Software to Organize and Play Your Music Library Applications
The main choice you need to make in selecting your software to organize and play your music library applications is whether to adopt a proprietary or open source solution. Neither will cost you money, as all the main applications are available free of charge. iTunes is by far the most popular proprietary application. It operates with Mac and PC, and links effortlessly to the iPod, the predominant mobile music player in the market, and the iTunes music store is also hugely popular. The disadvantage of iTunes is that it does limit your flexibility; it has limited file format support and tends to convert most formats to Apple’s own lossless or compressed formats.
The principal proprietary alternative is Windows Media Player. My personal view, which appears to be shared by many other users who have adopted iTunes for Windows as their preferred option, is that this cannot match iTunes for convenience, usability, and the interoperability of iTunes with the iTunes music store, iPod music players, and iPhones.
The Open Source Alternative
A more realistic alternative is the open source application, Songbird. This is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, is based upon the Firefox platform, and supports open audio formats such as FLAC. A full review is available at http://www.brighthub.com/electronics/home-theater/reviews/36396.aspx. In the context of a multi-room system it is worth noting that both iTunes and Songbird may be used to replay music stored elsewhere on a multi-room wireless network provided that there is a computer to play the audio in the room where the music is required. Experience suggests that running these applications in this mode does require good network integrity to replay without gaps or interruptions.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Songbird flatters iTunes in its look and feel, but it does add the capability of a wide range of audio formats. Also, because it is built on the Mozilla/Firefox platform, it offers future extensibility through add-ons in a similar manner to Firefox. It does not, however, offer CD ripping and therefore requires a stand-alone CD ripper. A wide range of such applications are available again for free. My personal favorite is dBPoweramp CD ripper, which is reviewed at http://www.brighthub.com/electronics/home-theater/reviews/36915.aspx. You may also need a program to convert audio files to your favored format, and dBPoweramp offers a suitable application along with other software suppliers.
Songbird: The Open Source Alternative
Proprietary Server Software Applications
Proprietary networked music systems run their own software applications. For example, SqueezeCenter which is designed to feed music over a network to one or more SqueezeBox clients can also play music on a local PC in conjunction with either iTunes or Songbird. It can import music, playlists, and metadata from existing music collections created within these music playing applications.
Other Software You May Need
Other software you may need include applications to edit music files, of which my personal favorite is Audacity (see http://www.brighthub.com/office/home/reviews/17166.aspx for my review or http://www.brighthub.com/multimedia/audio/reviews/594.aspx for an alternative view). If you have music on vinyl LPs, you may need further software (and hardware) to convert those treasured old rarities to digital music. In hardware, you will need a phono preamp to boost and equalize the signal before digitizing it with your computer. However, it is a much more time consuming process to rip the music in real time, then to add metadata to your digitized music and split a continuous LP side into discrete tracks.
Finally, you may need to download specific codecs (coding/decoding algorithms) to ensure your chosen music player can play music in your chosen format. A good starting point is http://www.free-codecs.com for all your codec needs.
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