January 27, 2026
Linux vs Spotify: custody battle
The state of Linux music players in 2026
Linux fans declare war on Spotify while fighting over which ‘old school’ music app is coolest
TLDR: A Linux blogger says it’s time to dump pricey streaming services, buy music again, and use classic-style apps to play it. The comments explode into a feud between computer loyalists, phone-first listeners, and fans of their favorite underdog music players, all arguing over the “right” way to press play.
Forget Spotify and its rising prices: the article pitches 2026 as the year nerds rip their own CDs again, run home servers, and treat streaming like a bad ex. But the real show is in the comments, where the Linux crowd immediately turns it into a nostalgia-fueled battle royale over music players.
One camp shows up clutching their favorites like treasured mixtapes. Someone is thrilled to learn there’s a modern fork of Clementine, calling it their “favorite player ever,” basically giving it main-character energy. Another commenter insists that anyone fleeing Windows and the legendary Foobar2000 should jump straight to DeadBeeF, a similarly minimalist player with an extremely metal name for something that just shuffles songs.
Then a bomb drops: one user calmly says they’re “surprised anyone still plays music on their computer” in 2026, claiming everyone just uses their phones or fancy audio gadgets now. That single line turns the thread into a generational divide: desktop diehards vs. smartphone realists. Others pile in with their own snubs and omissions, demanding to know how the ultra-customizable Quod Libet didn’t make the list, or proudly confessing they still use a brutally simple combo called MPD and ncmpcpp, the musical equivalent of listening to vinyl in a log cabin. In short: Linux users may hate Spotify, but they love arguing about how to hit play.
Key Points
- •The article promotes owning music over streaming and focuses on Linux desktop music players in 2026.
- •It recommends purchasing DRM-free music via CDs, iTunes, and Bandcamp as accessible, legal options.
- •A workflow is outlined: rip CDs to FLAC and stream a self-hosted library via Jellyfin or Navidrome.
- •The author searched nixpkgs for “music player,” finding about 200 results and narrowing to non-streaming desktop players.
- •The evaluation considers features typically found in modern streaming apps, and the list is described as non-exhaustive.