MediaMonkey

MediaMonkey is a digital media player and media library application developed by Ventis Media Inc., for organizing and playing audio on Microsoft Windows and Android operating systems. MediaMonkey for Windows (sometimes noted as MMW) includes various management tools, and is extensible using plugins, while MediaMonkey for Android (often referred to as MMA) is an adjunct for sharing the library with Android devices. MediaMonkey is commonly displayed/marketed as a solution for managing large libraries of music.[2][3][4]

Not to be confused with Monkey's Audio, an unrelated lossless audio codec.
MediaMonkey
Developer(s)Ventis Media Inc.
Stable release(s)
Windows5.0.4.2690[1] Edit this on Wikidata / 23 November 2022
Preview release(s) [±]
5.0.3.2607 Beta (February 14, 2022 (2022-02-14)) [±]
Operating systemAndroid, Microsoft Windows
TypeMedia player
LicenseFreemium
Websitewww.mediamonkey.com

MediaMonkey uses the freemium licensing model. The base program is available as freeware but a premium "Gold" license unlocks additional features such as the ability to have multiple media collections, organize files automatically, and others.[5] Both editions can be extensively enhanced with skins, third-party plugins, and user-generated extension scripts. It uses SQLite to manage its database.[6]

Features

Audio CDs

Music can be ripped from audio CDs and encoded into most supported formats. Music can be burned to CD/DVD format in compressed or CD audio format, optionally normalizing the volume level of the songs in the process.[7]

Supported formats

MediaMonkey supports music playback using MP3, AAC, WMA, FLAC, MPC, APE, and WAV. It can adjust volume levels automatically using ReplayGain and MP3Gain.[7]

Music library

MediaMonkey's music library attempts to organize and categorize a user's music collection. Upon installation, it will scan the user's hard drives for music files and add them to its library. Ratings and playback information can be imported from other media players such as Winamp and Windows Media Player.[8] Podcasts are supported through the Podcatcher which allows the user to subscribe to podcasts that MediaMonkey will automatically download. It can also monitor the user's hard drive to ensure that any changes are automatically updated in the library.[7]

Device sync

MediaMonkey can sync music files with most portable audio devices including the Apple iPod, Apple iPhone, Palm Pre, and Android-based devices.[9]

Addons

MediaMonkey has support for third-party plugins to extend the base functionality. Available plugins include a Last.fm scrobbler, a plugin to show lyrics, and a web remote-control interface.[10] MediaMonkey also supports the Winamp 2 API, allowing a user to use any of the many input, output, DSP, and visualization plugins developed for Winamp.[11]

History

Songs-DB

MediaMonkey was first developed in 2001 under the name Songs-DB. Songs-DB version 1.0.0 was released on October 12, 2001.[12] Development progressed steadily with version 1.1 released June 7, 2002.[13] Songs-DB 1.1 was the first version to provide Winamp plugin support.[14] Version 1.2 was released on July 3, 2002, and included improved Winamp plugin support, significant UI improvements, and scripting support.[15] Version 1.3 was released on October 31, 2002, and added Ogg Vorbis support and the ability to burn CDs.[16]

MediaMonkey 2

For version 2.0, Songs-DB was renamed to MediaMonkey.[14] MediaMonkey 2.0 was released on August 25, 2003.[17] MediaMonkey 2.2, released on June 9, 2004, added iTunes-like device synchronization.[18] This synchronization functionality was extended to include syncing to actual iPods in version 2.4, released June 5, 2005.[19] The last major release of the 2.x series was MediaMonkey 2.5, released on December 28, 2005. MediaMonkey 2.5 added improved synchronization for all current iPod, Creative Labs, and iRiver devices, along with full FLAC support.[20] Minor releases of MediaMonkey continued for the next year, culminating in MediaMonkey 2.5.5 which was released on January 30, 2007.[21]

MediaMonkey 3

MediaMonkey 3.0.1 was released on December 25, 2007.[22] MediaMonkey 3 was designed specifically with large user libraries in mind. This was seen in version 3.0.3, released on June 19, 2008, which increased the supported library size to 100,000+ tracks (from a previously advertised 50,000 tracks).[23]

MediaMonkey 4

MediaMonkey 4.0 was released on December 16, 2011. This version introduced better synchronization with Android devices, library sharing over DLNA / UPnP, improved audio output via WASAPI, the ability to run from a USB stick, and secure CD ripping.[24] [25] [26]

MediaMonkey 4.1.0 was released Jan 31, 2014. This version introduced wireless synchronization with MediaMonkey for Android and bi-directional synchronization, a darker look and feel, and UPnP improvements.[27]

The current version is MediaMonkey 4.1.29, released in July 2020.[28]

MediaMonkey 5

MediaMonkey 5.0 entered a public beta on December 20, 2016.[29] This version uses the Chromium rendering engine and HTML for its user interface, as opposed to previous versions' natively rendered interface.

