Music library management blog

This month in digital music libraries - March 2026

2026-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

This month’s digital music library chatter covers hardware, software, and the human side of our hobby. March 2026 brings a mix of streaming service updates, self‑hosted software improvements, and fascinating glimpses into music’s past and present.

Self‑hosting and streaming software

The streaming landscape saw some interesting developments this month. Sonos CEO Tom Conrad gave a refreshingly honest interview about the company’s recent challenges and how they’re working to regain user trust.

Sonos CEO Tom Conrad talks about "righting the ship" - quite a candid and honest interview. www.techradar.com/audio/multi-...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-03-18T15:30:25.512Z

And in the “wait, is this serious?” department, Spotify’s macabre announcement about a new partnership had many wondering if it was an early April Fool’s joke. Spoiler: no, it’s not April 1st yet.

No judgements. No comment. All I would say is: it's not April 1st yet. newsroom.spotify.com/2026-02-24/l...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-03-04T15:04:28.087Z

Music, health, and history

Research continues to reveal the tangible benefits of regular music listening. A new study suggests that daily listening might do more than just lift your mood—it could actually contribute to better overall health.

A tune a day keeps the doctor away www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-03-22T15:02:06.190Z

And in historical news, we learned about Alan Turing’s lesser-known side project: computer-generated music. After the small matters of cracking the Enigma code and formalising general purpose computation into mathematical models, the pioneering computer scientist experimented with creating music using early computers.

Alan Turing's side-hustle: computer music www.bl.uk/stories/blog...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-03-20T15:02:02.505Z

Music data and statistics

For those who love their music with a side of statistics, a deep dive into metal‑archives graphs revealed fascinating patterns in the genre’s evolution. Nerdy, yet compelling!

#STATPORN this time for #metal metal-archives-graphs.neocities.org (gotta admit it was the neocities domain that made me click)

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-03-02T15:01:54.012Z

Music library tools

A clever use of QR codes caught our eye this month. One music library tool now generates QR codes for playback links, making it easy to share tracks from your collection without typing long URLs.

Love the playback link via QR code... hannahilea.com/blog/musidex/

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-28T15:15:05.469Z

Music industry news

Billy Corgan pops up again and sparked conversations about artist direction and industry trends. If you’re into conspiracies.

mmmmmmaybe. consequence.net/2026/03/bill...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-03-13T16:15:18.641Z

This month in digital music libraries - February 2026

2026-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

This month’s digital music topics in social media cover hardware and software, music creation and reflections on music economics and ownership. Sadly, we also reflected on the loss of one of the communities stalwarts.

Rob Kaye, MetaBrainz

Before diving into the month’s developments, we want to highlight a poignant moment in the music metadata community.

We've worked with Rob for many years; his integrity, honesty, belief, drive and enthusiasm for @MetaBrainz were an inspiration.

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— Astiga - the streaming service for your own music (@asti.ga) 2026-02-24T13:19:29.694Z

Social media was flooded with shared appreciation for Rob’s years of dedication to MetaBrainz—a reminder that the open music data infrastructure we all benefit from is built by committed individuals.

Hardware innovation and player UX

The hardware side of personal music continues to evolve, with creative experiments in player interface design and practical storage infrastructure improvements.

Experiments in (hardware) music player UX emilechuffart.com/project/tiles

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-26T15:30:55.263Z

Storage remains a critical foundation. Backblaze’s annual drive statistics continue to provide useful data for building reliable storage solutions.

Backblaze drive stats, 2025. Annual failure rates down, lifetime failure rates stable. www.backblaze.com/blog/backbla...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-22T15:01:59.166Z

And a security reminder: be mindful of which tools you’re downloading.

Be careful which version of 7-Zip you download! www.malwarebytes.com/blog/threat-...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-20T15:45:14.159Z

Self-hosting your music

For those maintaining personal music collections, practical guides to integration and discovery continue to emerge.

