Rhythmbox adds Magnatune support

Rhythmbox, a popular music player for Linux's GNOME desktop, has added support for Magnatune.

If you're using a Linux version that uses apt-get (such as ubuntu, which I use), then add this line to your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ feisty universe multiverse main restricted

then run your graphical package manager, update your repository list, and Rhythmbox 0.97 should appear as a choice.

Adam Zimmerman, the developer who added the feature, described it this way in their release v0.97 announcement:

The first of these is a new plugin which provides integration with the MagnaTune online music store. MagnaTune lets you listen to entire tracks before purchasing them, provides a variety of DRM-free formats including Ogg Vorbis and FLAC, lets you choose how much you are willing to pay for an album, and has a "don't be evil" policy. The plugin lets you browse the store from within Rhythmbox, open "Artist info" pages in your browser, and purchase albums (no Credit Card details are stored).

in an email to me, Adam wrote:

This is the first version to include the Magnatune plugin. So to all Rhythmbox users: download, enjoy, and give feedback. Could the UI be better? Any features you'd like to see? Bugs that need to be squished? There are a few more features that are planned. Credit card details will be stored encrypted in GNOME keyring, if I can get the python bindings to work. And using track-transfer to place albums in the proper directory structure according to the user preferences, once I figure out how to do that. But otherwise, it's pretty feature-complete from my perspective.

Adam sent me several screen pictures, which I've included in this blog posting.

Comments

[Eric]

I just tried out the Magnatune support in Rhythmbox 0.10.0. It's addictively easy to use, and I've already bought two albums! (The latest Yoria CD and the marvelous "Kyotaku Live" album.) And once I've had a chance to play a few more albums on the big speakers, I'm sure I'll be buying more.

Big thanks to the Rhythmbox developers and Magnatune!

[Leif Arne Storset]

I like it! It's great way to discover and download new music. The only thing I miss is some way to easily note artists and songs that I like so I can return to them later. Often I want to listen to songs several times before I buy.

[Xavier]

An interface to login to stream.magnatune.com rather than using the default www.magnatune.com would be most welcome.