After moving away from Spotify Premium, I’ve been curating my collection of MP3s and lossless FLAC files. I still yearn for Spotify’s user interface while working on my desktop, but I’ve discovered a fitting alternative that integrates with my media server.
Feishin is a free, open-source music playback client compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux, designed for media servers. It is based on the discontinued Sonixd app and works seamlessly with Jellyfin, Navidrome, and OpenSubsonic servers.
If you have one of these servers set up, simply install the Feishin app on your PC, log in to your server account, and start streaming. You can connect to multiple servers at once and switch between them effortlessly.
Personally, I use Feishin to stream music from my Jellyfin server, which houses my entire digital music library.
One of the features I appreciate about Feishin is its similarity to the Spotify desktop app. Upon launching it, you are welcomed with random music recommendations and the latest additions to your server. It also includes a private listening mode, ensuring your activity remains private from third-party extensions linked to your media server.
Feishin boasts an ‘auto DJ’ feature that automatically plays similar tracks once an album or playlist concludes, echoing Spotify’s Autoplay function that I found valuable for music discovery.
When searching for artists, Feishin displays your top five most-listened songs, artist bios (if available), and links to their information pages on platforms like MusicBrainz and Last.fm.
While playing music, Feishin can show and animate timestamped lyrics sourced from the internet, much like Spotify. Additionally, it supports scrobbling your playback with a scrobbling extension enabled on your music server. If you have a radio station extension, Feishin can also stream radio stations.
Feishin even includes features lacking in Spotify. Users can fully customize the theme, with options like Dracula and Catppuccin. Its audio fingerprinting feature in the playback timeline simplifies locating specific song segments.
To install Feishin, visit the Feishin GitHub release page, find the asset for your operating system, and download it. For Windows, select the file ending in win-x64.zip; for Apple Silicon Macs, choose mac-arm64.dmg; and for Intel Macs, go with mac-arm64.dmg. Personally, I opt for the portable AppImage file for Linux, making it easy to use across different devices.
Post-installation, you’ll configure the connection to your server, typically by entering the local IP address (or public URL) along with your username and password. Don’t forget to explore the settings app, as developers offer numerous options for customizing your experience, including visualizer settings.
If you’re contemplating a Spotify replacement, Feishin is a viable option, especially if you already host a Jellyfin instance or another compatible media server.
The good news is that setting up a Jellyfin server is straightforward. While a dedicated headless computer is ideal, you can run a Jellyfin server on almost any computer. Just follow the Jellyfin documentation for installation on your chosen device.
Once you’re set up, simply input the local IP address of the server computer into Feishin, along with your username and password.
While I haven’t tried them, other alternatives to Jellyfin include Navidrome and OpenSubsonic servers. From my experience, self-hosting a Nextcloud instance and uploading music allows the Nextcloud Music app to create an OpenSubsonic server for easy access through Feishin and other clients.
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I use Plexamp with my Plex server over a Cloudflare free account, and I find the buffering exceptional. I rarely experience interruptions while streaming, even when switching from 5G to LTE while driving. I have complete access to my 1500 CD library with FLAC lossless compression.