SONGBIRD, I LOVE YOU!!

Reviewed by CDiamond on 2010-01-15 23:57:23.0

When it comes to audio players, most people tend to use the most popular apps, be it iTunes, Winamp, Windows Media Player, AIMP, etc. But there are far more interesting alternatives available, and Songbird is one of the best.

Songbird is a free and open-source audio player, digital jukebox and Web browser. Built on the same technologies underlying Firefox, Songbird enables you to organize, manage and play all of your music and manage any online music services you subscribe. In addition, it also includes an integrated web browser with features like bookmarking, tabbed browsing, and more. So, instead of needing separate applications to search for, download and listen to music, Songbird allows you to do it all from one simple program.

Songbird is a cross-platform music player, available for Windows, Linux and Mac. It can play multiple audio formats, such as MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, Apple Lossless and WMA. Media can be imported directly from your own files or from iTunes to Songbird without any hassle. And Songbird monitors your selected folders for future music additions.

What really makes Songbird special is that it is highly customizable. Songbird has a growing library of extensions and skins (which Songbird calls feathers) which allow users to add features and extend the functionality of the software. During the installation process, you can select which of the recommended add-ons you would like to install. Plus, there are a wide variety of community designed extensions available on Songbird's add-ons support page, including 7Digital music store, Songkick concert listings, eMusic Integration, iTunes Importer, iPod Device, Last.FM scrobbling and SHOUTcast radio directory. So you can change the visual appearance and layout, customize the Web browser’s functionality, extend playback capabilities, add music discovery features and more.

Among the software’s many great features is the ability to view Web pages and music blogs as dynamic playlists to play, save and download; access artist, track, album and tag information for songs; get Flickr photos, YouTube videos, Last.fm biographies and Google news for any artist; and create dynamic playlists. Additional features include a Mini-Player, song ratings, easy library search, CD rip support, 10-band equalizer, programmable hot keys and more.

Songbird is a great alternative to services like Apple's iTunes and the Windows Media Player. It is a complete, full-featured music player and organizer with extensive support for plug-ins and skins. The interface is clean and intuitive and the software can connect to any and all available music on the Internet. Best of all, Songbird is always under active development and continually improving. According to the Songbird blog, the next release will introduce video management and playback, Windows 7 support, continued UI work, and more performance/stability work.