MediaMonkey Server

Alpha testing for an open-source, server-only implementation of MediaMonkey was publicly announced on August 15, 2018. Clients connect to the MediaMonkey server (MMS) from either a web browser or MediaMonkey 5 beta, to access and manage the media library. According to the developer Rusty, "We created it because UPnP doesn't scale sufficiently for our users, and because DB sharing hacks weren't sufficiently robust.[30]"

Assessments

MediaMonkey has been widely recognized for many years as a leading tool for organizing and managing large libraries of digital music, praised for its automatic functions and other powerful capabilities. It is criticized for having an outdated user interface, being difficult to learn, and only running on Windows.[31][32][33][34][35][36]

See also

References
  1. "MediaMonkey 5.0.4.2690 Ventis Media, Inc". Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  2. Tyagi, Anubhav (23 January 2019). "10 Best iTunes Alternatives For Windows, Mac, And Linux (2020)". TechWorm. Techworm Online Media Private Limited. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  3. Agarwal, Rachit (18 September 2018). "17 Best iTunes Alternatives You Can Use (2020)". Beebom. Beebom Media Private Limited. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  4. Ellis, Cat (23 August 2017). "MediaMonkey review". TechRadar. Future US, Inc. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  5. "MediaMonkey Gold Feature List". MediaMonkey.com. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  6. "MediaMonkey Database Structure". MediaMonkey.com.
  7. "Free Features". MediaMonkey.com.
  8. "Review of MediaMonkey 3". IT Reviews. Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  9. "Compatible Device List". MediaMonkey.com.
  10. "General Addons". MediaMonkey.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-15. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  11. "Addon Development". MediaMonkey.com.
  12. "Songs-DB Version 100 Beta Released". MediaMonkey.com. October 12, 2001.
  13. "Songs-DB Version 1.1 Released". MediaMonkey.com. June 7, 2002.
  14. MediaMonkey Change Log
  15. "Songs-DB Version 1.2 Released". MediaMonkey.com. July 3, 2002.
  16. "Songs-DB Version 1.3 Released". MediaMonkey.com. October 31, 2002.
  17. "MediaMonkey 2.0 Now Available". MediaMonkey.com. August 25, 2003.
  18. "Announcing MediaMonkey 2.2". MediaMonkey.com. June 9, 2004.
  19. "Announcing MediaMonkey 2.4". MediaMonkey.com. June 5, 2005.
  20. "Announcing MediaMonkey 2.5". MediaMonkey.com. December 28, 2005.
  21. "MediaMonkey 2.5.5 Released!". MediaMonkey.com. January 30, 2007.
  22. "MediaMonkey 3.0.1 Released". MediaMonkey.com. December 25, 2007.
  23. "MediaMonkey 3.0.3 Music Manager Launches". MediaMonkey.com. June 19, 2008.
  24. "MediaMonkey 4.0 – Brings the 'media' to MediaMonkey". MediaMonkey.com. November 16, 2011.
  25. "MediaMonkey 4.0.2 Released". MediaMonkey.com. December 25, 2011.
  26. "MediaMonkey 4.0.3 Released". MediaMonkey.com. February 22, 2012.
  27. "MediaMonkey » News". MediaMonkey.com. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  28. "MediaMonkey 4 Test Builds - Page 26 - MediaMonkey forum". www.mediamonkey.com. Ventis Media. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  29. "MM5 Test builds (5.0.0 Beta available) - MediaMonkey forum". www.mediamonkey.com. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  30. "MediaMonkey Server pre-release testing - MediaMonkey forum". MediaMonkey Forum. Ventis Media Inc. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  31. "The Best Music Management Software". TheSweetBits. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  32. Boldt, Thomas (31 July 2017). "MediaMonkey Gold Review: Is It a Complete Media Library Manager?". SoftwareHow. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  33. Harris, Mark (24 June 2019). "The Best Free Music Management Tools for Organizing Your MP3s". Lifewire. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  34. Popescu, Vladimir (16 December 2018). "6 software for organizing your music files to find them quickly". Windows Report. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  35. Krishna (29 December 2014). "MediaMonkey: A Serious Media Organizer – Review and Giveaway". Make Tech Easier. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  36. Broida, Rick (24 October 2006). "Download of the Day: MediaMonkey (Windows)". Lifehacker. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
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