We compiled an initial shortlist of three that we felt everyone should try: Rhythmbox, the default Gnome player; Amarok, the default KDE player; and Banshee, a player that has been around for a while and has now supplanted Rhythmbox on Ubuntu. To this we added Songbird, a music player built on the Mozilla codebase; and the doughty VLC, which has been playing media in various formats and on various operating systems since 1996.
Direct comparisons between such diverse software may seem unfair - a bare-bones player such as VLC is competing for a different demographic than a bells-and-whistles app such as Amarok or Banshee - which is why we've broken the Roundup into categories.
Best Linux music player: 5 reviewed and rated - TechRadar UK
Direct comparisons between such diverse software may seem unfair - a bare-bones player such as VLC is competing for a different demographic than a bells-and-whistles app such as Amarok or Banshee - which is why we've broken the Roundup into categories.
Content Generation Tools Software
As Amarok is heavily integrated with KDE, we tested it on that desktop and, for fairness, tested Rhythmbox and Banshee on Gnome. VLC and Songbird were used on both desktops.Free Content Generation Tools Software
Best Linux music player: 5 reviewed and rated - TechRadar UK