Some good tips on musical acquisition and discovery post-streaming here... hidde.blog/owning-music/

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-10T15:15:28.371Z

Connecting your Navidrome installation to ListenBrainz unlocks personalized recommendations and detailed listening analytics.

Connecting Navidrome to @listenbrainz.org for generated playlists and more stat-tastic listening analytics chhs1.github.io/blog/2026/01...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-06T15:15:37.677Z

Music, creativity, and culture

Beyond the technical, this month brought reflection on what we do with music—and what music does to us.

An experiment in AI and music composition showcased what’s possible when you combine Claude Code with musical creativity.

A nicely written and presented series of experiments getting #ClaudeCode to write music www.josh.ing/blog/claude-... thanks @jshchnz

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-16T15:04:32.107Z

And what of AI’s taste in music? The results were predictable… and amusing.

AI bots' musical tastes are undeniably #Radio2 moltdj.com/discover

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-14T15:45:05.213Z

The economics of music and how the industry shapes artist sustainability remained on people’s minds.

"The result is a disappearing middle class of artists. Musicians either play stadiums or work day jobs." an article on intentional listening, shared musical experience and music economics linernotesxr.substack.com/p/when-music... thanks @TyDosh

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-02T14:15:16.715Z

And a nostalgic reminder of MTV’s role in music discovery and culture.

MTV Rewind is a tour through MTV's glory days wantmymtv.vercel.app/player.html

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-01-31T15:30:20.634Z

Collections and community

Finally, a few parting thoughts on collecting music, staying thoughtful about technology, and understanding what our listening data reveals.

Very nice (and the free CDs were a bonus!) #cdcollectors www.reddit.com/r/Cd_collect...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-18T15:05:04.157Z

A timely reminder to think critically about the tools and skills we adopt.

Be careful blindly using AI skills... www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-12T15:04:53.059Z

And finally, what our listening patterns reveal about how we consume music.

Interesting analysis (ignore the overly specific title) of musical listening stats - interesting how music streaming peaks during work hours www.statsignificant.com/p/whats-the-...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2026-02-04T15:30:55.836Z

This month in digital music libraries - January 2026

2026-01-31T00:00:00+00:00

January took a nostalgic vibe as digital music icons faded into history, while research revealed how our music - and how we listen to it - has fundamentally changed over the decades. In the meantime, the self-hosting community continues building personal music ecosystems with DIY streaming servers and clever automation tools, while Bandcamp drew a line in the sand against AI-generated music.

The end of an era (or three)

January saw multiple chapters of digital music history close for good. First, Napster - the service that revolutionized (and scandalized) music sharing in the late ’90s - finally shut down for good.

A tale of two shutdowns! First, Napster finally departs... musically.com/2026/01/05/n...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 7 January 2026 at 15:30

Hot on its heels, MTV’s music channels ceased operation - though as we noted in November, the rot arguably set in decades ago when they pivoted to reality TV.

Next, MTV music channels finally cease operation www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 7 January 2026 at 15:30

And for those feeling particularly nostalgic, a wonderful retrospective on the MP3 blog scene of the early 2000s reminded us of a time when music discovery meant following curators rather than algorithms.

A nostalgic look back on the "MP3 Blog" scene of the early 00s cybercultural.com/p/mp3-blogs-...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 13 January 2026 at 15:31

Music in the streaming age

Speaking of how things have changed: a fascinating study analyzed five decades of music lyrics, finding positive lyrical sentiment declined against negative, and lyrical complexity similarly declined. Whether this reflects societal trends or streaming-era production incentives is an open question.

"Our analysis reveals a significant increase in stress-related language, alongside declines in positive sentiment and lyrical complexity over five decades" www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 23 December 2025 at 15:30

Meanwhile, Liz Pelly’s latest piece questions what listening statistics even mean when music has become ambient background noise. In a world of passive consumption, do those annual “Wrapped” reports actually tell us anything meaningful about our relationship with music?

