I Want To Listen To

Music Assistant plays from music sources, and there are a lot of them. Rather than reading through the list one at a time, start from what you actually want to hear and see which sources provide it.

Pick a heading below to jump to the sources for it. Most sources appear more than once, because plenty of them do several jobs at the same time. You can also compare all providers side by side.

What do you want to listen to?

Pick one to jump to the music sources that can provide it.

• My own music 8 sources
• Streaming music 18 sources
• Radio stations 15 sources
• Podcasts 19 sources
• Audiobooks 10 sources
• Live concert recordings 3 sources
• Classical music 8 sources
• Entertainment for children 4 sources

Or something from your own country

These sources carry content from one country, or are only available there.

• Deutschland / Germany 1 source
• Österreich / Austria 1 source
• Sverige / Sweden 2 sources
• Danmark / Denmark 2 sources
• Россия / Russia 3 sources
• 中国 / China 2 sources
• 日本 / Japan 1 source
• France 1 source
• United Kingdom 2 sources
• Australia 1 source
• United States 2 sources

My own music

Music you already own, held on a disk, a NAS or your own media server.

• Audiobookshelf
• Emby
• iBroadcast
• Jellyfin
• Local Files
• Plex
• Subsonic
• TeddyCloud

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Streaming music

Services with a large catalogue to search and play, some paid and some free.

• Apple Music
• Bandcamp
• Deezer
• Internet Archive
• KION Music
• MusicMe
• NetEase Cloud Music
• Nico Nico Video
• Nugs.net
• Qobuz
• QQ Music
• SoundCloud
• Spotify
• Tidal
• Yandex Music
• YouSee Musik
• YouTube Music
• Zvuk Music

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Radio stations

Live internet radio, from a single station through to directories of thousands.

• ABC Radio Network
• ARD Sounds
• BBC Sounds
• Builtin
• DI.fm Network
• Mamma Mi Radio
• NTS Radio
• ORF Radiothek
• Pandora
• Radio Browser
• Radio Paradise
• SiriusXM
• SomaFM Radio
• Sveriges Radio
• TuneIn

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Podcasts

Follow shows and pick up each episode where you left off.

• ARD Sounds
• Audiobookshelf
• BBC Sounds
• Deezer
• gPodder
• Internet Archive
• iTunes Podcast Search
• Local Files
• ORF Radiothek
• Overcast
• Plex
• Pocketcasts
• Podcast Index
• Podcast RSS Feed
• Spotify
• Storytel
• Subsonic
• Yandex Music
• YouTube Music

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Audiobooks

Books to listen to, with chapters and a saved position.

• Audible
• Audiobookshelf
• Deezer
• Internet Archive
• Local Files
• Plex
• Spotify
• Storytel
• TeddyCloud
• Yandex Music

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Live concert recordings

Soundboard and audience recordings of shows, often complete sets.

• Internet Archive
• Nugs.net
• Phish.in

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Classical music

Stations and services carrying orchestral, chamber and operatic music.

• ABC Radio Network
• BBC Sounds
• DI.fm Network
• ORF Radiothek
• Radio Browser
• SiriusXM
• Sveriges Radio
• TuneIn

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Entertainment for children

Audio made for younger listeners.

• ABC Radio Network
• SiriusXM
• Sveriges Radio
• TeddyCloud

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Deutschland / Germany

Radio and podcasts from the German public broadcasters.

• ARD Sounds

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Österreich / Austria

Austrian radio stations and podcasts.

• ORF Radiothek

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Sverige / Sweden

Swedish public service radio, and audiobooks in Swedish.

• Storytel
• Sveriges Radio

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Danmark / Denmark

Danish music streaming, and audiobooks in Danish.

• Storytel
• YouSee Musik

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Россия / Russia

Streaming services with large Russian language catalogues.

• KION Music
• Yandex Music
• Zvuk Music

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中国 / China

The two large streaming platforms in Mainland China.

• NetEase Cloud Music
• QQ Music

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日本 / Japan

Music uploaded by the Nico Nico community, much of it found nowhere else.

• Nico Nico Video

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France

French streaming with a catalogue of major and independent labels.

• MusicMe

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United Kingdom

British radio, live and after broadcast.

• BBC Sounds
• NTS Radio

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Australia

Australian public radio, from new music to classical and jazz.

• ABC Radio Network

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United States

American radio, from satellite channels to personalised stations.

• Pandora
• SiriusXM

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Comparing sources side by side

Every source above has its own page covering what it can do, what it costs and how to set it up. To weigh two of them against each other instead, the table below summarises all of them at once. Green ticks mark a desirable quality or function.

Stream quality is shown as either Hi-Res, CD quality or lossy, with the codec and bitrate where available.

The most user friendly login method is a password. Next best is OAuth, where you log in on the service’s own website and grant Music Assistant access to your account. The cookie method, where you copy a hidden value out of your browser, is the least desirable.

What each music source offers

Source	Free	Local	E. Mix	Recs	Max StreamQuality	MediaTypes	Login
ABC Radio Network		No	No	No	Lossy AAC 246kbps	Radio	None
Apple Music	No	No			Lossy AAC 256kbps	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Radio	OAuth or Cookie
ARD Sounds		No	No	No	Lossy variable bitrate	Radio Podcasts	Password
Audible	No	No	No	No	Lossy AAC variable bitrate	Podcasts Audiobooks	OAuth
Audiobookshelf			No		Hi-Res 192kHz 24 bit	Playlists Podcasts Audiobooks	Password or Token
Bandcamp		No	No	No	Lossy MP3 128kbps	Artists Albums Tracks	None or Cookie
BBC Sounds		No	No		Lossy AAC-LC 320kbps	Tracks Radio Podcasts	None or Password
Deezer	No	No			CD FLAC 44.1kHz 16 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Radio Podcasts Audiobooks	Cookie (ARL)
DI.fm Network	No	No	No	No	Lossy MP3 320kbps	Radio	Listen Key
Emby			No	No	Hi-Res FLAC 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Password
gPodder		No	No	No	Lossy variable bitrate	Podcasts	Password or Nextcloud Login
iBroadcast		No	No	No	Hi-Res FLAC 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Password
Internet Archive		No	No	No	CD FLAC 44.1kHz 16 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Podcasts Audiobooks	None
iTunes Podcast Search		No	No		Lossy variable bitrate	Podcasts	None
Jellyfin			No	No	Hi-Res FLAC 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Password
KION Music	No	No			Hi-Res FLAC	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Token
Local Files			No	No	Hi-Res FLAC, Unlimited	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Podcasts Audiobooks	None or Password
Mamma Mi Radio			No	No	Lossy MP3 (192kbps, 48 kHz)	Radio	None
MusicMe	No	No	No		Lossy AAC 320kbps	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Password
NetEase Cloud Music	No	No			Hi-Res FLAC	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Radio	NetEase App QR Code
Nico Nico Video		No			Lossy AAC up to 576kbps	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Cookie or Password+MFA
NTS Radio		No	No	No	Lossy AAC 256kbps	Radio	None
Nugs.net	No	No	No	No	Hi-Res FLAC 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Playlists	Password
ORF Radiothek	1	No	No	No	Lossy AAC 320kbps	Radio Podcasts	None
Overcast		No	No	No	Lossy variable bitrate	Podcasts	Password
Pandora		No	No	No	Lossy MP3 192kbps	Radio	Password
Phish.in		No	No	No	Lossy MP3 256kbps	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	None
Plex			No		Hi-Res FLAC 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Podcasts Audiobooks	Password
Pocketcasts		No	No	No	Varies by feed	Podcasts	Password
Podcast Index		No	No	No	Lossy variable bitrate	Podcasts	None
Podcast RSS Feed		No	No	No	Lossy variable bitrate	Podcasts	None
Qobuz	No	No	No	No	Hi-Res FLAC 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Password
QQ Music	No	No			Hi-Res FLAC up to 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	QQ or WeChat App QR Code
Radio Browser		No	No	No	Varies by station	Radio	None
Radio Paradise		No	No	No	CD FLAC 44.1kHz 16 bit	Radio	None
SiriusXM	No	No	No	No	Lossy variable bitrate	Radio	Password
SomaFM Radio		No	No	No	Lossy AAC 130kbps	Radio	None
SoundCloud		No	No	No	Lossy AAC 256kbps	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Cookie
Spotify	No	No		No	CD Lossless, up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz (Soloist)	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Podcasts Audiobooks	OAuth
Storytel	No	No	No		Lossy AAC/MP4	Podcasts Audiobooks	Password
Subsonic					Hi-Res FLAC 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Radio Podcasts	Password
Sveriges Radio		No	No	No	Lossy MP3 320kbps	Radio	None
TeddyCloud			No	No	Lossy Opus 96kbps	Audiobooks	None
Tidal	No	No			Hi-Res FLAC 192kHz 24 bit	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	OAuth
TuneIn		No	No		Varies by station	Radio	None
Yandex Music	No	No			Hi-Res FLAC	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Podcasts Audiobooks	Device Flow / QR Code / Token
YouSee Musik	No	No			Lossy MP4 320kbps	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Password
YouTube Music	No	No			Lossy AAC 256kbps	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists Podcasts	Token + Cookie
Zvuk Music	2	No			Hi-Res FLAC	Artists Albums Tracks Playlists	Token

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

1. ORF Radiothek: some content may be region-locked
2. Zvuk Music: with limitations

What the columns mean

Free

Some or all of what this source offers can be played without paying for a subscription.

Self-hosted

The source plays from files you hold yourself, on your own disk, NAS or server, rather than from someone else's catalogue.

Endless Mix

Music Assistant can keep playing in a similar vein once the queue runs out, using this source's own idea of what is similar.

Recommendations

The source offers its own suggestions, which appear in the Discover view.

Max Stream Quality

The best this source can deliver. Hi-Res is above 48kHz or above 16 bits; CD matches a compact disc; Lossy has been compressed in a way that discards detail; Varies means it depends on the station or feed rather than on the source.

Media Types

What this source can play. A source often does several of these at once.

Login

What you need to sign in with. A password is the most straightforward; OAuth signs you in on the service's own site; a cookie has to be copied out of your browser by hand and is the least user friendly.

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