piefed.socialEnglish
      1·
      8 hours ago

      I like Audacious but for the life of me either because I’m too stupid or too lazy but on NixOS I can’t get winamp skins to work.

  • onlinepersona@programming.dev
    7·
    15 hours ago

    Quodlibet is pretty nice and has been my default for a good decade now. However, it still being on github makes it difficult to contribute to since I left Microslop’s ecosystem.

    I wish there were something out there in Rust that were extensible, but plugins seem to be difficult in rust.

      • ExtremeUnicorn@feddit.org
        1·
        11 hours ago

        One more here. I use it, because it has a builtin pitch shifter, which I need for playing guitar to.

        What are the quirks btw.?

  • N.E.P.T.R@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    9·
    16 hours ago

    The one I like to use was not mentioned. It is called Gapless (g4music) and is available on Flathub. Basically, you just specify a library location and based on metadata it sort things. The Flatpak requires minimal permissions by default, but you can disable Network permission because it only uses it to song album art (which in most cases is embedded in the song file itself).

  • flux@lemmy.world
    9·
    17 hours ago

    I’m looking for this exact rundown. If there is anything close to musicbee I’d love to know.

    • ulterno@programming.devEnglish
      2·
      3 hours ago

      Yes

      mpv --shuffle --force-window=yes

      for opening a playlist.

      --force-window, because some tracks might have cover art, while others don’t, which causes mpv to hid and then again show later on, causing it to pop up on top of other stuff you might be doing.