SOFTWARE

Ten Popular Open Source Media Players

5/18/2013 9:17:09 AM

Even though music is extremely popular, music players are often not researched deeply, no matter what the OS may be. Yet, a music player is usually one of the most-used applications in a mobile device. This article offers a list of ‘Top ten’ open source music players.

1.    Listen Music Player

Well, if nothing else, the name is straightforward! You do listen to music, don’t you? Coded in Python, Listen is a full-fledged music player and manager tool for GNOME. If you haven’t used Listen before, you will find it tobe a cross between Rhythmbox and Banshee. The interface is divided into three panes: the extreme left pane is the playlist, the middle pane is the navigation console while the one on the extreme right is the track information section. All in all, Listen is a wonderful music player. It lets you manage your podcasts as well as browse Last.fm and Shoutcast directories. Link: http://www.listen-project.org/

2.    Banshee

Banshee is not a new app but has been around since 2005. It can sync devices as well as scan your hard drive for music files. Just plug in your Android phone or iPad, and Banshee will take care of the rest (yes, I have actually seen it detect an iPad, out of the box). Beyond that, Banshee can also help you manage playlists and organize your collection. Plus, it supports video formats as well – though it is best known for its audio playing capabilities. Link: http://banshee.fm/

Just plug in your Android phone or iPad, and Banshee will take care of the rest

Just plug in your Android phone or iPad, and Banshee will take care of the rest

3.    Miro

Consider Miro to be the ultimate video player that you will ever need! It can play videos, support multiple file formats, as well as connect to the Internet to help you grab the video of your choice! Miro comes with its own ‘Channel Guide’ to help you access online video sources, such as Hulu.com.

You can also buy music from online stores directly within Miro, connect and sync to your Android phone or Kindle Fire, as well as download stuff using torrents. If you love watching video sand movies on your computer, Miro is must have software. Link: http://www.getmiro.com/

You can also buy music from online stores directly within Miro

You can also buy music from online stores directly within Miro

4.    VLC Media Player

VLC Media Player has become a household name, when it comes to music players. It is an open source and cross platform multimedia software that lets you listen to your music collection, watch videos from DVDs as well as your hard drive, and so on. It plays most file formats without bugging you for codecs and also comes with streaming capabilities.

On the downside, VLC Media Player severely lacks media managing and organizing capabilities, which are easily founding the likes of Banshee or even Miro. Link: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

5.    Rhythmbox

Rhythmbox is a music management application for GNOME users. It draws inspiration from Apple iTunes and also has the ever-powerful GStreamer media framework behind it. It comes with support for channels or junctions such as Last.fm, Magnatune and Jamendo, and since it is based on GStreamer, getting it to play multiple file formats is an easy task.

Furthermore, Rhythmbox, just like Banshee, helps you organize your music collection well, and also has the ability to detect devices such as iPods and Android phones. Link: http://projects.gnome.org/rhythmbox/

Rhythmbox is a music management application for GNOME users

Rhythmbox is a music management application for GNOME users

6.    Amarok

Amarok is to KDE what Rhythmbox is to GNOME. A powerful music player, it also has its own share of UNIX and Windows variants. It is based on QT4 and comes with integration for Last.fm as well as its own Lyrics Tracker, and lets you build your own database on the basis of your music collection. And just in case it matters, Amarok has a gorgeous icon. Link: http://amarok.kde.org/

7.    Totem

Totem is a video player for GNOME environments. Just like Rhythmbox, it also has the GStreamer framework to watch its back. Once you launch Totem, you will probably find it unimpressive and bland – yes, the interface looks right out of the 1990s. However, it is one piece of truly sophisticated software: it comes with its own plug-in for Mozilla Firefox to help you play videos right inside the browser, as well as a video properties’ helper for the command line. While Totem can play audio files too, it is best suited for videos. Link: http://projects.gnome.org/totem/index.html

8.    Xine

Xine is a multimedia player that, quite frankly, looks extraordinarily outdated. However, it supports a huge list of file formats, and can be used as a stand-alone multimedia engine for various media players. Didn’t get me? Well, KDE’s Kaffeine is built on it. Thus, Xine can double as a back-end multimedia engine as well as a fully functional front-end media player. Link: http://www.xine-project.org/home

Xine is a multimedia player that, quite frankly, looks extraordinarily outdated

Xine is a multimedia player that, quite frankly, looks extraordinarily outdated

9.    MPlayer

Is your OS or computer having problems with almost all major media players? Don’t panic, and do not get angry. Just grab MPlayer. It is, unarguably, one of the most flexible media players for Linux, because it supports various system configurations, both new and old. Eventhough the player itself is simple, it can play through hardware MPEG decoders (in simple words: full-screen videos look extra awesome). Also, MPlayer supports a huge list of file formats. If you don’t believe me, just check them out here: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html.

Link: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html

10.  Clementine Music Player

Amarok underwent significant changes in its interface when version 2 was released. As with any software overhaul, some people loved the changes and others hated them. The latter half decided to channel their ‘hate’ in a constructive manner and built Clementine, based on Amarok’s source code.

Technically, Clementine is what you get when you port Amarok 1.4 to work with modern KDE devices. Once again, it is based on QT4 and is fast, nimble, swift and super-efficient! When it comes to features, Clementine supports various Internet radio stations such as Spotify and Last.fm and also allows you to play media files that you have uploaded to Google Drive. Clementine supports devices such as the iPod and smartphones, and apart from Linux, it also works on Windows and Mac OS. Link: http://www.clementine-player.org/

It is based on QT4 and is fast, nimble, swift and super-efficient

It is based on QT4 and is fast, nimble, swift and super-efficient

With that, we come to the end of this article about media players for Linux. I hope you enjoy the list, and if you have a music player that you think deserves to be mentioned in this list, feel free to let me know at sufyan[at]bravenewworld.in.

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