The Problem with Music Library Apps

If you’re someone who listens to mainstream music, loves to shuffle or play single songs, or just needs to throw anything on in the background, then this blog post won’t benefit you. But if you’re like me and you’ve noticed that something just doesn’t feel right about how you play and organize your music, then keep reading.

iTunes

Let’s go back to the beginning. When I was younger, there were several music player/library combo apps out there but the one that I fell in love with was iTunes. Apple not only created a beautiful interface at that time but also allowed you to browse and purchase music from within the app, not to mention iPod sync. This was such an epic solution to have all of my music in one place, easily searchable, and I never had to worry about if I missed any songs when updating my iPod. But as time went on, I started to notice that iTunes became very sluggish as my music collection grew. Songs that were imported from outside the iTunes store required constant upkeep with editing meta data attributes. The more songs I had, the more time I had to maintain them. And I even knew that back then, purchasing songs from the iTunes store would backfire in my face in the future as it did for many people. So I basically gave up and starting organizing music via my computer’s file directory.

Songbird

In 2009, I did some searching around and discovered Songbird, which allowed me to accomplish the same as iTunes except now I could play all of my lossless FLAC songs which I had downloaded from Bandcamp. The Mac app had a solid UI and I never encountered any issues while I used it. Unfortunately, the app got worse over time and keeping up with manually managing files on my hard drive became a burden. It was shut down in 2013.

Google Music

In 2010, I was invited to the beta version of the Google Music web app. It was love at first sight. I had been looking for a web-based music library for years where I could upload and stream my entire library and the fact that the service was free was a nice bonus and remained free for several years. Everything felt frictionless: the upload process, the attribute editing process, the playlist process. I was able to upload and organize large amounts of music within a short period of time. The app was fast and responsive. This was the first time I used a music syncing app since my iPod and it was a lovely experience. Being able to quickly upload a new album then almost immediately play it in the car on my Android device.

Spotify

In 2012, I finally started taking Spotify seriously. Despite loving Google Music and all the new music I was finding on Bandcamp, I still needed an inexpensive way to listen to more mainstream music and Spotify was the obvious solution. Since then, many many underground and new artists have uploaded their music to Spotify alongside services like Bandcamp and SoundCloud. If Spotify’s janky queue system were fixed, it could literally be all anyone needs but sigh. Though I can’t afford to pay everyone and I listen to many different bands, I still prefer the Bandcamp route of paying the artists directly. Maybe if there were a service like Spotify but excluded super mainstream artists, maybe the smaller bands would get paid better for those streams? Spotify’s best feature is Discover Weekly. I have found so many solid bands through that automated playlist, I highly recommend checking it out every week but remember it only really works if you actively listen to your favorite music each week. Spotify’s radio feature is also pretty solid, I highly recommend this in the car if you miss the radio days. I still use Spotify today alongside Google Music as my main music library/player apps.

Bandcamp

In 2013, Bandcamp launched Android and iOS apps which provided users with a smoother way of using the app on mobile devices rather than rely on the web version. I installed the app immediately but it did not provide much beyond what I was already used to. I was hoping for playlists and a library that grouped all of my purchased music together that went beyond the Collection page. Hopefully, Bandcamp has future plans for breaking into the library model and will let users upload and stream non-Bandcamp music.

Recipe for Perfection?

• modern, simple, elegant UI
• Bandcamp purchases get automatically added to your library
• stream Spotify, Google Music, SoundCloud inside the app
• more options for playlists, shuffle, & recommendations
• customizable UI elements, colors, fonts, etc.
• community managed historical records (releases, shows)
• artist approved distribution of bootleg live recordings & rarities

Looking Ahead

We need something better. We need something for those of us who are passionate about music, those who take pleasure in listening to one album at a time, from start to finish. We need something that utilizes simplistic design while still offering all of the necessary features. We need something that supports the artist while still supporting all of the file formats. We need something that reflects our unique tastes and preferences through customization and artificial intelligence. Maybe it requires a work of art to play a work of art?

Agree or disagree? Feel free to comment below or send me a message on Twitter. Thanks for reading :)