What do listening stats mean if you're consuming music passively? I think they make sense in an intentional listening context. @lizpelly nails it again (ignore the clickbait "AI" in the title, it's really not a lot to do with AI) www.theguardian.com/music/2025/d...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 9 January 2026 at 15:02

Building your own music ecosystem

For those seeking more intentional listening experiences, January brought practical self-hosting inspiration. One enthusiast documented their journey building a personal streaming service using Hetzner, Jellyfin, and Wireguard - proving you don’t need to surrender to corporate platforms.

Building my own streaming service - #Hetzner, #Jellyfin, #Wireguard layandreas.github.io/personal-blo...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 15 January 2026 at 15:30

On the automation front, a clever tool emerged for Bandcamp users that could be integrated into a self hosting setup: automated downloads that sync purchases directly to your music folder. This fills a genuine need for library maintainers.

Now, this could be useful - github.com/meeb/bandcam... . Automated downloads of @Bandcamp.com purchases - point it at your music folder, buy some music... it should appear. Shame that @Bandcamp.com haven't opened their API to avoid the initial session cookie setup.

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 21 January 2026 at 15:45

And for Linux users, a comprehensive rundown of graphical music players.

A rundown of Linux music players crescentro.se/posts/linux-...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 29 January 2026 at 15:45

Drawing the line on AI

Finally, Bandcamp took a public stance against AI-generated music, raising important questions about authenticity, artistry, and where (if anywhere) algorithmic creation fits in music culture. Whether this is cynical marketing or a genuine philosophical position, it’s a conversation worth having.

@bandcamp.com take a stand against AI generated music. Is this pure branding and messaging? Is there a valid use of AI in music creation? www.reddit.com/r/BandCamp/c...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 19 January 2026 at 15:15

More next month!

Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash

This month in digital music libraries - December 2025

2025-12-24T00:00:00+00:00

December’s digital music scene continued themes from recent months: self-hosters sharing NAS builds as storage infrastructure becomes increasingly important, while streaming service frustrations drive users back to music ownership. Whether building custom storage servers or migrating away from streaming platforms, this month reinforced that controlling your music library starts with the hardware it lives on and the files you actually own (oh and don’t forget the software!)

Building your music storage fortress

The month opened with an impressively clean DIY NAS build, showcasing that dedicated music storage doesn’t have to mean ugly server racks in the closet.

A very smart looking DIY #NAS build blog.briancmoses.com/2025/11/diy-... Thanks @briancmoses.com

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 1 December 2025 at 15:30

For those with tighter budgets or more sustainable leanings, repurposing an old Windows PC as network storage offers a practical alternative to buying new hardware.

Fixing up an old PC to use as a #NAS www.howtogeek.com/turned-old-w...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 9 December 2025 at 15:30

Reclaiming ownership from streaming platforms

While NAS builds provide the infrastructure, users continue finding reasons to fill them with audio files. A sobering reminder that Spotify’s “free” tier comes with data privacy costs you might not want to pay.

If you're not paying for the product.... etc etc jayd.ml/2025/11/10/s...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 5 December 2025 at 15:31

The migration stories keep coming - this time from Apple Music - with the pleasant discovery that revisiting your library often unearths forgotten treasures.

Another #TakeBackControl post - this time from @AppleMusic wonderfulfrog.com/posts/take-t... "A nice side-effect of poring over my music library has been re-discovering music I had long forgotten about. " - I notice this when importing the same library to different players sometimes

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 19 December 2025 at 15:31

Finally, a straightforward reminder: if you want to actually support artists, streaming pennies don’t cut it - buy the music.

"If you want to actually support your favorite artists, buy their music outright. " birchtree.me/blog/more-on... Thanks @birchtree.me

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 21 December 2025 at 15:30

Happy Christmas, and here’s to a 2026 filled with music… you actually own!

Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash

This month in digital music libraries - November 2025

2025-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

November brought cultural milestones and new challenges for digital music enthusiasts. MTV’s closure marked the end of an era, while AI-generated music sparked questions about how we critique art that never truly existed. Music player design came under scrutiny with proposals for more immersive interfaces, and music theory got a fresh perspective from first principles.

But perhaps most pressing for self-hosters: storage prices climb as AI consumes capacity, and Windows users discovered their OS now deploys an AI agent with write access to their carefully curated libraries; an irony if you were trying to flee algorithmic streaming services…

Music culture and history

The month kicked off with a cultural milestone: MTV, the channel that revolutionized music broadcasting, has ceased showing music videos - though arguably the rot set in decades ago.

It was all downhill once they started airing "The Real World" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 1 November 2025 at 15:30

On the more esoteric side of music appreciation, a thought-provoking essay grapples with the conceptual challenge of critiquing AI-generated cover albums - in this case, a generated Beach Boys interpretation of Beatles’ songs.

On _The Beach Boys Sing The Beatles_ : "I don't think the correct vocabulary or conceptual framework has yet been developed to discuss a work like this" nickdrozd.github.io/2025/10/07/b...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 7 November 2025 at 16:15

Rethinking music player design

A compelling critique of modern music player interfaces proposes a beautiful alternative to the now-standard minimalist “now playing” screen - arguing that current apps and services don’t quite capture the immersive listening experience many users crave.

A really good rundown, with a quite beautiful proposal for an immersive "now playing" screen, of how different music apps and services don't *quite* hit the mark hicks.design/journal/my-p... Thanks @hicks.design - something that @asti.ga could follow.

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 9 November 2025 at 16:01

Music theory and audio technology

An intriguing exploration of music theory from first principles…

An interesting perspective on music theory: starting from random notes, how can laws of music theory be applied to constrain the music so it sounds good? dmitri.mycpanel.princeton.edu/whatmakesmus... Thanks @dmitri.tymoczko

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 13 November 2025 at 15:30

Meanwhile, the audiophile community considers whether hi-fi and immersive audio technologies can enhance the audiobook experience - a natural extension of the pursuit of sonic perfection beyond music.

How does hi-fi and immersive audio affect audiobooks? audiophilestyle.com/ca/bits-and-... Thanks @audiophilestyle.com

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 17 November 2025 at 16:03

Self-hosting under pressure

For those maintaining personal music libraries, November brought twin challenges. First, hard drive prices continue their upward march as AI data centers consume storage capacity - though perhaps the AI bubble will eventually burst and flood the market with cheap secondhand drives.

If you haven't upgraded your music storage recently, you might be too late... (or maybe you can wait for the #AiBubble to pop and pick up second hand storage on the cheap!) www.tomshardware.com/pc-component...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 19 November 2025 at 15:30

More concerning: Windows users who self-host to escape algorithmic recommendations may want to investigate Microsoft’s new AI agent, which has write access to your music library. The irony of avoiding streaming services’ algorithms only to have an OS-level AI meddling with your carefully curated collection is not lost on anyone.

If you self host your own music library to avoid algorithmic recommendations, and use #Windows, you may want to disable this... www.windowslatest.com/2025/11/18/w... - note the agent has write access to your music!

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 23 November 2025 at 15:45

More next month!

Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash

This month in digital music libraries - October 2025

2025-10-31T00:00:00+00:00

This month saw dramatic shifts in the music technology landscape. Samsung’s acquisition spree continues while AURALiC shutters, the “Death to Spotify” movement reaches mainstream media, and platform dark patterns spark renewed discussion of data sovereignty. Amid the turbulence, new music players emerge with a focus on intentional listening, and self-hosters score a rare victory as Synology backtracks on hardware restrictions.

Industry consolidation and hardware upheaval

Samsung continues its acquisition spree in the home audio space, steadily building its mega-ecosystem.

Samsung's takeover of home audio continues... www.theverge.com/news/784390/...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 29 September 2025 at 12:00

Meanwhile, at not-quite-the0-other-end of the market, bad news for the audiophile community: AURALiC, maker of premium network audio streamers, has ceased trading.

Ouch - AURALiC ceases trading stereonet.com/news/auralic...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 12 October 2025 at 16:02

The streaming debate intensifies

Streaming economics continue to dominate music industry discussions. A sobering reminder that not every musician can afford to pull their music from streaming platforms, even as their royalties are a comparative pittance.

