While new generations will most probably always remember the likes of Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music, Tidal, and so forth, older generations will also probably never forget Winamp.
While it’s true that nowadays the need for desktop music players has faded, it’s somewhat interesting that they’ve not entirely disappeared. The most awesome thing is that, in today’s world, desktop music players are arguably the best they’ve ever been.
Tauon Music Box might just be a perfect example of this. It’s a free, open-source, very modern, and very user-friendly music player for the desktop that works on both Windows and Linux.
While it’s not exactly what one might call revolutionary, Tauon Music Box has a lot going for it, which is also unsurprising that it’s instantly likable.
Even though it packs a massive array of features, its emphasis on user experience and looks make it a very attractive package. The app boasts a black-themed GUI with various little grey accents, as well as drag-and-drop support for importing music. Another great aspect is the fact that Tauon Music Box also provides you with various GUI themes to choose from.
As expected, the app is capable of playing various types of local audio files including MP3s, FLACs, and OGGs. You can also import Spotify tracks and even control the Spotify playback, as well as play music from keol and Airsonic servers.
The app also supports Last.FM, Listenbrainz, and Maloja scrobbling. Other noteworthy features include the nice-to-have CUE sheet support, an original smart playlist code system, MPRIS2 support for desktop integration, broadcast background for live streaming (only available on Linux), context search for Genius, Bandcamp, and Rate your Music, as well as support for MOD tracker file playback.
Add to all of the above the gapless playback options, the support for lyrics including synced IRC files and guitar chords, and various nice album art and gallery layouts, and it’s easy to see why Tauon Music Box is most probably becoming a favorite for various users, especially those that often do a lot of distro hopping.
The thing that Tauon Music Box gets right is that it manages to stay remarkably simple and easy-to-use, while still providing the user with tons of nice-to-have features.
To conclude, Tauon Music Box is one of the best cross-platform and open-source music players out there, and a definite must-have for those who like listening to music the “oldschool way,” directly from the desktop and using local audio files.
