Stereo

Stereo is a music player for the Mac, built around albums. It plays through Apple Music, and it does not change your Apple Music library.

Stereo playing private music by Deftones, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing Amnesiac by Radiohead, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing Dopamine Chamber by Fontaines D.C., with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing …Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stone Age, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing 311 by 311, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing Allas Sak by Dungen, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing Dripping by Pile, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing Cutouts by The Smile, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing Evil Empire by Rage Against the Machine, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing One Day As A Lion EP by One Day As a Lion, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing Infinite Granite by Deafheaven, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right. Stereo playing Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins, with the cover on the left and the songs on the right.

It remembers how you know your music

Bring your listening history from Last.fm or Spotify, and Stereo shows how you came to know your music: when you first played an album, when you came back to it, and the albums you may have lost.

Cutouts by The Smile. You play it mostly from August to November. Amnesiac by Radiohead. Most of your listens go to Knives Out. You've played 12 other songs. Misery Is a Butterfly by Blonde Redhead. Your number 5 album of 2014. Played on 103 different days. Structuralism by Alfa Mist. You've played it about once a month since 2021.

Stereo needs testers

This is an early version. Put your usual player away for a week, and listen only in Stereo. Then say what got in your way.

Bring your history too. It's what makes Stereo different, and it's the part that most needs your judgment.

You need

Download Stereo

 

Only use Spotify? Ask for your history first, so that a free trial does not end while you wait.

Install

  1. Open the disk image, and drag Stereo to Applications.
  2. Open Stereo from Applications, and follow the welcome window.

Stereo looks for updates by itself, and asks before it installs one.

Bring your history

This is where Stereo gets interesting. You can skip it, and add it later in Stereo > Settings > Listening history.

Last.fm

A few minutes

Type your user name in Stereo, then select Import. You can use Stereo while it runs.

Spotify

Up to 30 days, so ask today

  1. Open the privacy page of your Spotify account.
  2. Tick only Extended streaming history, and untick Account data.
  3. Confirm the request in the email from Spotify.
  4. When the file arrives, choose the zip in Stereo.

No history to bring? Stereo keeps one from your first play, so there is little to see at first.

Send feedback

Write to hello@hobby.design. A screenshot helps.

Good to know

This is an early build, so expect rough edges. There is no backup or iCloud sync of your history yet.

The alpha is free. Stereo will be paid later. Each test build stops after 60 days, so keep it updated. Your history stays when you update.

If Stereo crashes, open the Console app, select Crash Reports, and attach the .ips file for Stereo.