mpz — music player for large local collections

Directory tree is your music library

If you organize your music in folders rather than letting an app index a "library", mpz is for you. A free, open-source, native C++/Qt 6 music player for large local collections on Linux, macOS, and Windows. No library indexing step — just folders, and playlists you build from them by middle-clicking.

The 3-column UI shows the directory tree, the list of playlists, and tracks from the selected playlist. Middle-click a folder and it becomes a playlist; switch between playlists quickly.

mpz main window: directory tree (left), playlists (middle), and tracks of the selected playlist (right)

mpz on KDE Plasma with the Breeze Dark theme — KDE Breeze Dark desktop theme

mpz on KDE Plasma with the Breeze Light theme — KDE Breeze Light desktop theme

Native C++/Qt — fast and responsive UI

Built with C++ and Qt 6 — lightweight and fast. Open source (GPL-3.0) and cross-platform. Uses audio codecs installed on your system (GStreamer through QtMultimedia on Linux). Follows your desktop theme. The "z" in the name reflects a no-nonsense approach — no clutter, no distractions.

mpd client mode

Supports mpd (Music Player Daemon). You can add an mpd server as a library folder, browsing and playing remote music as if it were local. This is an experimental feature, and there is an mpd impedance mismatch — see more in the README.

Radio streams, lyrics, tags, and more

Internet radio streams in m3u and pls formats. CUE sheets supported. A playback log keeps history of what played — handy when you hear something you like on a radio stream. MPRIS on Linux for remote playback control, for example via KDE Connect.

Lyrics — embedded in tags, in .lrc/.txt sidecar files, or fetched online from LRCLIB — are shown in the Track Info dialog. Tag reading and editing via TagLib (ID3v2, Vorbis Comment, MP4, APE) — edit track metadata directly from the built-in tag editor dialog (since 2.0.8). Common audio formats — FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, ALAC, WAV — through your system's codecs (QtMultimedia with the GStreamer or ffmpeg backend on Linux, native backends on macOS and Windows).

The built-in feedback form dialog — Feedback form

The mpz About window showing version and credits — About window

Dialog for configuring library folders — Library folders configuration

Playback log showing recently played tracks — useful when listening to internet radio streams — Playback log

Install

openSUSE, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, RedHat, Mageia, Arch, Manjaro	Install from the omnipackage repositories: stable releases (recommended) or unstable builds from master. These are the primary repositories going forward; both new and existing users are encouraged to use them. Already using the old Open Build Service repositories? The previous Open Build Service repositories still exist and existing installations will keep working, but existing users are also encouraged to switch — future packaging effort is focused on omnipackage. The new repositories are signed with different GPG keys, so switching means removing the old repository and adding the new one (the install pages linked above walk through this). Note: on Debian-based distros (Debian, Ubuntu) the OBS builds were always built against Qt5, even on releases that ship a recent enough Qt6 — making OBS produce working `.deb` packages with Qt6 turned out to be very painful. The omnipackage builds use Qt6 where the distro supports it.
Arch (AUR)	An AUR package is also available if you prefer it over the binary repositories: AUR package with Qt6 or the Qt5 variant.
Windows	Download the installer or portable build from the GitHub releases page. Builds are available for 64-bit x64 (recommended), native ARM64 (Windows on ARM), and legacy 32-bit systems.
macOS	Download the `.dmg` from the GitHub releases page. Universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs (macOS 11 Big Sur or later). Gatekeeper blocks the app on first launch The build is not signed with an Apple Developer ID, so macOS Gatekeeper blocks it on first launch. After dragging `mpz music player.app` to `/Applications`, use either method below. Terminal: remove the quarantine flag, then open the app normally: `xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/mpz music player.app"` System Settings: try to open `mpz music player.app` once and dismiss the warning, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security. Near the bottom you'll see a message that mpz was blocked — click Open Anyway and confirm. The app launches normally from then on. See the README for details.
From source	Follow the README.

Not an attempt to clone Foobar2000

Inspired by Foobar2000 and especially its "Album list" feature, mpz isn't trying to be a cross-platform Foobar2000 clone — that's not feasible, and not the goal. Instead, mpz has all the features I've been using for many years (quite literally the same unchanged Foobar2000 config since 2005 or so). So if you're looking for a Foobar2000-style alternative on Linux, macOS, or Windows, mpz may be it — or it may not fit your taste. Either way, I'd love to hear from you — use the built-in feedback form or GitHub issues.

Frequently asked questions

What is mpz?
mpz is a free and open-source music player for large local music collections, built with C++ and Qt. It treats your folder structure as the library and offers a 3-column UI for the directory tree, playlists, and tracks.

Is mpz a Foobar2000 alternative?
Sort of. mpz is inspired by Foobar2000 — especially its "Album list" — but it isn't a Foobar2000 clone; a faithful cross-platform clone isn't feasible and isn't the goal. It keeps the features the author has used daily for years, in a native, folder-based player that runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, whereas Foobar2000 is Windows-only. If you organize your music in folders and want a Foobar2000-style workflow on Linux or macOS, mpz may suit you.

Can mpz handle very large music collections?
Yes — that's what it's built for. mpz treats your folder structure as the library, with no global indexing step, so it doesn't scan a whole collection into a database before you can play anything.

What platforms does mpz support?
Linux, macOS, and Windows. On Linux, install from the omnipackage repositories (openSUSE, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, RedHat, Mageia, Arch, Manjaro) or the AUR on Arch. On Windows, download a release from GitHub — builds for 64-bit x64, native ARM64 (Windows on ARM), and legacy 32-bit. On macOS, download the .dmg from GitHub releases — the build is unsigned, so Gatekeeper blocks it on first launch — either remove the quarantine flag with xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/mpz music player.app", or click Open Anyway under System Settings → Privacy & Security after the first blocked launch. Building from source is supported on any platform with Qt and a C++ compiler.

Does mpz have a mobile app (Android or iOS)?
No. mpz is a desktop music player for Linux, macOS, and Windows only; there is no Android or iOS version. On Linux, you can control desktop playback from a phone over MPRIS — for example via KDE Connect.

Is mpz free?
Yes. mpz is free and open-source software, licensed under the GNU GPL v3.

Does mpz support streaming services?
No. mpz focuses on local music files. Internet radio streams in m3u and pls playlist formats are supported, but online streaming services are not.

What audio formats does mpz support?
Common formats — FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, ALAC, and WAV — played through your system's codecs (QtMultimedia with the GStreamer or ffmpeg backend on Linux, native backends on macOS and Windows). Because playback uses system codecs, exact format availability depends on what's installed on your machine.

Does mpz support CUE sheets?
Yes, CUE sheets are supported.

Can mpz act as an mpd client?
Yes, mpz has an experimental mpd client mode (since version 2.0.0). You can add an mpd server as a library folder. There are some caveats — see the README for details.

Does mpz support lyrics?
Yes. Lyrics can be embedded in tags, loaded from .lrc or .txt sidecar files, or fetched online from LRCLIB. They are shown in the Track Info dialog.

Can mpz edit tags?
Yes. Since version 2.0.8, mpz includes a built-in tag editor dialog for editing track metadata (title, artist, album, etc.) on common formats supported by TagLib — ID3v2, Vorbis Comment, MP4, and APE.

Why is it called mpz?
The "z" reflects a no-nonsense approach — no clutter, no distractions.