Office jukebox systems

Question

We're looking for a good office jukebox solution where staff can select songs via a web interface to be played over the central set of speakers.

Must haves:

• Web Interface
• RSS / easy to scrap display of currently playing songs
• Ability to play mp3s and manage an ordered playlist.
• Good cataloguing of media.
• Multiple OSs supported as clients - Windows, Mac, Fedora Linux (will probably be accomplished by virtue of a web interface).

We have tried XBMC which worked well as a proof of concept however the web interface is just too immature and has too many bugs for a reliable multi-user solution. I believe the same will be true of boxee.

Nice to have:

• Ability to play music videos onto a monitor
• Ability to listen to radio streams specifically Shoutcast and the BBC.

Ability to run on Linux is a nice to have but windows solutions which worked well would certainly be considered.

I am aware of question 61404 and don't believe this to be a duplicate due to the specific requirements.

Answer 1

Winamp with AjaxAmp installed

Using any web browser on the network you can control the music playing on the central computer, queue stuff up etc, control volume, play / pause etc. Should do everything you want.

The homepage seems to talk a fair bit about its ability to also stream the music FROM the central computer TO any local computer, I understand this isn't what you want so dont let it put you off - it does do what you're asking for also.

Winamp - www.winamp.com

AjaxAmp - www.ajaxamp.com

Answer 2

Have look at Jinzora Media Server.

Answer 3

We have an office of 11 designers using Squeezebox server. This is free from Logitech and is used to drive their network music boxes, but it can also be used to drive a "soft" music player installed on one PC in the office.

All users can do the following:

• add to a web playlist
• add and delete tracks
• fast forward
• shuffle
• etc.

They can also pause and control the volume for when the phone rings (the most important bit). We have a database of thousands of CDs loaded over the years, together with a subscription to Napster that allows us access to millions more tracks.

We've tried all sorts of other solutions over the years, but this one works...

Answer 4

Answer is simpler then expected. iTunes. Using the iTunes DJ feature. Easy to use. Users can even vote for the song to play next. You can manage the playlists that get in the queue, or have it just automatically select it from the music library.