v3.6 RELEASED — Build your own Spotify

YOUR PERSONAL AD-FREE
SPOTIFY ALTERNATIVE

The most enjoyable, distraction-free, self-hosted music player ever crafted. Turn your folder of MP3s into your own music library to listen anywhere.

LIVE DEMO
TRY IN ELIVE (PRE-INSTALLED) Download
Synthwave Player multiple interface themes showcase

"If Spotify is a rented apartment, Synthwave Player is your own home, with a neon party in the basement."

— A declaration of musical independence —

The Philosophy

Why we built a player that respects your ownership and your ears.

OWNERSHIP

De-cloud Your Music

Tired of streaming services that dictate your listening experience, inject ads, and rent you access to music you thought you owned?

True Ownership

Preserve your musical legacy. No monthly fees, no expiring licenses, and no "oops, we lost the rights to this album" moments. Your collection stays yours forever.

Synthwave Player network sharing and music library synchronization
Synthwave Player view-based tracklists and star rating filters
INNOVATION

The View-Based Revolution

Don't waste hours building playlists. In Synthwave Player, your filters are your playlists. Select the vibe (e.g., "80s + 5-Stars + Instrumental") and the player instantly generates a dynamic tracklist.

Share the Vibe

Filter for "5-star 80s Synthwave" and share that exact view with a single link.

Dynamic Curation

Combine multiple genres, artists, and ratings. The player treats your current view as a temporary, perfect playlist.

Why Self-Host?

The advantages of owning your infrastructure are undeniable.

Absolute Control

No subscriptions. No ads. No tracking. Your music, your rules. It is your personal Spotify.

Uncompromised Audio

Stream your high-fidelity lossless FLAC files without compression artifacts or extra fees.

Your Curation

You control the tags, genres, and cover art. No more generic categories for your library.

For Creators

Publish your works-in-progress directly. Bypass corporate gatekeepers and control your distribution.

The Unfindable Tracks

Play your physical CD rips, rare imports, and independent releases that streaming services ignore. If you own the file, you can play it.

Immortal Library

No more digital disappearance. Tracks on streaming services vanish; yours stay forever.

Zero-Install Access

Run it on all devices in your network (or even remotely). No need to install anything on your phones, tablets, or other computers.

Stop Renting, Start Owning

If you don't want to support wars or deal with Spotify's endless subscriptions, install the Synthwave Player on your own server. Enjoy your music from anywhere, with unlimited access forever.

Feature Streaming Services Synthwave Player
Ownership
Rented (Access only)
Absolute (Your files)
Monthly Cost
$10.99+ / month
$0 (Self-hosted), with unlimited listeners — Optional PRO version available
Audio Quality
Compressed (Lossy)
Lossless (FLAC/WAV), Compressed (MP3, Opus, M4A)
Privacy
Data Harvested
Zero Tracking
Library Content
Limited by licenses
Unlimited (Remixes, OSTs, Imports, Edits, Personal Files, etc)
Playlists
Manual / Algorithmic
Dynamic "Views" (Filters = Playlists)
Ads & Distractions
Constant Upsells
100% Ad-Free Forever
Lyrics
Paywalled / Missing
Automatic (Included)
Ethics
Invests €600M in AI military weapons
Zero investment in warfare

Feature Showcase

Every tool you need to master your music collection.

Synthwave Player intelligent fuzzy search interface
Synthwave Player dynamic sidebars for artist and album discovery

Intelligent Discovery

Finding the perfect track shouldn't be a chore. Our search engine thinks like you do.

  • Fuzzy Search Tolerates typos and partial words, prioritizing results by relevance.
  • Dynamic Sidebars Artists and albums update in real-time based on your current selection.

Masterful Curation

Build the perfect flow with tools designed for power users.

Rating Filters

Create complex views like "5-star 80s tracks" and share them as unique playlists.

Multi-Select Power

Combine multiple genres, artists, or playlists to create your ultimate mix on the fly.

Instant Downloads

Do you like the song you're listening to? Download it directly. No waiting, no registration, and no compression—save a local copy of your favorite music instantly at its maximum original quality.

Synthwave Player advanced star rating and genre filters Synthwave Player multi-select list management
Synthwave Player server-provided synchronized lyrics

Immersive Experience

Automatic Lyrics: Searches available lyrics on internet and directly saves them. INCLUDED
Dynamic Visualizer: Spinning vinyl with neon glow.
Mouse Wheel Power: Control volume and crossfade.

Social & Connected

Synthwave Player precise song position sharing

Precision Sharing

Share a link to a song starting at the exact second you want. Perfect for highlighting that one solo.

Synthwave Player internet radio station support

Web Radio Support

Add and play live internet radio streams alongside your local music library seamlessly.

Synthwave Player friends network and server linking

Friends Network

Link your friends' servers directly in your menu. Browse their public collections with ease.

Full Administration

Customize the interface and secure your server with professional-grade tools.

  • UI Customization: Toggle columns and effects.
  • System Intelligence: Automatic version checks and dependency verification.
  • Secure Admin: Password protected management with brute-force protection.
  • Standalone Library Engine: Native music scanning with real-time file watching, removing all external dependencies.
Different settings for listeners and for the administrator
Synthwave Player public interface settings Synthwave Player administrative control panel
Live Server Management

Featured Keyboard Hotkeys

Playback Control

Toggle Play/PauseSpace
Play SelectedEnter
Next TrackCtrl + →
Previous TrackCtrl + ←

Navigation

Move Selection↑ / ↓
Page Up/DownPgUp / PgDn
First / Last SongHome / End

Seeking & Volume

Seek 5s← / →
Seek 60sShift + ← / →
Adjust VolumeMouse Wheel

Ratings & UI

Set Rating (1-5)Ctrl + 1-5
Close Modals/LyricsEsc

Take It Anywhere

Progressive Web App (PWA) functionality for a native-like mobile experience on any device.

Lock Screen Controls

Manage playback and view cover art directly from your phone's lock screen (iOS & Android).

Background Playback

Keep the music going reliably even when the app is minimized or your screen is off.

Synthwave Player mobile interface - playlist view Synthwave Player mobile interface - now playing screen Synthwave Player mobile interface - library search Synthwave Player mobile interface - artist view Synthwave Player mobile interface - settings

Technical Excellence

Built on a non-blocking asynchronous architecture for maximum performance.

Real-time Sync

WebSockets keep your UI in perfect sync with the server for library updates and lyrics.

Auto-Port Forward

Built-in UPnP support automatically configures your router for global access.

Ultra Lightweight

Handles hundreds of streams with as little as 50MB RAM. Perfect for Raspberry Pi.

Hardened Security

Brute-force protection and path traversal hardening keep your server safe.

PREMIUM UPGRADE

Unlock God Mode

For the true audiophile who demands perfection. The PRO version is the culmination of over 8 months of intensive, high-level engineering and significant R&D investment.

Multi-User Accounts

Create different types of accounts with specific privileges for viewing, tag editing, or administration.

Private Mode

Make your player completely private, accessible only to you and your authorized users.

Pro Audio Engine

10-band EQ with presets, deep bass, extra stereo width, and crossfading for smooth transitions.

Embeddable Player

Seamlessly embed your music player into any website, just like this landing page.

White-Label Branding

Professionalize your instance by removing the Synthwave Player branding and download watermarks.

Disable Downloads

Protect your library by optionally disabling the download feature for your listeners.

Lifetime Use

Buy once, install on all your devices, have future updates, forever.

High-Performance Serving

Advanced async architecture capable of handling thousands of simultaneous connections.

Synthwave Player professional 10-band equalizer
Temporal Opportunity

Content Creator Partnership

Help us spread the word. Create a video or article about Synthwave Player—if it reaches 100k views, we'll grant you a Lifetime PRO License and exclusive Elive premium features for free.

APPLY NOW

Buy the PRO version

April Launch Offer

Get PRO for only $35 instead of $50, only this month!

00Days
00Hrs
00Min
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PayPal $35 Crypto $35

Standard price. One-time payment for lifetime access:

Pay $50 with
PayPal
Pay $50 with
Crypto
Pay $50 with
Stripe / Card

After payment, you will receive an email with your license key and installation instructions.
If you don't receive your email within 1 hour, please write to thanatermesis@gmail.com

Security Warning: Beware of Pirated Versions

We have been informed about modified "PRO" versions circulating on third-party sites containing dangerous rootkits. Never trust unofficial sources. To ensure your security and the authenticity of the source code, only download from our official channels.

Continuous Evolution

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you are directly fueling the maintenance and active development of the player. Your contribution ensures the project stays alive, ad-free, and independent.

Your support helps us implement an ambitious roadmap of high-end features designed to make this the ultimate media station. As a token of gratitude, supporters gain immediate access to the PRO version and all its future updates.

Support on Patreon

Upcoming PRO Vision & Roadmap:

  • Guided Global Access: One-click "Enable Online Server" with automated secure configuration.
  • Video Streaming: Full support for video libraries with animated thumbnails.
  • Global Localization: Multi-platform translations to bring the player to every language.
  • Advanced Monitoring: Visual dashboards for server logs, load monitoring, and system health.
  • Hardened Defense: Integrated ban system, AbuseIPDB integration, and smart rate-limiting.
  • Listening Analytics: Deep insights with playback graphs and preference analysis.
  • Retro Audio Support: Native playback for tracker modules (.xm, .mod, .it, .s3m).

Ready to Run?

Recommended

The Easiest Way: Elive

Don't worry about dependencies and configuration. Download Elive Retrowave Edition, put it on a USB, and boot temporary your computer from it. It's a complete, beautiful operating system with Synthwave Player pre-installed and ready to use with music included.

Download Elive (Retrowave Edition) How to install on USB

Or Install manually

Native Packages

The easiest way to install on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, or OpenSUSE.

DEB
Download .deb
For Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Kali
RPM
Download .rpm
For Fedora, OpenSUSE, RHEL

Portable & Containerized

Run anywhere without installing dependencies.

Download AppImage
Runs on any Linux distro. Just chmod +x and run.
Download Tarball (.tgz)
Pre-compiled binaries in a tar archive.
docker run -d -p 8160:8160 -v /music:/music elive/synthwave-player
pi@raspberry:~

# 1. Install dependencies

sudo apt-get install libmojolicious-perl libnet-upnp-perl libxml-libxml-perl

# 2. Clone & Run

git clone https://github.com/Elive/synthwave-player.git

cd synthwave-player && chmod +x synthwave-player

./synthwave-player

_ Server running at http://localhost:8160

Support the Vision

Synthwave Player and Elive Linux are labors of love, designed to give you back control of your digital life.

I've spent years crafting software that is cost-free and respects your privacy. From the unique desktop experience of Elive to specialized tools like this player, my goal is to make computing enjoyable and free from corporate constraints.

If you like the work that I do, please consider supporting me on Patreon so that I can continue surprising you. Your support makes every new feature possible!

Help me keep creating things for you