Alternative solutions to 'Music'?

[Che_Guitarra]

Sorry to start this with a rant. But...

I really dislike the Music app on OSX and IOS - it's a pain to manage owned files, feels like an interactive ad, has too many functions I don't want to use, reorganises everything according to it's own rules, not how I want them set up. And every so often, I have to completely reorganise everything between phone and computer because an iOS or OSX update has forced my hand.

Is there any modern music interface for 40-somethings with large CD collections, who just want a media player for the files they own? iTunes from was absolutely perfect for this. I could keep my music library organised, listen to what I owned, and transfer what I like to my phone. That's it. Neat and simple. But the Music app - it's a whole lot of what I don't want, so i'm looking for alternatives.

Any suggestions would be most welcomed.

 

[Slydude]

I haven't tried this one yet but it looks promising.

Strawberry Music Player

Strawberry is a music player and music collection organizer for Linux, macOS and Windows. It is aimed at music collectors and audiophiles. With Strawberry you can play and manage your digital music collection, or stream your favorite radios.

www.strawberrymusicplayer.org

 

[Rod]

This is a tough question because although there are alternatives the best ones are all subscription based. Assuming you want a media library manager as well as a player and you need apps that will work on macOS as well as iOS/iPadOS then the list is quite short.
I use Spotify myself primarily because it has a macOS version and gives access to my Apple Music library as well.
It also allows me to play anything I search for without purchasing or downloading it first. It costs the same as Apple Music +.

 

[Slydude]

Am I misunderstanding something? Based upon the first post I thought the objective was to avoid subscription services.

 

[IWT]

@Che_Guitarra

I may be on the wrong tack here, but I can't work out whether you are talking about Apple's Music app and/or the subscription "Apple Music" where you pay a monthly sum and get access to Apples stated "100 million songs".

If it's the latter, here's a way of segregating your own paid-for music and own CDs from the subscription service (Apple Music the service).

In the app, Click on File from the top menu bar > New > Smart Playlist and set up the following rules:



Then rename it "CDs and iTunes", as above.

This automatically distinguishes the music you own and the CDs you've added of your own - FROM - any music you acquire from Apple's Music Service or any other subscription Service.

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If I've completely misunderstood your post and what you are looking for is a better means of sorting out your own paid-for downloads and CDs, then you can use a similar approach using Standard or Smart Playlists.

For example: Smart Playlist



Your tastes will differ from mine, but here I've created a Smart Playlist of Classical Solo Instrumentals which is constantly updated in the background. You can limit the "items" to whatever you like (35 in my case). NB the selection is "Random" in my case, but you have several other options.

Or here: Smart Playlist



I've chosen French music, but added that I want Johnny Hallyday included and "Match" is "Any".

You can Limit the number to whatever you want (25 here).

Smart Playlists allow for choosing style, genre, artist and lots more. And if you tick "Live updating", it constantly adds tunes to that playlist randomly so that your 25 or 35 songs (in my cases) keep changing; which is fun.
You can have as many artists or genres as you like by adding a new line for each.

All of the above are "Smart Playlists". A standard playlist means that you choose exactly what goes into it - usually an album - rather that mixture of music or styles etc.

I can provide more detail if you need it.

Ian

 

[Rod]

My take is that Che_Guitarra used to like iTunes but because of cumulative changes over consecutive macOS updates leading to the Music app of today, no longer likes the way the app works or deals with his music library.

I can sympathize but this is consistent throughout pretty much all apps. It seems to be more of an issue with the apps we would like to "just work". Usually the recreational apps like a music player. To find that someone has rearranged your filing system when all you want to do is listen to Beethoven's 5th is very annoying. Couple that with annoying popup ads for additional paid for services can quickly lead to frustration.

I have looked at Clementine which I think is similar to Strawberry mentioned in post #2. It fits the bill in many ways but takes a long time to set up.

My best suggestion is to spend whatever time necessary to master the changes in Apple Music. It will take a lot less time than learning a whole new app especially if you have a large music library.

 

[Slydude]

@IWT Thanks for that suggestion. I recently subscribed to Apple Music and I'm still working a few kinks out of how I want it to behave.
This is a good idea.

The problem I have had for the last couple of days is that if I am playing anything that requires connecting to their system it wiki complain that things can't connectOther online stuff is fine and local music plays fine.