Alternatives to the Music App on my new Mac, to play my own music collection

A suitable solution here could be Elmedia Player. It has a folder-based structure, similar to Finder. Also, unlike Apple Music, Elmedia does not require you to upload or sync your files to a cloud service - if you've ever faced this issue, you realize how great it is.

You didn't mention formats or playback quality, but I'll note that it's great in that regard, too.

Next solution - VOX Player. It provides excellent playback choices and FLAC support, although its organization capabilities may not be as extensive as Elmedia player's. But it's worth a shot.

I totally get your frustration with Apple Music! It's seriously annoying when you have a massive music collection, and their sorting options just don't cut it. What I'd recommend is creating playlists like a boss. You can make playlists for your favorite artists or genres, and that way, you'll have everything organized exactly how you want it. Plus, you can quickly find your jams using the search bar if you don't feel like scrolling through a million albums.

If you're still not vibing with Apple Music, you could check out some third-party apps like MusicBee or MediaMonkey. These apps give you way more control over your music library and might just solve your headache. And hey, don't forget to hit up Apple with your feedback about their system – maybe they'll make it less of a pain in the a** in the future! 🎵📱✌️

Thanks!

[Edited by Moderator]

Ihor280 wrote:

I'm new to the Mac environment and I think Apple Music sucks! What's a good alternative?

Before you dismiss Apple Music out of hand try using the Songs layout and enabling the Column Browser from the View menu. This should let you drill down into your artists and their albums. Try also View > Show Filter Field for an improved search function.

tt2

Ihor280 Said:

"It's not a problem with playing my mp3s - it's being able to easily manage/play my personal collection of 1000s of albums"

-------

Alt to Using Apple Music:

Use iTunes. Apple canned iTunes in macOS Catalina. So, using Mac that is is pre-Catalina, or use iTunes for Windows. Go Here for More: What Happened to iTunes? - Apple Support

Ihor280 wrote:

BTW, I have a 2019 Mac with Intel 8-core i9, running the latest version of Ventura, I have no idea what Catalina is or how to run a "Windows" version of iTunes (an Apple program!) on a Mac (the whole idea sounds quite ridiculous!).

Catalina is macOS 10.15. It precedes Ventura (Catalina (10.15) -> Big Sur (11) -> Monterey (12) -> Ventura (13)).

Before Catalina came along, Macs used the iTunes application for playing music, managing the music libraries on (iPods, iPhones, iPads), accessing the iTunes Store, and accessing the Apple Music subscription service. There was a Windows version of iTunes (pretty obviously released to support iPod sales), also.

As of Catalina, Apple discontinued the Mac version of the iTunes application, and split up its functions. Apple has not split up the Windows version of iTunes yet. So what you call Apple's music player / store application depends on which particular platform and operating system you're running.

What happened to iTunes? - Apple Support

Since you're running Ventura, you're running the Music application – not iTunes. There's a good chance that the iTunes 12.8.3 application for High Sierra wouldn't install or run on your system even were you to download it.

If you have any iPods, iPhones, or iPads onto which you want to load music from your own CDs, the official way that you would do that is using Finder-based synchronization. The Finder would expect that your music and TV shows and movies are in the Music and TV libraries (the successors to the iTunes Library).

I used an old Windows machine with iTunes for years as a music server. My wife spilled water on it and it blew up. I bought a 2012 Mac Mini, assuming I could use the same program as my iMac has, "Mac Music." Wrong. The Apple Music that works on it doesn't let you copy more than one song at a time to copy and paste to a play list, or delete more than one song at a time. I have over two thousand songs divided into four play lists. I've wasted hours trying to get it to work. Now I just want a simple program that lets you edit the same way you can edit nearly every program in the world: click on the first song in a group you want to add to a playlist, then press Shift and the up or down arrow key, drag and drop (or delete them, if that's what you. Now, for example, if I want to delete fifty songs from "Songs" or a playlist, I have to click on the song, then click "delete," then click on two followup questions, "Are you sure you want to delete this?" I just gave up. It was either that or hurt myself. Is there another SIMPLE app for creating playlists? Dear God, please...

Ihor280 Said:

"I want to be able to access my music catalog through a Finder type method."

-------

Searching for Files:

Then my thought is to use Script Editor, and create an application that lets you select the item based on location and name --pretty much a hierarchy of what resides. Once created, safe the app. Post that in the Apple Developer Forums. Reply back, providing a link to your thread.

Do give TT2's suggestion of Songs with Browser enabled view a whirl. I use it 99% of the time. I use streaming a teeny tiny bit.

There are SO many other apps than Music.app. For them andd other stuff get to MacUpdate and visit frequently.

For other Windows to mac stuff ...

David A Cox youtube videos / start with?

https://www.youtube.com/user/TechTalkAmerica

from Apple support itself On Windows I did ______. On Mac do ________.

Tips for Windows switchers - Apple Support

simple, lengthy chart: in Windows ______ / in Mac _______

http://www.macworld.com/article/2039343/switch-to-mac-translating-windows-to-os-x.html

another Win>Mac

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quick-guide-using-mac-windows-users

comparing uses in a bit more in-depth

http://allthingsd.com/20080702/some-general-tips-for-switch-to-mac-from-windows/

possibly too basic for you, but in case not ...

http://www.wikihow.com/Switch-from-Windows-to-Mac-OS-X

basic terminology comparisons (translations)

http://www.imore.com/switching-mac-converting-windows-terminology-mac

Within the Music app, do you have a structure of Playlist folders and Playlists in the sidebar? IMHO this makes everything simple.

My music is classical, so most of my folders are structured as Composer -> Works -> Performers etc. For example:

BACH

Cantatas

Choir A

• • • disc 1
    • disc 2

etc

Choir B

etc

Keyboard

Performer P

Performer Q

BEETHOVEN

xxx

xxxx

BERLIOZ

… and so on. When I add new items I simply create a new playlist in the relevant folder.

I started this structure more than 10 years ago with iTunes and have brought it forward through successive versions to the current flavour of Music. I'm sure you could develop something similar to meet your needs

HTH

Ken

Ihor280 Said:

"alternative to apple music: I'm new to the Mac environment and I think Apple Music [...]! What's a good alternative?"

-------

Alternative to Apple Music:

What music videos on YouTube.

Ihor280 Said:

"alternative to apple music: I'm new to the Mac environment and I think Apple Music [...]! What's a good alternative?"

-------

Try QuickTime Player:

Quicktime Player is found right in the Applications folder. Duplicate the file, and then change the duplicate file's extension to MP3. See if that plays it.

Screenshot:

Swinsian is a good alternative.

Are you talking about Apple Music – the application? Or Apple Music – the streaming subscription service, which provides ad-free access to a huge catalog of music for as long as you keep up monthly payments?

If you're talking about the streaming service, the most obvious competition would be Amazon Music Unlimited. I don't know if the other services have a selection comparable to Apple's and Amazon's, and some of them might spoil your listening experience with ads.