I know most people will probably vote for XMMS, because the fact of the matter is that it's been around for so long, and so closely resembles Winamp (probably the most popular MP3 player in Windows). When I first started with Linux, i know that i used x11amp (now XMMS) because it was pretty much the only graphical MP3 application available for Linux. Nowadays there are a ton.

When Apple released iTunes for Windows last year, I fell in love with it, and ever since i've been searching for something similar for Linux, some have come close, but not all. Here is a quick run down on the selections:

XMMS - Probably the most popular due to its ease of use, it's age and maturity, and it's similarities with Winamp for Windows.

mpg123 - A console mp3 application, many other mp3 players are based off of mpg123 (mpg321)

mp3blaster - Another console mp3 application but with a graphical frontend (using curses), it's quite nice when using ssh to a server.

amaroK - A really nice KDE music player, includes playlist options similar to iTunes, as well as a really nice and functional cover manager for your full albums

Juk - Another KDE application, also has a nice music organization library.

Kaffeine - Mainly a Video application, but also supports music files with it's playlists.

MythTV - An all-in-one graphical application, great for home media centers. Includes plugins for Music, Video, DVD, TV, Weather, Web Browser and more

Zinf - An application that is being touted as the most similar to iTunes (even has comparisons on its homepage with other audio applications like Juk. Personally, I couldn't get this to work that well, but it has received good reviews.


My vote is for amaroK. I only came across this app a few weeks ago, but I fell in love with it, and it's cover manager is soooo nice. reminds me a lot of iTunes, and is much better than Juk or Zinf.

I know i'm probably missing a nice few, these are the only ones i could think of off the top of my head.