Sing into Spring: Songbird in Version 1.1
The Songbird music player is now out as version 1.1. Next to some normalization enhancements, the free software includes a watch folders feature and optimized album cover downloads.
Almost a million users have downloaded Songbird so far, according to company claims, and the feedback prompted a few changes, bug fixes and new features in Songbird 1.1, available since last week. Now album cover artwork off the Web is just a mouse-click away, via Last.fm by default, but you can also specify Amazon.com.
The watch folders features allows users to specify which music folder hierarchy to monitor for changes and then automatically import new titles to their libraries. Removed files are also removed from the libraries. The sorting algorithm was also improved with unicode collation and recognition of leading articles such as "the" and "a" in titles. To prevent damage to sensitive eardrums, Songbird adjusts the playback volume if a track's metadata has replay gain, including for iTunes titles.
Overall, Songbird 1.1 should be more stable, use significantly less memory and CPU, and undergo fewer crashes. With large music libraries, the player uses 40% less RAM and playback cuts the CPU usage in half. A very practical feature is that developers can launch Songbird from a URL, such as from a Last.fm stream. One improvement applies to Windows only: better identification of silent spots for a smoother playback. The Windows version also recognizes MTP devices better and can synchronize Windows Media DRM content with them.
Like other open source projects, Songbird wants to make some revenue. Their business model is the 7digital MP3 Store, now in beta, where you can buy high quality MP3s (up to 320 Kbps). Recommendations from 7digital are based on your most recently played track. The music store contributes a part of each purchase to Songbird's development. The U.K. version of the store is now "fully stocked" and the U.S. and European stores, with a few titles still missing, will hopefully soon follow suit.
Download of the bugfix version 1.1.1 of Songbird for Linux is available as a tar.gz here.
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you've found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Migrates RHEL from Xorg to Wayland
If you've been wondering when Xorg will finally be a thing of the past, wonder no more, as Red Hat has made it clear.
-
PipeWire 1.0 Officially Released
PipeWire was created to take the place of the oft-troubled PulseAudio and has finally reached the 1.0 status as a major update with plenty of improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Rocky Linux 9.3 Available for Download
The latest version of the RHEL alternative is now available and brings back cloud and container images for ppc64le along with plenty of new features and fixes.
-
Ubuntu Budgie Shifts How to Tackle Wayland
Ubuntu Budgie has yet to make the switch to Wayland but with a change in approaches, they're finally on track to making it happen.
-
TUXEDO's New Ultraportable Linux Workstation Released
The TUXEDO Pulse 14 blends portability with power, thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU.
-
AlmaLinux Will No Longer Be "Just Another RHEL Clone"
With the release of AlmaLinux 9.3, the distribution will be built entirely from upstream sources.
-
elementary OS 8 Has a Big Surprise in Store
When elementary OS 8 finally arrives, it will not only be based on Ubuntu 24.04 but it will also default to Wayland for better performance and security.
-
OpenELA Releases Enterprise Linux Source Code
With Red Hat restricting the source for RHEL, it was only a matter of time before those who depended on that source struck out on their own.
-
StripedFly Malware Hiding in Plain Sight as a Cryptocurrency Miner
A rather deceptive piece of malware has infected 1 million Windows and Linux hosts since 2017.
-
Experimental Wayland Support Planned for Linux Mint 21.3
As with most Linux distributions, the migration to Wayland is in full force. While some distributions have already made the move, Linux Mint has been a bit slower to do so.
Captain Sarcastic Reporting In
Next to the stunning, well thought out interface, that's gotta be it's best feature.