My Musical Homecoming!

UPDATED 18-Aug-23: Added ‘Oto Music’ as my preferred Android-based mobile MP3 music player.

UPDATED 5-Feb-24: Reverted to ‘Musicolet’ as my favorite Android Music Player (by far), once I discovered the ‘Pro’ version that supports ChromeCast.

Tired of music streamers that either can’t find your library, plays selections out of order, or selects an unfamiliar version?  Tired of streamers that work on your phone but won’t install on your car?  Tired of streamers that won’t connect when you fly or drive in remote locations?  Tired of paying subscription fees for music that you already own?  Tired of not having control of your library?  Tired of hearing the same songs repeated when you have gems in your library that you haven’t heard for years?  Do you have a pile of CDs gathering dust?  Do you hate fumbling with your phone when you’re driving?

Me too!

So I went “old school” and organized my music* into organized MP3 folders, copied them to USB flash drives, and connected them to the USB port in our cars and home stereo.  I also made spare USB-A / USB-C flash drives and keep them in my backpack so I can use them in rental cars.  And I copied my library to my Android phone using my USB-C flash drive.

Cars and stereos have built-in players that vary in sophistication.  Luckily my 2022 Mini Cooper it is quite nice:  I can search and quickly browse the folder hierarchy.  It scans files in the background and builds a directory to make navigation quick; I don’t have delays when I rotate the scroll wheel even though I have more than 10,000 songs on the flash drive!  Album art is displayed at playback.  I used the USB-A port since it’s fast enough and it frees my USB-C port for phone charging, etc.

My folder hierarchy is basic.  I generally have a folder with the artist name at the top level, with sub-folders for each album below.  If I have incomplete albums or just a few singles I’ll create a “Ω Singles” folder for them (the ‘Ω’ symbol [opt-z on my Macintosh] forces the folder to sort last in the list).  In rare cases I’ll create a top-level folder for genres that I don’t want to otherwise include at the top level (“Ω Broadway”, “Ω Compilations”, “Ω Soundtracks”, etc. for example):

I also included my library in my backups to ensure I wouldn’t have to do this again!

Start Fresh!

• I created a new folder for my music hierarchy safe from the prying eyes of Apple iTunes / Music since I didn’t want their automation to alter my work.  I started fresh to ensure I had a clean library with complete albums and no duplicates.
• I copied most of the content from the iTunes / Music folders that were created when I originally ripped the content years ago.  Don’t move the files out of these folders since it may confuse the apps.  Instead, copy them to your new location for non-destructive results.*

Ripping CDs

• I used iTunes / Apple Music on my Macintosh to rip my library of CDs.  If possible, rip the music as MP3s rather than a proprietary Apple format for longterm versatility across devices (cars, stereos, computers, etc.)
• Converting files to MP3s
  • Apple Music includes a menu option (“File > Convert > Create MP3 Version”) to convert selected files to MP3s.
    • Be warned that the album art may NOT be applied to the converted files, however.  To overcome this, after creating your MP3s, select a song, right-click to “Show Album in Library”, right-click the album art to “Get Info”, go to the “Artwork” tab, and upload an image via “Add Artwork”.  I’d delete existing artwork first, then upload an image file so the same image applies to all selections.  You can find artwork via a Google image search.
  • To MP3 Converter Free:  an app on the Apple App store used for converting music formats to MP3.
    • Rating: 4.7, 4K Reviews
    • Privacy: No Data Collected
• Bulk Renaming Files
  • Your MP3 file names may have numerical prefixes, etc. that you’d like to remove for easier sorting, etc.  This is optional; most players won’t show preceding track numbers, but they could be cumbersome for direct file manipulation.
  • Bulk Rename Tool:  an app on the Apple App store used for renaming files in bulk, with options for stripping off characters that match specific formats (such as numbers).
    • Rating: 3.7, 11 Reviews
    • Privacy: No Data Collected

Flash Drive

• Background:  I wanted a small nubbish device that wouldn’t be prominent in my car.
• Recommended USB Flash Drives
  • USB A: PNY 128GB Elite-X Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive – 200MB/s
    • Read speeds up to 200MB/s
    • Amazon Link: $17.99
    • Smaller / Larger storage options are available
  • USB C: SAMSUNG 128GB
    • Transfers 4GB Files in 11 Secs w/ Up to 400MB/s 3.13 Read Speeds
    • Amazon Link: $19.99
    • Smaller / Larger storage options are available

Music Player, Phone (Android)

• Background: Traditional music Apps (YouTube, Spotify, etc.) may process the MP3s as individual files where playback doesn’t automatically advance to the next selection.  These apps may also require uploads to their ecosystem, and/or require an internet connection even though the files are available locally on the device.  Thus, a separate, standalone, and secure player is more desirable, especially when you don’t want to be surprised by a required Internet connection while on a plane, etc.
• Sorry iPhone users; you’ll have to find your own…
• Recommended Android Player Apps
  • Musicolet (Play Store Link) (MY TOP CHOICE, BY FAR)
    • 
    • Rating: 4.7, 188K reviews, 10M+ Downloads
    • Point the player to your root directory and refresh the playlist via “Folders to Scan” and “Scan”, respectively
    • TONS of features; I LOVE THIS APP!
    • The ‘Pro’ version supports casting to external ChromeCast devices!
    • Privacy:  No data collected, no data shared with 3rd Parties
    • Ads: No advertisements, ever!
  • Oto Music (Play Store Link)
    • 
    • Rating: 4.5, 30.3K reviews, 1M+ Downloads
    • Choose the ‘Scan media’ menu from the top-left menu to scan content and build a directory.
    • Very similar to “Musicolet”, below, but supports casting to ChromeCast devices such as the plugged into my stereo receiver. Critical since my Denon receiver is sluggish processing files from a front-panel plugged-in USB-A Thumb Drive.
    • Privacy:  No data collected, no data shared with 3rd Parties
  • Poweramp (Play Store Link)
    • Rating: 4.4, 275K reviews, 5M+ Downloads
    • Paid Version:  $7.99
    • Privacy:  No data collected, no data shared with 3rd Parties
    • Many configuration / graphic options

Music Player, Computer (Apple Macintosh)

• Background:  “iTunes”, aka “Music”, aka <Silicon Valley marketing rename du jour>, is capable of playing MP3s as albums, playlists, etc., but I simply don’t trust it to maintain the files in their original format and organizational structure since I’ve witnessed them make heavy modifications over time.  Rather, I created my own folder hierarchy outside of the Apple App (“iTunes”, “Media” folders) where I have confidence they’ll be untouched by automated systems.
• Recommended Player App
  • QXPlayer (Search the App store for this title)
  • 
  • Website: LINK
  • Paid Version: $17.99
    • A free version is also available for more limited use (“QXPlayer Lite”)
  • Privacy: No Data Collected
  • Point the player to your root directory under “Preferences / Files Access”.
  • Includes an EQ and many other nice options (output selection, full MP3 tag details, etc.) 

*Note:  I own my music.  I’m not promoting piracy by stealing content.  Rather these are CDs (or albums I purchased online from authorized sources) and I’m only using the restructured libraries for my own personal, non-professional use.

Hope this helps!   Happy listening!