Songbird

Songbird is an open source desktop media player and Firefox browser plug-in. It can be used to play local media files or stream files on the Internet. It is also designed to aid users in finding new music online.

Fast Facts

1. Developer: Pioneers of the Inevitable
2. Project run by Mozilla
3. Originally released: 2006
4. Operating systems: Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris
5. Current stable release: 0.6
6. License: GNU GPL (free)
7. Usage: Media player
8. Supports all open file formats and most others including AAC, XviD, Ogg Vorbis, WMV and DRM
9. Integration with music networks such as Last.fm, SHOUTcast, eMusic and The Hype Machine
10. Media files on the browsed website are listed as playable files in Songbird
11. Built-in MP3 download
12. Meta-data tags can be edited and saved to the media file
13. Bookmarking

Quotes

"If today's Web browsers were built like today's media players, Internet Explorer would only surf to Microsoft.com and only run on the Xbox. So we're looking to be more like a Web browser."—Rob Lord, Pioners of the Inevitible CEO¹

"The possibilities for networked services are totally untapped. For instance, Justin Frankel created a collaborative jamming service, and you can't do that inside any commercial media player now. You'll be able to do those kinds of things inside Songbird."—Rob Lord²

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