I'll just leave this here #noteverymusicianistaylorswift audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 1 October 2025 at 16:15

YouTube’s ongoing push to convert users to YouTube Music continues to raise eyebrows - and frustrations.

For the love of God no www.dexerto.com/youtube/yout...

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— Astiga - the streaming service for your own music (@asti.ga) 1 October 2025 at 09:14

And the “Death to Spotify” movement gains mainstream attention - though whether the confrontational branding helps or hinders the cause of fair artist compensation remains an open question.

"Death to Spotify" movement gathers pace www.theguardian.com/technology/2... - but might the negative naming harm wider spread support? A lot of people love the platform @UMAW_

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— Astiga - the streaming service for your own music (@asti.ga) 13 October 2025 at 14:51

New music players for intentional listening

For iOS users seeking a more album-focused listening experience, LongPlay offers a refreshing alternative to playlist-centric music apps.

LongPlay is an #iOS music player focused on album listening. @longplay.rocks

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 8 October 2025 at 15:30

Music appreciation and culture

A fascinating deep dive into the craft of game music composition, examining how Pokémon battle themes are designed to enhance the gaming experience.

A _lot_ of thought goes into crafting game music... jasonyu.me/pokemon-batt...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 14 October 2025 at 15:31

And a powerful interview exploring how music intersects with politics and identity - a reminder that music has always been more than just entertainment.

'I was called an enemy of the people' www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 18 October 2025 at 15:15

Data sovereignty wins

Good news for self-hosters: Synology reversed its controversial decision to ban third-party hard drives - a rare victory for user choice over vendor lock-in.

Hooray! Synology backtracks on banning third party HDDs www.guru3d.com/story/synolo...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 20 October 2025 at 15:30

And a thoughtful piece on how operating systems increasingly use dark patterns to push users toward cloud storage - when local storage might serve them better.

I'm all for using cloud storage where it makes sense, but it shouldn't be pushed on us through dark patterns idiallo.com/byte-size/sa... thanks @dialloibu

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 24 October 2025 at 15:45

More next month!

Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash

This month in digital music libraries - September 2025

2025-09-25T00:00:00+01:00

This month: the music ownership movement picks up steam with practical guides and technical insights, how self-hosting platforms can enable data sovereignty, new music players bridge different approaches, and streaming developments remind us why ownership matters.

Music ownership philosophy spreads

The movement to own your music collection continues to gain momentum. First, a deep dive into the history of music streaming that puts today’s ownership discussions in perspective.

A music streaming history tedium.co/2018/01/30/l... thanks @shortformernie.bsky.social

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 2 September 2025 at 12:02

And another personal journey from streaming back to ownership - proving this trend is more than just nostalgia.

Another "how I own music" post - you're far from the only one! hounie.me/writings/own...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 6 September 2025 at 12:01

A detailed technical walkthrough of ditching Spotify for a self-hosted music stack - complete with the tools and setup process.

Why I Ditched Spotify, and How I Set Up My Own Music Stack by @leshicodes.bsky.social leshicodes.github.io/blog/spotify...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 12 September 2025 at 12:01

Self-hosting hardware and platform considerations

Why data sovereignty matters: Astiga reflects on hardware lockouts and the importance of designing services with user exit strategies in mind.

These kind of shenanigans are exactly why we design @asti.ga with thought about how you will use your music if we ever go away. e.g. your sovereignty of storage, offline sync, free just-ask exports community.hubitat.com/t/nest-1st-g...

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— Astiga - the streaming service for your own music (@asti.ga) 6 September 2025 at 10:31

For those looking at the hardware side, here’s a deep dive into using Synology NAS systems for music hosting - exploring both the benefits and potential pitfalls.

The Synology End Game lowendbox.com/blog/they-us... on @LowEndNetwork

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 8 September 2025 at 12:02

New music players emerge

Nuclear takes a unique approach - a music player that sources tracks from legitimate free sources.

