Manage updates with the Download AppCNET Editors' review
If Firefox and iTunes hooked up, their hatchling could very well be Songbird. Basic usage bugs have gone the way of last season's molting, so this fun app that's part music player, part Web browser, and all about music discovery, management, and playback is ready for every day use.
During installation, it'll ask if you want to load your iTunes music directory or another media directory, or perform the task later. Processing 5,000 songs took about 3 minutes, which is not a bad pace. It then asks you which of the preinstalled Songbird extensions you want to load. Most of these, like the iPod, Mass Storage Class, and USB device managers only make the app stronger.
The left sidebar provides quick links to bookmarks, downloads, your music library in an iTunes-style interface, and several music discovery Web sites to get you started. When you're looking at any Web site with MP3s available for download, Songbird will open a new window at the bottom of the main browsing pane. Double-click on a song to play it, and links on the right let you purchase the track from Amazon, iTunes, eMusic, and Amie St. They also tell you the format of the track--MP3 or AAC, for example--and provide a blog link for more info.
Songbird has a growing library of extensions, and support is slowly growing for those written originally for Firefox. Songbird is more than stable enough to take flight for the music-loving, Web-surfing fanatic in all of us.
Publisher's Description
From Pioneers of the Inevitable:
Songbird is a desktop media player, specifically designed with the future in mind. While most media players are still focusing on local music only, Songbird is currently looking to the constantly-changing landscape of the web for guidance. What does this mean? Simply put, Songbird allows you to 'play' the web. Instead of needing separate applications to search for and listen to music, Songbird allows you to do it all from one simple program, with an astounding level of integration between the web and your music.
It's free!
Of course, many of the most popular media players, such as iTunes on Mac and Windows, and Winamp and Windows Media Player on Windows, are available free of charge. But there's more to Songbird's freedom than its lack of a price tag: Songbird is open-source, which means that it is community-driven and powered by you. You can truly make it your own and modify it to your heart's content with add-ons. Also, rather than just implementing the features that are most likely to bring in revenue, Songbird's development team can implement features that they think are cutting-edge, useful, or just plain cool.
It's cross-platform!
Have you ever tried to play music on another operating system, only to find that you are unfamiliar with the media player? That's not a problem with Songbird, since it runs on the 'big three' of operating systems (Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X), which means that you'll have a consistent experience between operating systems.
It's customizable!
Songbird is probably the most customizable media player on the planet. Want to change the way it looks, add support for a web service, or add something new to the way the media library works? There's probably an add-on for it, and they are easy to install.
What's new in this version:
- Playlist and track sync with Android devices has been improved.
- Added official support for Google/Samsung Nexus S, Samsung Galaxy SII, HTC Evo 3D, and Galaxy Nexus.
- The issue with WMA tracks not being playable after updating to 1.10.1 should be resolved.
- When creating a Smart Playlist with the criteria of "Playlist is Library", Songbird no longer crashes.
More Products to Consider
-
Rip CDs, convert audio files, and burn discs easily. -
Mix, scratch, and remix MP3 or music videos live. -
Convert audio between formats such as MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, M4A, ... -
Convert between WAV and mp3, wma, ogg, and FLAC. -
Convert CDs to MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, FLAC formats, convert audio ... -
Emulate up to 18 DVD/BD drives. -
Convert DVD movies to all the popular video or audio formats wi... -
Edit and modify Wave files on PC. -
Edit MP3 tags, find covers, and organize your music collection. -
Cut desired parts from your MP3 files. -
Play, convert, auto tag, and organize your MP3 files. -
Create, edit, burn, mount, and encrypt CD, DVD, and BD image fi... -
Calculate the play time of music or movies. -
Play video and audio files, convert to other file formats, burn... -
?onvert FLAC files to OGG easily. -
Convert APE files to OGG easily. -
Convert M4A/AAC into MP3/WAV format. -
Capture, edit, enhance, and burn whatever audio files you have. -
Copy DVD to iPod, iPhone, 3GP, PSP, Zune, HD TV, AVI, Divx, Xvi... -
Transform your PC into a powerful standalone room correction pr... -
Bring High Definition sound to YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Pandor... -
Get fast and flexible digital-media playback with access to sma... -
Transform your PC into a powerful standalone room correction pr... -
Split and join MP3 files and WAV files.
-
All versions:
2.8 starsout of 15 votes
-
Current version:
1.5 starsout of 2 votes
-
My rating:
Write review
Results 1-2 of 2
-
"Won't Download!"
Version: Songbird 1.10.2
Pros
Cant assess because I can't get it to download.
Cons
Can't download it!! I keep getting the same error message 'forbidden' but have NO idea why. Very frustrating!
-
"I Give Up Trying To Talk To The Developer"
Version: Songbird 1.10.2
Pros
It's a nifty kewl open source alternative to iTunes with bells and whistles.
Cons
It is impossible to download the program due to problems at their server that they are unwilling to repair. The developer's help via their chat forum is useless. If you can't download the program, isn't that called a "DEAD END"?
Summary
I have spent the last 24 hours attempting to talk to the developers about repairing their broken URL. I can't download the software. I've extremely clearly described the problem to them and received back only WRONG information. The problem is at their end. It throws those attempting to download the software, via their OWN 'Free Download' link on their website, to an XML error page. This occurs on ALL BROWSERS (meaning the everything except Opera and obscure browsers rarely used by anyone).
I'm FED UP trying to help them and GIVE UP trying to make sense to them. I am deleting this software from my Macs. I don't respond well to talking to a wall. I tried!
Results 1-2 of 2
Add Your Review
Submit your reply
E-mail this review
Report offensive content
Previous Versions:
