If you organize your music in folders rather than letting an app index a "library", mpz is the folder player for you. A free, open-source, native C++/Qt 6 music player for large local collections on Linux, macOS and Windows. No 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.
m3u, m3u8 and pls playlists play directly. There is also a dedicated Radio library with built-in stations from
SomaFM, Radio Paradise, FIP, France Musique and Nightride FM, plus your own. Stream playlists still play
directly, or import into the library. HTTPS, a radio row view, and stream titles from IceCast's status-json.xsl are supported. The playback log keeps the history of what
played.
OS media integration: MPRIS on Linux (remote control, e.g. via KDE Connect), SMTC and taskbar controls on Windows, Now Playing and native menu/Dock on macOS, plus a system tray with playback controls.
Cover art from tags or folder images, and lyrics embedded in tags or in
.lrc/.txt sidecar files. Both can also come from online sources, opt-in and off by default: nothing is fetched until you enable a provider in
Settings → Online lyrics & covers. Covers come from Deezer, Apple Music or
Cover Art Archive, lyrics from
LRCLIB, NetEase, QQ Music or Lyrics.ovh. Both show in the Track Info dialog or in dockable panels that follow
the playing track. Tags are read and written via
TagLib
(ID3v2, Vorbis Comment, MP4, APE), editable in the built-in tag editor, album artist and disc number included, as columns and sort keys too. Audio formats go through your system's codecs
(QtMultimedia with the GStreamer or ffmpeg backend on Linux, native backends on macOS and Windows): FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Opus, Speex, AAC, ALAC, M4A/M4B/MP4, WAV, AIFF, WMA/ASF, APE,
WavPack, Musepack, TTA, MKA, DSD, Shorten.
The dynamic range meter gives a per-track and album DR log in the foobar2000 Dynamic Range Meter format, from the playlist context menu or the track info dialog (Qt 6 only). The seekbar can show the track waveform (off by default in Settings → Interface), and the output device button shows the selected device name.
Drag and drop files and folders from your file manager, reorder tracks within a playlist by dragging, and drag folders, radio stations and tracks between the three panels. Playback order per playlist and global: sequential, random, or no-loop. Track sorting presets. Global media-key hotkeys and a keyboard shortcuts dialog where every shortcut is editable. Update check on Windows, macOS and the Linux AppImage. UI in English, Russian, Japanese and Serbian.
Native packages for openSUSE, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, RedHat, Mageia, Arch and Manjaro:
The repository holds only mpz, so it can't break anything else on your system. Packages can also be downloaded directly, without adding a repository.
The Open Build Service repositories still exist, but existing users are encouraged to switch. 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).
Available on Flathub, or from your desktop's software centre:
flatpak install flathub org.mpz_player.mpzWorks on any distribution. Prefer the native packages if your distro is supported.
AppImage builds (x86_64 and aarch64) are on the GitHub releases page. Prefer the native packages if your distro is supported.
Arch and Manjaro are covered by the native packages, but an AUR package is also available.
Run the installer from the GitHub releases page. It creates Start Menu shortcuts and registers an uninstaller.
To uninstall, use the "Uninstall mpz" Start Menu shortcut or Control Panel. Settings → Apps may not work on Windows 11 (a known Qt Installer Framework bug).
Download the portable build from the GitHub releases page, unpack it anywhere and run it. Nothing is installed system-wide and there is no Start Menu entry.
Builds: win-x86_64-qt6 for 64-bit x64 (recommended), win-arm64-qt6 for native ARM64 (Windows on ARM), and win-legacy-qt5 for legacy 32-bit
systems below Windows 10.
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen: "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway. No Run anyway? Right-click the file → Properties → tick Unblock → Apply.
Smart App Control: "cannot be verified", with nothing to click, and it has no exception list. Turn it off in Windows Security → App & browser control → Smart App Control, install, turn it back on. Older Windows 11 builds made that switch one-way, so check you can re-enable it first. Only clean installs of Windows 11 have it on.
Download the .dmg from the GitHub releases page. Universal binary
for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs (macOS 11 Big Sur or later).
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.
Or build from source — follow the README.
A free and open-source folder player for large local music collections, built with C++ and Qt. It treats your folder structure as the library, with a 3-column UI for the directory tree, playlists and tracks.
Yes. It plays music straight from your folder structure instead of importing it into a database. Middle-click any folder to turn it into a playlist. Your directory tree is the library, with no global indexing step.
