obsolete.computer/geekery/

I guess I'm still firmly in the "MP3 collection" camp

Published Tuesday, February 10, 2026

I tried doing a streaming service in a way that made sense to me: Tidal for high quality FLAC streaming, via a Mopidy plugin, playing back via distributed audio and controlled with any number of MPD clients so I could control it anywhere in the house. I thought it would work reasonably well. I was wrong.

  1. Mopidy is a music server similar to MPD but apparently requires a plugin to be compatible with MPD clients. No big deal there, just install & enable the appropriate plugin.
  2. I attempted to add an album via ncmpcpp and it threw an error: something about blacklisted commands. Ok, I guess I have to un-blacklist the command in the config, after reading some warning about how certain commands won't behave nicely with certain streaming service backends.
  3. Now when I add an album to the main playlist (a.k.a. a folder), it works but it takes an unsettling amount of time and my CPU fans spin up. Not a great sign. I remember that Mopidy is written in Python. (MPD, written in C++, queues up folders or entire artist trees basically instantly.)
  4. Ok, whatever, I decide to install the Tidal plugin and set up an account. I sign up for their free 30-day trial. Getting Mopidy connected was reasonably easy... it gives you a URL to visit, like activating a Roku app.
  5. There is of course no way to search for artists or albums from ncmpcpp (or any other MPD client I tried). So I have to use the Tidal web page to "add" or "favorite" artists or albums and then they'll become visible in ncmpcpp. Ok, I guess I can live with it.
  6. I go to add an album which I've favorited to the main Mopidy playlist. That part works. But then I go to play it back... nothing. Worse, Mopidy hangs (along with the 2 MPD clients I was testing out) and I have to kill/restart it. This happens multiple times, and no matter what I try it always hangs.
  7. For troubleshooting purposes, I go to the web client and try to play the same album there. Nothing. Some error apparently about by browser not supporting their DRM. (Google Widevine or something. Not installing that crap.)
  8. DRM huh? Supposing the reason Mopidy won't play is also a DRM issue, well, forget it, I guess. It's not worth it.
  9. Free trial cancelled. Goodbye Tidal.
  10. I then promptly uninstalled Mopidy and all the plugins, and reinstalled MPD. Experiment over. Back to my MP3 and vinyl collections I go.

I guess I'll just go put on a record, at least it won't track me or try to take away my rights.