If you are reading this article you must be a huge music lover. Most of the people love listening to music while working at home. Choosing the best music player app for Linux is a tough task these days as there are many online music players out there. If you are new to Linux and looking for the best music player apps, you are in the right place. At the end of this article, you will be able to find the best Linux Music Player that best fits your needs.
Note: This list isn’t in order of preference. You are advised to choose one that suits your needs
Best Linux Music Player Apps: 10 Best Audio Players For Linux Distributions.
1: Clementine
Clementine is one of cross-platform music player app that is popular among Linux users. Due to its ability to create and manage large music collections, Linux users prefer to use Clementine. There are many reasons to use this application and one of its main features is: If you are a person who likes tree view navigation feature you are going to love this application for sure.
Features:
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Linux, Windows, MacOS
- Price Free
- Released February 2010
Why should you use Clementine?
- It has tree view navigation feature.
- You can customize the Interface.
- You can remotely control using your Android app.
- Easy searching features.
- Adding a cover image for a song/finding duplicate and untagged songs is just a matter of few steps.
Installation:
You can install Clementine by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
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sudo apt–get install clementine
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2: Rhythmbox
Rhythmbox is another application that is popular among Linux users due to its unique and user-friendly features and design. Tautomaticallyally looks for new songs that are added to the /Music folder and adds them automatically to the app. Rhythmbox is not as powerful as Clementine it still offers many useful features like plug-in support, web remote control and many others.
Features:
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Linux, Unix-like
- Price Free
- Released August 18, 2001
Why should you use Rhythmbox?
- Plug-in support.
- Gapless playback feature.
- Displays song lyrics by pressing Ctrl+L.
- You can play music from SoundCloud through SoundCloud plug-in.
- It’s Web remote control plugin is used to control the app remotely via Webbrowser.
Installation:
You can install Rhythmbox by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
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sudo apt install rhythmbox
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3: Amarok
Amarok is the KDE default music player that has impressed its users over the years from around the world. Even though it was released in 2003 but still this app gives tough competition to other music player apps that are available online. One of its main features is that it provides Wikipedia lookup support for lyrics and artists. Amarok’s classic design is another reason for which this music player app is loved for.
Features:
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Unix-like, Windows
- Price Free
- Released June 23, 2003
Why should you use Amarok?
- Built-in equalizer.
- Supports almost all music formats.
- Provides lookup support for lyrics and artists on Wikipedia.
- iPhone and iPod support.
- Can add online playlists and streams.
- USB and MTP support features.
Installation:
You can install Amarok by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
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sudo apt–get install amarok
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4: VLC Media Player 
Most of the users think that VLC is just for playing videos but they are not aware of its amazing audio playback. VLC serves as a reliable source for audio playback and network streams. But VLC media player has a major drawback, it lacks the ability to create playlists and remote connectivity.
Features
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, IOS
- Price Free
- Released February 1, 2001
Why should you use VLC?
- Blu-Ray playback support
- No need for outside codecs
- User-friendly interface
- Open source and cross-platform app
- Ability to play a lot of formats
- Capture device recording capabilities
Installation:
You can install VLC by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
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sudo apt-get install vlc browser-plugin-vlc
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5: Gnome Music
Gnome music is an app that is designed for the Gnome environment and available as the default music player. This is a new app that offers a simple and user-friendly user interface that is easy to use and understand for the users. It fetches the album covers for all the songs that are available in your library by default.
Features:
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Windows, MacOS, Linux, Unix-like
- Price Free
- Released December 20, 1998
Why should you use Gnome Music?
- User-friendly UI design
- Minimalistic design
- Stable as compared to others
- Smart Playlist creation capability
Installation:
You can install Gnome music player by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
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sudo apt-get install gnome-music
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6: Cmus
If you are a command line lover, this music player app is for you as it is a command line based music player. Cmus has the best features as compared to the other CLI music players that are available for the Linux environment.
Features
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Unix-like
- Price Free
- Released June 5, 2005
Why should you use Cmus?
- Works well on low memory systems
- Able to handle various formats
- Fast and powerful music player
- Streams through Shoutcast or Lastcast
Installation:
You can install cmus by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
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sudo apt-get install cmus
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7: Spotify
You might have used the web player but the desktop player for Spotify is better than the web player. The user interface of Spotify is classy and easy to use. You can discover new music and share with your friends and family.
Features:
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, IOS
- Price Free & Premium
- Released 2008
Why should you use Spotify?
- Create and edit playlists
- Classic User Interface Design
- Browse playlists that fit the specific moment
- Offers both free and premium services
Installation:
You can install Spotify by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install snapd sudo snap install spotify
8: Audacious
Audacious is a lightweight open source music player that is available can be used by systems that have low memory. This audio player uses the least amount of computer resources so that everyone can enjoy music. A major drawback is that you can not connect to online stores or radio stations, rather you can only play music from your computer.
Features:
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Linux, Windows
- Price Free
- Released October 24, 2005
Why should you use Audacious?
- Uses the least amount of resources
- Simple User Interface
- Plugin and theme support
- Supports all audio formats
Installation:
You can install Audacious by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
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sudo apt-get install audacious
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9: DeaDBeef
DeaDBeef is considered as the ultimate music player that is available for Linux based systems. This music player is said to be the Linux version of Foobar2000 Windows app. Being independent of Gnome or KDE dependencies, DeaDBeef is popular among Linux users. You can use this app to play music from your CD disks or stream podcasts can be added (Both AAC or MP3 formats).
Features:
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Linux, Unix-like, OpenSolaris, MacOS, Android
- Price Free
- Released August 2009
Why should you use DeaDBeef?
- Ability to create playlists
- Plugin Support
- Commandline plugin support
- Metadata editing facility
Installation:
You can install DeaDBeef by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexey-smirnov/deadbeefsudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install deadbeef |
10: Lollypop 
Lollypop is a lightweight and modern music player is inspired by Gnome music. Due to its minimalistic design, this app is loved by Linux users around the world. Lollypop is able to automatically download album covers for the songs in your playlist. You can just turn on the party mode and start using it right away.
Features
- License Open Source
- Status Active
- OS Linux, Unix-like, OpenSolaris, MacOS, Android.
- Price Free
- Released –
Why should you use Lollypop?
- Android app synchronization
- Playlist browsing
- Ability to fetch lyrics, biography from the internet
- Party mode feature
Installation:
You can install Lollypop by using the following command in Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnumdk/gnuppa |
Recommendations
As you can see there is a variety of music players that are available for Linux and each one of them has its own unique features. Now it’s up to you that which app you like the most. If you are looking for a feature-rich music player, I would recommend Clementine, Amarok or Lollypop. Comment down below if we have missed your favorite Linux Music app in this list.
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- Best Linux Distro for Hacking.
Spotify is not open source.