[mythtv-users] Alternatives to MythMusic in 0.25, has anyone already found one?

[Scott & Nicole Harris]

>> Let's be clear Eric, no-one is saying it should be replaced, simply that 
>> we
>> don't like the "everything is a playlist" concept and that we preferred 
>> the
>> old method of having a directory tree that you could simply browse around
>> and if you clicked play at the top level it played all your music, if you
>> clicked at an artist it played everything by that artist, if you clicked 
>> at
>> an album it played the album and if you clicked on a song it played a 
>> song.

>Ok.  So the .25 mythmusic has all of that except the top level select
>all.  Is that really something that people really used?  Sure, I did
>it a few times as a lark in previous releases but in practice I found
>the result just too weird.

It doesn't actually have *any* of that.  It has the ability to select an 
album or artist and "add" or "replace tracks", thereby adding it to the 
current playlist.  It does not have the ability to simply select something 
and have it play.

>A lot of these posts read like people who haven't tried it for more
>than a few minutes or somehow didn't find the built-in playlist editor
>(M -> Switch View -> Playlist Editor Tree) that lets you pick what you
>want to listen to without ever needing to save a named playlist just
>like you could in earlier releases.

>Eric

No it doesn't, not even close.  First, it's sorted by meta tags (only 
option) and all artists (for example) are lumped into one giant list that 
you have to scroll through, unlike the smaller groups that I had my 
directories broken out to and, again, organized precisely how I wanted it. 
Don't even get me started on if your metadata is even slightly off, then you 
may never find what you're looking for.   Then, you can't just pick what you 
want to listen to, you have to select it, which merely puts it into the 
current playlist.  Then you have to get to the current playlist (good luck 
on figuring out how to do that sometimes), scroll through it and (finally) 
play it.  Not to mention that you have to "M -> Switch View -> Playlist 
Editor Tree" *every* time you start listening to music because your 
previously selected view isn't retained.

I'd counter your "a lot of these posts read like people..." comment with; A 
lot of these "I don't see the problem" posts read like people who have a 
collection of 15 songs and can't fathom why it's so hard to navigate the new 
structure when you have thousands of songs.

I don't like it, you do, that's cool; not sure about calling those of us who 
don’t and are looking for options insane though.  Personally, I'd probably 
*love* the new version with the simple addition of directory browsing as 
opposed to being forced to use meta tags.  Hell, I'd even live with being 
forced to add everything to a playlist (like we currently are, despite your 
claim) if I could navigate through my collection with my directory setup.