Partly. mpz is inspired by Foobar2000, especially its "Album list", but it is not a clone: a faithful cross-platform clone is neither feasible nor the goal. It keeps the features the author has used daily for years, in a native folder-based player for Linux, macOS and Windows, where Foobar2000 is Windows-only.
Yes, that is what it is built for. Your folder structure is the library, so nothing gets scanned into a database before you can play anything.
Linux, macOS and Windows. On Linux, install the native packages (openSUSE, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, RedHat, Mageia, Arch, Manjaro) for x86_64 and aarch64, or from the AUR, Flathub (flatpak install flathub org.mpz_player.mpz) or an AppImage. On Windows, take a release from GitHub: 64-bit x64, native ARM64 (Windows on ARM) or legacy 32-bit. On macOS, take the .dmg from GitHub releases. That
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. Building from source works on any platform with Qt and a C++ compiler.
Yes, on Flathub as org.mpz_player.mpz. Install it with
flatpak install flathub org.mpz_player.mpz, or from your desktop's software centre. It works on any distribution, but prefer the native packages if your distro is supported.
No. mpz is a desktop player for Linux, macOS and Windows; there is no Android or iOS version. On Linux you can control playback from a phone over MPRIS, for example via KDE Connect.
Yes. mpz is free and open-source software, licensed under the GNU GPL v3.
No, mpz focuses on local music files. Internet radio works (a radio library with built-in stations, plus m3u, m3u8 and pls stream playlists), but
streaming services are not supported.
Yes, and always has: stream playlists in m3u, m3u8 and pls play like any other playlist. Version 2.1.0 added a radio library with built-in stations
from SomaFM, Radio Paradise, FIP, France Musique and Nightride FM plus your own, HTTPS, a radio row view, and stream titles from IceCast's status-json.xsl. Stream playlists
still play directly, or import into the library.
FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Opus, Speex, AAC, ALAC, M4A/M4B/MP4, WAV, AIFF, WMA/ASF, APE, WavPack, Musepack, TTA, MKA, DSD (DSF/DFF) and Shorten, played through your system's codecs
(QtMultimedia with the GStreamer or ffmpeg backend on Linux, native backends on macOS and Windows). Playlists and radio streams: m3u, m3u8, pls.
Since playback uses system codecs, exact format availability depends on what is installed.
Yes, anywhere in your library. Decoded audio is buffered in memory (100 MB by default, configurable in Settings → Advanced), which also makes seeking instant. Qt 6 builds only.
Yes. 10-band graphic and full parametric modes, importing presets from AutoEq, SquigLink and similar sources. On/off and preset are per output device ("Default" counts as one), the presets themselves are shared. The EQ follows the device in use, so unplugging headphones switches it along with the audio. It runs on the gapless engine, so gapless has to be enabled. Qt 6 only.
Yes. mpz reads existing ReplayGain tags and can measure tracks itself: the current playlist, the selection, or the whole library, analysed in the background. Results are stored either in a sidecar database, which leaves the audio files untouched, or written into the files as tags. Track or album gain, with a preamp and clipping prevention. Qt 6 only.
Yes, including gapless playback of single-file albums split by a CUE sheet.
Yes. Select tracks and pick "Dynamic range" in the playlist context menu, or open it from the track info dialog, to get a per-track and album DR log in the foobar2000 Dynamic Range Meter format. Qt 6 only.
The interface is translated into English, Russian, Japanese and Serbian, and follows your system language by default.
Yes, as an experimental mode. You can add an mpd server as a library folder. There are caveats: see the mpd impedance mismatch section of the README.
Yes. Lyrics can be embedded in tags, loaded from .lrc or .txt sidecar files, or fetched online from
LRCLIB, NetEase, QQ Music or Lyrics.ovh. Online lookup is opt-in: nothing is fetched until you enable a
provider in Settings → Online lyrics & covers. Lyrics show up in the Track Info dialog or in a dockable Lyrics panel.
Yes, once you turn it on. Cover art comes from tags or folder images first, and when neither has one mpz can look it up online through Deezer, Apple Music or Cover Art Archive. These sources are opt-in and off by default: enable and reorder them in Settings → Online lyrics & covers, where downloaded covers can also be cleared.
Yes, there is a built-in tag editor for track metadata (title, artist, album and so on) on the formats TagLib supports: ID3v2, Vorbis Comment, MP4 and APE.
The "z" reflects a no-nonsense approach: no clutter, no distractions.