[mythtv-users] iTunes and MythMusic

[Scott]

On May 21, 2006, at 12:37 AM, Dave Jones wrote:
> I'm definitely interested in this, too... dealing with a SQL  
> backend can be kinda clunky. I would much like to be able to create  
> a playlist at my desktop (in the office) and listen in the living  
> room.

We have a whole house iTunes solution, but it doesn't involve MythTV.  
That's not to say that MythTV couldn't be worked to do something  
similar. For iTunes integration and playback the two key abilities I  
make use of are a) understanding the iTunes Library DB format and b)  
the ability to stream music. Both of these capabilities are well  
established in various Open Source projects and could be incorporated  
into MythMusic backend at some point. On the frontend it would be  
nice if MythMusic could tune into an mp3 stream. (I don't use  
MythMusic can it do these things already?)

Here's my music setup.

Our entire iTunes library (songs + database) is stored on a Linux  
server. The three Macs in the house access the library by first  
mounting the SMB share then starting iTunes. Any Mac can setup play  
lists, add new songs, etc and the results are always in sync with the  
other Macs because everything is done on the Linux share.

On the same Linux server I have slimserver running  
(www.slimdevices.com). Slimserver is a nice way to browse, search,  
and stream a collection of music (mp3, ogg, acc, etc) Slimserver  
understands the iTunes Music Library database and uses it when  
browsing or searching songs via the web so all artist, title, cover  
art, etc entered in iTunes is available.. I have a 2nd generation  
squeezebox (also from slimdevices) hooked to my multi-room a/v  
receiver to distribute music to various rooms in the house. Any  
software that can receive a mp3 stream can be used to tune into the  
slimserver mp3 stream and play back music. (Obviously you don't need  
to purchase additional hardware unless you think it fits your needs.)

Usability goes something like this. To play a song use any computer  
to go to the slimserver web page and select the songs / albums /  
artists / playlists to hear and put them in the queue. To add songs  
or otherwise manage the music collection mount the SMB share and fire  
up iTunes. That's pretty much it and it really is as simple as it  
sounds. :)

There are two issues with my setup that we learn to live with. The  
first is that the iTunes Music Library doesn't understand concurrent  
access so it's important to make sure only one copy of iTuunes is  
running at a time. The second issue is that slimserver cannot deal  
with the fairplay DRM from the ITMS purchases. This can be worked  
around if slimserver was installed on a Mac instead of a Linux box or  
by re-encoding purchased songs to some other format as we do.

--
Scott <catfather at donpoo.net>
AIM: BlueCame1