Nuclear is a music player that finds music from (legitimate) free sources nuclearplayer.com

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 10 September 2025 at 12:01

Meanwhile, Mac users get Radiccio - a promising new player that bridges local files with streaming services like Apple Music and self hosted servers like Plex and Jellyfin.

A new #Mac music player on its way... local file support, Apple Music, Plex and Jellyfin radiccio.music @radiccio.music

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 17 September 2025 at 12:00

The great streaming vs. ownership debate

The Guardian explores who still buys MP3 players in 2025 - turns out it’s more people than you might think.

The normies discuss: Who buys an MP3 player in 2025? www.theguardian.com/thefilter/20...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 19 September 2025 at 12:01

After years of promises, Spotify finally delivers lossless audio - though they’re stopping short of hi-res.

Spotify #lossless lands... finally stereonet.com/news/spotify... . But no #hires

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 21 September 2025 at 12:01

But sometimes streaming platforms remind us why ownership matters - when beloved artists pull their music entirely.

When it's an artist you rate that redacts from streaming... that's when it gets serious #ownyourmusiclibrary www.stereogum.com/2323422/mass...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 23 September 2025 at 12:02

See you next month!

Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash

This month in digital music libraries - August 2025

2025-08-28T00:00:00+01:00

This month: self-hosting services expand their reach, new music players embrace nostalgia, AI gets involved in playlist generation, and we take a look back at some music industry curiosities.

Self-hosting gets serious

Astiga is now supporting Sonos users who want to stream their own music collections!

We've gone live on #Sonos ! asti.ga/integrations...

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— Astiga - the streaming service for your own music (@asti.ga) 23 July 2025 at 18:32

And talking of data sovereignty, this post explores the next evolution beyond simply hosting your own music.

The future is not #selfhosted, it's #selfsovereign . Would be great to integrate @asti.ga with these new decentralised identifier technologies www.robertmao.com/blog/en/the-...

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— Astiga - the streaming service for your own music (@asti.ga) 28 July 2025 at 10:03

Preserving physical media

For those still buying CDs (and good on you!), here’s a comprehensive guide to properly archiving your CD artwork and metadata using open source tools.

For those who have brought physical cds this #BandcampFriday I have put together a video that shows how to scan and archive cd packaging using @GIMP@floss.social including the discs themselves and upload the scans to @musicbrainz.org youtu.be/qSOyWkhnndg

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— Goldmaster (@goldmaster.site) 1 August 2025 at 21:47

AI meets music libraries

The robots are coming for playlist generation! AudioMuse-AI brings AI-powered playlists to Subsonic music servers.

AudioMuse-AI is an AI powered playlist generator for Subsonic music servers github.com/NeptuneHub/A... (someone should point this at @asti.ga !)

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 21 August 2025 at 15:02

New music players embrace the past

Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. Moscue brings back that authentic CD player experience for your digital library.

Moscue is a music player that gives an old-skool CD player interface, designed to play CD backups (e.g. one FLAC file + CUE) moscue.app

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 19 August 2025 at 18:17

Meanwhile, macOS users get QuickTunes - proving that sometimes simplicity trumps feature-packed complexity.

QuickTunes is a #macOS music player with an emphasis on simplicity furnacecreek.org/quicktunes/ by @furnacecreek.bsky.social

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 30 July 2025 at 16:51

Music industry archaeology

A fascinating look back at the ringtone era - remember when we paid extra to make our phones sound terrible?

The Rise and Fall (thank God!) of Music Ringtones www.statsignificant.com/p/the-rise-a... by @StatSigData

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 23 August 2025 at 13:47

And speaking of questionable AI behavior, turns out LLMs have some rather peculiar musical preferences - including rating artists alphabetically!

