iTunes replacement

[neurostu]

I love linux but I hate not having iTunes. I have been using Amarok for the last few weeks and honestly I haven't been that impressed with it. I have searched around the forums to get an idea of what is out there and the only options I have found are listed above.

Do you guys have any advise on which is the best? I tried installing itunes with crossover linux but it didn't work...

[croniksoft]

you should try this out,this guys are really doing a nice job


http://www.songbirdnest.com/

from the people who made firefox

[NullHead]

Personally I love BMPx ... I don't know if it has the itunes store like rhythmbox does, but it's my all time favorite

[timbounceback]

Have you tried Exaile? I've heard it's pretty good. I know you say in the post that you weren't impressed with Amarok, and Exaile is pretty much Exaile for GNOME, but give it a try and see what you think.

[NullHead]

Oh I forgot a link. You can download the latest debs from here: http://www.getdeb.net/app/Beep+Media+Player

[neurostu]

Wow song bird looks pretty nice. I like the interface. I also like that you can search the web for songs! That is SUPER SLICK. If only it had Amazon music integration or something like that.

I will admit that although I loved itunes I am ready to move to another provider. The itunes drm really bugs me and now that amazon is selling songs just as cheep w/o the drm I am only going to buy from amazon.

[Paqman]

I voted for Amarok, but when i'm using GNOME I do prefer Exaile. In my head they're pretty interchangeable.

[mason215]

Banshee is best for me because it's not a memory hog, really easy to use, and it also gives you similar artists, which is nice if you get tired of listening to the same band over and over.

[neurostu]

So the reason why amarok doesn't work for me is it is pretty buggy. I mean I have had it repeat between like 3 songs when I have like 30 in my playlist, I also have not seen any difference between random on and random off, its almost like the random feature doesn't even work....

[mason215]

So the reason why amarok doesn't work for me is it is pretty buggy. I mean I have had it repeat between like 3 songs when I have like 30 in my playlist, I also have not seen any difference between random on and random off, its almost like the random feature doesn't even work....

same here, i used it for awhile and just got fed up with because it never recongize my ipod, no matter what i did, so moved to banshee

[neurostu]

Wow I just installed Banshee and it imported a lot of my iTunes library settings that was saved in the folders. It grabbed my ratings and some other things. Thats cool!

[lbarnes]

songbird does look very nice, amarok looks terrible next to this
how do install it so it shows up in Applications?
i've got the extracted folder on my desktop and tried to move
it into usr/lib folder, thinking that is where it should go, but it said i have no permission
where does the folder go so i can have it Applications, and shouldn't i be able to put
anything anywhere i want anyway? i'm the only user on this computer, so there's only one user name

[mason215]

Wow I just installed Banshee and it imported a lot of my iTunes library settings that was saved in the folders. It grabbed my ratings and some other things. Thats cool!

now all you have to do is go to plugins>check metadata searcher>tools>download cover art. and now you have all the cover art for all your artists

[NotPhil]

I've been happy with Quod Libet (http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet). It's nice and simple, won't muck around with your directories, and can be extended with all sorts of plugins. (http://www.sacredchao.net/quodlibet/wiki/Plugins)

[major_rocks]

it's not in the list but gtkpod works well for me.....it handles video as well, when the video is converted to the correct format. Otherwise amarok (doesnt handle video) is the only other one i have tried.

[Superkoop]

songbird does look very nice, amarok looks terrible next to this
how do install it so it shows up in Applications?
i've got the extracted folder on my desktop and tried to move
it into usr/lib folder, thinking that is where it should go, but it said i have no permission
where does the folder go so i can have it Applications, and shouldn't i be able to put
anything anywhere i want anyway? i'm the only user on this computer, so there's only one user name

To answer your question, first, make a songbird folder in your /home folder. That would be the easiest/ most convenient place to put it. Now, right click on Applications and select edit menus. On the left, select Sound & Video. And then click the "New item" button on the right. In the popup that shows up it should go as follows: Type: application; Name: Songbird; Command: /home/yourusername/songbird/songbird. (that should point to the songbird executable file)
That's similar to how I have mine setup.

Now to get back on topic, I use Songbird... =P

[tdrusk]

exaile

[lbarnes]

thanks

[igknighted]

I moved to linux to escape itunes...

But in all seriousness, I love Banshee. It's a much cleaner interface than Amarok, has all the important features (the only thing I haven't found yet is the lyrics script, but amarok's rarely finds my music anyway), and unlike Exaile or Rythmbox it can minimize to the tray without being in the taskbar. The only thing the linux players really miss (not to me, i hated this "feature") is a built in music store. Who is apple to try to sell me music in their crappy drm ridden format at every turn? At least in WMP you can choose the built in store. It just gets annoying. Anyways, I buy DRM free from amazon and don't care about a built in store. Banshee FTW.

[neurostu]

igknighted: I totally agree about apple's DRM. The only reason I used itunes was b/c it was the best music library software for windows.

Amazon's music store is great. Sometimes they don't have the same selection as itunes but at least they are DRM FREE

I'm all for using amazon music store. Now its just a matter of finding a easy to use mp3 library manager in linux... Hence this post!

[JeffoOfMetal]

Rhythmbox is definitely my replacement for iTunes; its interface is similar and it is pretty lightweight.

[Polygon]

I use exaile as my main player, i used gtkpod to sync music to my ipod when i did own one however.

[igknighted]

igknighted: I totally agree about apple's DRM. The only reason I used itunes was b/c it was the best music library software for windows.

Amazon's music store is great. Sometimes they don't have the same selection as itunes but at least they are DRM FREE

I'm all for using amazon music store. Now its just a matter of finding a easy to use mp3 library manager in linux... Hence this post!

If you have other banshee/itunes users in your network you can connect and share libraries just as itunes does too. I don't know if you can play DRM'd songs off a remote itunes box though, or if you can only play what you have plugins for.

[SomeGuyDude]

I bounce periodically between banshee and Exaile. Currently I'm on an Exaile kick again and I forget why I switched back over, but I'm enjoying it a great deal.

I think what got me is that banshee's interface is nicer, but I like Exaile's features a little more. Regardless, both are fantastic and neither have the "kitchen sink" feel of amaroK.

[angry_johnnie]

Songbird is awesome! I really digg all the black!

[misfitpierce]

I chose Banshee... Its glorious... But overall songbird is the closest and can be skinned to look exactly like iTunes. Banshee is simple and powerful and I love it tho

[Saint Angeles]

...and unlike Exaile or Rythmbox it can minimize to the tray without being in the taskbar...
well exaile has a bunch of free plugins and the no taskbar feature is in there. just install it, then enable the system tray icon in preferences.

i like the desktop cover and IM status plugins also.

[ssam]

rhythmbox. it has:
DAAP sharing, covers, smart playlists, music stores. what more does one need?
(you may need to anable some of those functions in the plugins settings)

[gn2]

I use Amarok, but not as an itunes replacement, because I've never once used itunes.

When I had Windows I used MusicMatch Jukebox 8.

[Kernel Sanders]

you should try this out,this guys are really doing a nice job


http://www.songbirdnest.com/

from the people who made firefox

That's not true. They are using Mozilla technology, but they have nothing to do with Mozilla or it's employees. They are an entirely different development team.

[SunnyRabbiera]

I choose amarok as it never gave me issues

[new2*buntu]

I think Exaile is a good iTunes replacement, but I just use XMMS for my music.

[DeadSuperHero]

I regularly use Banshee. It's not the slickest looking thing (yet), but it's damned functional.
Amarok is okay. Amarok 2.0 looks and feels amazing, but it's incomplete, and buggy.
I use Audacious sometimes, that's a nifty little media player.

[Zlatan]

other- why replace itunes, when you use rhythmbox?:)

[acidsolution]

Rythmbox Music Player Rocks :guitar:

[neurostu]

Wow this really is a great list! Does anybody else have the same problems I have had with amarok? I can't get it to randomly select songs from my entire library, and the random play doesn't seem to be random at all (it plays the playlist in the same order with and without random on)

[lbarnes]

songbird is verrry buggy
could not get it to work properly importing 20,000+ songs
still needs a lot of work, prolly wait till version 1.0

banshee on the other hand handled the import very well

[neurostu]

So I've settled on Exaile for now...

I just wish there were a way that I could minimize it to the system tray...

[p_quarles]

So I've settled on Exaile for now...

I just wish there were a way that I could minimize it to the system tray...
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=4432923&postcount=27

[jken146]

You can. Edit -> Preferences and tick the box labelled "Show tray icon". When you close the window it stays open in the notification area.

[{BzF}~JOKesTER]

If You In Love With iTunes As I Am-

You Can Always Use WINE And Run It Through There.

[neurostu]

So I have been using Exaile now for a day or two, and I'm really liking it. It has this dynamic playlist option that searches my library and adds tracks that it thinks I will like... i haven't seen this in other music players.

i think I just fell in love with Exaile!

[macogw]

I use Rythmbox. Banshee does poorly at monitoring your library for new music. It only sees it if you import using Banshee. Ripping any other way means having to explicitly tell Banshee about every file. Songbird doesn't have album art support.

[vishzilla]

Check this out (http://tombuntu.com/index.php/2008/03/04/ipod-synced-with-itunes-on-linux/) One guy has successfully managed to Sync an iPod using iTunes with Wine

[airtonix]

i hate itunes way of organizing things.

i like to make my own groupings, with having to sync stuff.

its why i loved winamp.

its also why i love gmusicbrowser....ans *sigh* if i have to endure usb1 to transfer ill use floola to transfer/convert movies and music.

but then i dont even do that as i use rockbox on my ipod.

nautilus FTW

[Maupertus]

I keep sticking with Amarok altough I think it's bit bloated and doesn't feel right with my Gnome usage. But it's the only player that let's me manage my files via the Collection (the only thing I really loved in iTunes was the automatic organization of my files) and I can change a lot of settings to my personal pref.

I liked Exaile, but I can't get the plugins working in Gutsy and the tagging is buggy.

I used to like Rhythmbox, but I hate the fact that I can't organize things like the order of 'artist, genre, track, album' the way I want.

Both Exaile and Rhythmbox can't organize my files.

But I really like the cleanness of RB. I've never had problems with iPod support, everything always worked great, but the most smooth in Amarok.

[Eddie Wilson]

I used iTunes a lot when I used Windows. I never thought much of it being a good media player. I thought it was always lacking. I just used it for buying songs.(I know that was stupid) I used Amarok for a while but don't really like the way it displays its music files. I now use Rhythm Box. Its become a very good media player and has everything I like in a media player.(except for an equalizer) Its stable and has never given me any problems.

Eddie

[rudihawk]

I use Rythmbox.... :)
Tried amarok - dont know why everyone rants about how great it is, it just annoyed - was frustrating to use.