Brief: MellowPlayer is a free and open-source desktop that lets you integrate web-based music streaming services on Linux and Windows.
Undoubtedly, a lot of users prefer tuning in to streaming services to listen to their favorite music instead of purchasing individual music from stores or downloading them for a collection.
Of course, streaming services let you explore new music and help artists reach out to a wider audience easily. But, with so much music streaming services available (Soundcloud, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, etc) it often becomes annoying to utilize them effectively while using your computer.
You may install Spotify on Linux but there is no desktop app for Amazon Music. So, potentially you cannot manage the streaming service from a single portal.
What if a desktop app lets you integrate streaming services on both Windows and Linux for free? In this article, I will talk about such an app — ‘MellowPlayer‘.
MellowPlayer: Open Source App to Integrate Various Streaming Music Services
MellowPlayer is a free and open-source cross-platform desktop app that lets you integrate multiple streaming services and manage them all from one interface.
There are several supported streaming services that you can integrate. You also get a certain level of control to tweak your experience from each individual service. For instance, you can set to automatically skip ads or mute them on YouTube.
The cross-platform support for both Windows and Linux is definitely a plus point.
Apart from the ability to manage the streaming services, it also integrates the player with your system tray to easily control the music. This means that you can use media keys on your keyboard to control the music player.
It is also worth noting that you can add a new service that is not officially supported by just creating a plugin for it yourself within the app. To let you know more about it, let me highlight all the key features below.
Features of MellowPlayer
- Cross-platform (Windows & Linux)
- Free & Open-Source
- Plugin-based Application to let you add new service by creating a plugin
- Integrates the services as a native desktop app with the system tray
- Supports hot keys
- Notifications support
- Listening history
Installing MellowPlayer on Linux
MellowPlayer is available as a Flatpak package. I know it’s disappointing for some but it’s just Flatpak for Linux and an executable file for Windows. In case you didn’t know, follow our guide on using Flatpak on Linux to get started.
Wrapping Up
MellowPlayer is a handy desktop app for users who often dabble with multiple streaming services for music. Even though it works fine as per my test with SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify, I did notice that the app crashed when trying to re-size the window, just a heads up on that. You can explore more about it on its GitLab page.
There are two similar applications that allow you to play multiple streaming music services: Nuvola and Nuclear Music Player. You may want to check them out.
Have you tried MellowPlayer? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
