Alternatives to the Apple Music app

[ThisBougieLife]

What alternatives to the Music app do you guys use to listen to music? I'm thinking mainly of listening to downloaded or ripped files rather than streaming services, but any apps you use I'm interested to hear of.

I just find the Music app lacking sometimes, especially in the way it handles playlists and playlist folders (I listen to classical music organized into hundreds of playlists and playlist folders).

My favorite Windows app is MusicBee and it's the best music app I've ever used. I really wish it were available for Mac, but it's not. So I'm looking into apps that maybe have similar functions to MusicBee but are available on macOS. I don't care if they're free or not.

 

[mikzn]

I have seen a few threads like this on Macrumors over the past few years and also would like to know of a decent alternative to iTunes / Music ?

Mostly I want an app that I can manage my digital sound files that have been ripped from my CD's and or purchased from online music sites over the past 30 years, mostly from apple (Downloads) or My own CDS even some old vinyl converted to mp3 back in the day.

I stopped using Apple Music for online streaming and switched to Spotify which keeps my on line music separate from my iTunes files - Apple seems to be incrementally moving everything into 1 app for both (Music App for both)

I find Spotify great for streaming classical music with a wider range of available composers, artists, versions of the same pieces ( ie tempo and other differences) and stopped using apple music last July and find Spotify much more useful for finding any music that I have not purchased and wish to listen to.

That said, it is hard to beat the Music App for "managing digital libraries" and editing tags especially for Classical - the "column Browser with composer" and ability to edit and search the working names of the tracks in terms of movements, work name and version names etc

It would be great to have a running list of alternative apps ? (Maybe a wiki list ?) that could be updated with alternatives to Music and iTunes -

Apple (IMHO) has tried to "shoe horn" all types of music and listeners into one app and 1 type of customer

One App that does seem to come up often as an alternative is Swinsian - an app that looks like a lot iTunes ( I have not tried it) - Edit: Here is another - Roon

Hopefully others here on these forums knows of other alternatives?

 

[jazz1]

As much time and money I've invested in Apple's iTunes music over the years, I've recently started using Tidal. They had/have a deal going for 4 months during the pandemic. Tidal's recommendations, based on my choices, seem much better than Apple’s Music.

I've got to say I'm finding new music to listen to, as well as re-discovering favorite artists. Right now I'm listening to Sinematic Robbie Robertson. The song, "I Hear You Paint Houses" with Van Morrison is rocking my soul!

Somehow I don't think I would have found that on iTunes. I'm sure it is there somewhere. I plan to continue Tidal beyond the 4 month deal.

I think the sound sampling quality is a tad better than iTunes/Music. I've only got "High" sampling" I see they have two higher tiers with higher sampling rates.

 

[satcomer]

Depends do you prefer alternatives like Pandora or StreamCast or traditional Internet radio!

 

[SandboxGeneral]

My music player is cmus.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Thanks everyone.

Swinsian is interesting. It is basically just a copy of iTunes/Music but with some more advanced features, which I like. I’ll give it a try. It’s also been recently updated, which is a plus, considering that some of these other alternatives don’t seem to have been touched in years. I don't like the idea of paying $25 for an iTunes clone, but it might be worth it if it really does work better.

I could never get into Roon because it’s so album-oriented but my listening is playlist-oriented (partly because I listen to classical and often have multiple recordings of the same work. Playlists in composer folders are the perfect way to organize that).

 

[icymountain]

I am in the process of deciding that iTunes/Music is a lost cause except for synching with my iDevices. Too many bugs. Too much frustration when trying to organize my music library and keep it tidy, with artworks and everything. I hoped the "Music" iteration on Catalina would work better and tentatively upgraded my old MBA 11", but was very disappointed.

So, I am in search for a partial replacement, mainly as a front end to organize the library (manage albums, metadata, artworks) and play music files.

But, I would also need to be able to dump the library into a Music or iTunes library so as to sync my iPhone and iPad. Also, since I do not have too much storage on the iPhone, I need to dump the library to mp3 files for the iPhone (the iPad has storage and can take larger files).
What solution would you advise ? If it is worth it, I can also use a workflow that involves some scripts and command line programs for the dump of the library part. Ideally, I would get the management done in a front-end tool.

 

[Helmsley]

As much time and money I've invested in Apple's iTunes music over the years, I've recently started using Tidal. They had/have a deal going for 4 months during the pandemic. Tidal's recommendations, based on my choices, seem much better than Apple’s Music.

I'm the other way. Just joined Apple Music after being with TIDAL for a few years. So far I'm very impressed. I like that I can use the EQ too to compensate for my car's flat speakers.

As an audiophile too, I honestly can't say I can tell any difference between Apple's AAC and TIDAL's lossless.

 

[jazz1]

I can certainly tell the difference between Apple Music, and Tidal with higher sampling rates on my Mid-fi headphones driven by an external DAC and amplifier. In the car, I’m sure Tidal would suffer. Of course, I’m driving a Jeep