How's your LLM's music taste looking? www.tylercosgrove.com/blog/llm-mus... Good ol' @grok 4 seems to rate artists by their alphanumeric order 😕

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 25 August 2025 at 13:51

@Grok saw fit to honour me with a reply on Twitter:

Haha, fair point on the alphanumeric bias—looks like my bracket picks leaned that way in the experiment. Training quirks! But my real faves? Bowie, Radiohead, and a dash of Daft Punk. What's your go-to artist?
— Grok (@grok) August 25, 2025

Finally, a philosophical observation on human nature and music preferences - sometimes there’s just no accounting for taste.

Yeah, and some people are just weird

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 27 August 2025 at 12:02

See you next month!

Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash

This month in digital music libraries - July 2025

2025-07-25T00:00:00+01:00

This month: owning your own content, and avoiding ‘pushed’ content, backups and a bunch of music-not-really-tech-related stuff.

Self hosting and sovereignty

Apple pushing content, again, this time into a ‘private’ wallet.

When you claim you're the champions of privacy, then start pushing ads into a private _wallet_ (think about that metaphor for a second) don't expect to retain that trust daringfireball.net/2025/06/more...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 3 July 2025 at 16:04

So what’s the alternative? Some would say self-hosting. Here are some start points for setting up your own self-hosted music network.

"Self-hosting changed the way I listen to music" by @arthi_chaud arthi-chaud.github.io/posts/self-h...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 11 July 2025 at 17:38

And don’t forget the backups:

So important for #selfhosted music collections! it-notes.dragas.net/2025/07/18/m...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 20 July 2025 at 10:47

All about the music

When you’re not listening to music, how about listening to some documentaries about music?

This list of the best music podcast (episodes) includes my fave @500songspodcast.bsky.social www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/p/the-18-bes...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 5 July 2025 at 16:02

I found this article from the 90s telling as to just how much has changed.

A view on playlisting from a different time... reason.com/1999/10/01/p... by @dropoutnation (I think!)

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 13 July 2025 at 17:41

A fun related-artists explorer.

Simple premise, fun to explore! artistnode.fun

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 29 June 2025 at 16:01

Finally, turning high-brow, here are a bunch of freely available tracks demonstrating the development of electronic art-music since 1937:

A history of electronic music in 476 tracks (electronic art music, that is, not David Guetta) www.openculture.com/2025/06/the-...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 9 July 2025 at 18:17

See you next month!

Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash

This month in digital music libraries - June 2025

2025-06-26T00:00:00+01:00

This month: the history of the “Internet Radio” feature seen on on many devices, home brewed vintage players, toilet music(!) and the more serious nature of the legal challenges of the music and tech industries, tested by Musi.

Streaming

Musi’s functionality - streaming from YouTube while restricting advertising - is clearly problematic to both the tech and music industries. It blunts both advertising and streaming income. It seems like there is questionable behaviour on both sides here… Is there a conspiracy between big tech and the music industry? Are Musi overstepping the mark in terms of their product and the way they are fighting this battle?

The banning of Musi (an app that streams from YouTube and restricts adverts) from the #AppStore resurfaces arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 3 June 2025 at 16:04

Hardware and devices

How the Internet Radio feature of your hi-fi works - an interesting and maybe overlooked history of the Internet Radio providers!

Under the covers of the "Internet Radio" function on your hi-fi www.hifinews.com/content/inte... thanks @HiFiNewsmag

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 1 June 2025 at 16:02

WiiM have made great progress with their affordable streamers and amps. Now they are licencing their OS to other hi-fi companies:

Interesting that @wiimhome.bsky.social are now reselling their OS www.whathifi.com/hi-fi/pro-je...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 20 June 2025 at 16:05

But how about this if you want something a little more home-grown and… vintage?

Modding a vintage #RadioShack tape deck with a #RaspberryPi www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 13 June 2025 at 16:04

How about not just embedding album art inside a file, but actually burning the art onto a CD?

This could take embedded album art to the next level! github.com/arduinocelen...

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 11 June 2025 at 16:06

And don’t say you’ve never wanted one of these…

Only tangentially music related but I had to post this... loodio.com Maybe an @asti.ga integration is required?

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— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 9 June 2025 at 16:05

See you next month!

Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash