[Hidentity]

Hello Everyone,

I wish there was a version of Kodi dedicated just to music & audio. A headless Kodi where a device is connected directly to a speaker or hi-fi; browsing and controlling via a mobile application and / or desktop web interface.

I know there's very little chance of any of the above or below coming to fruition but I just wanted to put it out there in the vague hope that something might happen.

Stuff the network music & audio player of my dreams would provide:

1. A web interface for settings and library management.

2. Integrated stores with the option to download purchases from music and audiobook stores directly to connected or network storage. With as many stores as possible given the chance to sell their stuff on the platform: from the big stores like 7Digital and Pono Music to small specialist stores. Affiliate income going to the XBMC Foundation.

3. Apps for internet radio, iplayer, spotify, podcasts etc. Where possible produced in-house in partnership with broadcasters, companies and media organisations.

4. Libraries for audiobooks, radio drama and other non-music audio. With resume playback from last position.

5. Option to stream to wireless speakers and headphones.

6. Working with mainstream manufacturers to create devices with Kodi Music pre-installed.


Thanks for your time, and I hope the above makes some sense and may possibly see the light of day someday.

Thomas

[whitebelly]

There are efforts to make a more useable Headless Kodi, and there are certainly already web interface and mobile device control apps that work quite well. You can also take advantage of UPNP functionality for inter operability with some other music sources. I have used a headless OpenELEC box for music in the past and it was quite functional.

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=212061

Anything that requires DRM, such as downloading from services, is probably not in the cards.

[Hidentity]

Thanks for the reply. I've read a little about the Headless Kodi over the past six months or so. I don't know how much progress has been made or what direction it is heading but the fact that it's being considered made me think a Kodi Music might be possible. Though not being that technical I've probably got the wrong end of the stick.

I've also tried using an OpenElec (Pi) box as you described but I've always found it a clumsy compromise. For sure it's better and more reliable than servers like Squeezebox, it's just that it falls a long way short of a proper network audio player. Though you have to stump up hundreds for that sort of thing. Hundreds which I don't have.

I just think it'd be better to start again with music & audio. Adding music & audio to a system designed to work around a TV screen seems to be inherently restrictive; forcing you in to cobbled compromises.

Also, most of the stores that aren't iTunes and Audible seem to be DRM-free so I can't see a legal or technical problem with integrated music & audio stores. And it'd be nice if Kodi Music could provide smaller specialist stores with a level playing field: it would truly suck if Amazon, Google and iTunes are allowed to grind all competition in to the dust.

[zag]

OpenELEC with the Chorus web interface will do a lot of what you need.

You can also use the remotes to play music very easily. I use it in my bedroom to stream music with no issues.

[natethomas]

Also, most of the stores that aren't iTunes and Audible seem to be DRM-free so I can't see a legal or technical problem with integrated music & audio stores. And it'd be nice if Kodi Music could provide smaller specialist stores with a level playing field: it would truly suck if Amazon, Google and iTunes are allowed to grind all competition in to the dust.

This has literally never occurred to me, but it's a really cool idea.

I wonder how one goes about creating a music store.

[Hidentity]

Also, most of the stores that aren't iTunes and Audible seem to be DRM-free so I can't see a legal or technical problem with integrated music & audio stores. And it'd be nice if Kodi Music could provide smaller specialist stores with a level playing field: it would truly suck if Amazon, Google and iTunes are allowed to grind all competition in to the dust.

This has literally never occurred to me, but it's a really cool idea.

I wonder how one goes about creating a music store.

Maybe you could start with 7Digital. They provided the back-end for the Ubuntu music store.

[Hidentity]

OpenELEC with the Chorus web interface will do a lot of what you need.

You can also use the remotes to play music very easily. I use it in my bedroom to stream music with no issues.

The Chorus web interface is a fantastic combination with an OpenElec (hifiberry) box + hi-fi. Thanks for the suggestion. It's just what I'd hope a Kodi Music web interface would look like. Though like the experience with the Kodi remotes it'd be nicer without the redundant video, TV and photo tabs. With the user less likely to feel like they are making do.

Maybe Kodi OS, Kodi apps and the Chorus web could have an audio mode that filters out all the irrelevant stuff and tweaks the presentation to suit music & audio. That way there's no need to develop a separate Kodi Music OS, and using Kodi as a dedicated network audio player connected directly to a speaker or hi-fi wouldn't look and feel like a compromise.

[DaveBlake]

I share your dream! It is all about music library for me, with video a second thought. I do watch some video from the file menu, never bothered to scan into a library etc.

Since my primary use for Kodi is music playing, with the TV off, I am very dependant on either web interface or remote app as controller. Chorus, Kore and Yatse all have something to offer, but also have something missing. I have a large and diverse music collection, with Kodi Confluence UI can just about get the classical music separate from the popular music to be manageable using custom nodes, smart playlists etc., but can't do the same with web/remote interfaces (yet).

I would be great to have complete (full UI) control of Kodi music library and player from a remote device - that is my version of the dream. A separate music OS would be a retrograde step. A client/server Kodi - using a Kodi front end running on say an Andriod tablet to control a Kodi back end running on a RPi - that would be great.

[whitebelly]

The Chorus web interface is a fantastic combination with an OpenElec (hifiberry) box + hi-fi. Thanks for the suggestion. It's just what I'd hope a Kodi Music web interface would look like. Though like the experience with the Kodi remotes it'd be nicer without the redundant video, TV and photo tabs. With the user less likely to feel like they are making do.

I use Chorus to play music, I've never felt like it was a compromise having the video components. And if you consider many might want to play music videos, it makes sense to have a video component available in a music player. I think originally Chorus was music only, then they added video features per requests from the community (my memory may be faulty). With that said, I don't use web interfaces for video, because I'm not sitting at my computer when watching video.

Of course, on KODI itself, it is quite easy to remove the video, TV, and picture items from the main menu via settings, and/or have it start in the Music menu.

[jasn]

Bumping this thread hoping for some fresh info from my like-minded Kodi-lovers focused on it's Music serving abilities. I'll be checking out Chorus too and keep my fingers crossed that the new Estuary skin will have some smart music features as well.

[Ian Stevenson]

Hi guys!

I read there was karoke in Kodi yet it was removed. Is there anyone dealing with a substitution add on? I tried searching for it. However didn't found anything.

Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks!

[zag]

Hi guys!

I read there was karoke in Kodi yet it was removed. Is there anyone dealing with a substitution add on? I tried searching for it. However didn't found anything.

Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks!

There was some discussion here:

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=210983

Not sure if anyone took it up though. Just needs one developer to show an interest for an Add-on.

[xbs08]

For a headless Kodi you should really try Yatse remote.

[Oli_Oops]

Does anyone know if there ever was any work done to strip everything but music from Kodi? The Raspberry Pi Zero W makes an awesome headless music player with the exception that every single headless music OS doesn't come anywhere near to what Kodi can do and already has to offer. It's truly sad. Hundreds of addons vs about a dozen. In the end I gave up turning one of the Zero's into headless music player it simply wasn't worth it. Anyhoe. With so many changes to Kodi since the O.P. is stripping everything but Music out doable and at what difficulty level.