audacious deserves a shoutout which is missing from this list; it's basically foobar for linux with some additional features like system tray mode, winamp skin , and missing drag and drop folder generation (although it still works if you make a new playlist tab)

All I need is VLC and MPV

The one I like to use was not mentioned. It is called Gapless (g4music) and is available on Flathub. Basically, you just specify a library location and based on metadata it sort things. The Flatpak requires minimal permissions by default, but you can disable Network permission because it only uses it to song album art (which in most cases is embedded in the song file itself).

I'm looking for this exact rundown. If there is anything close to musicbee I'd love to know.

Quodlibet is pretty nice and has been my default for a good decade now. However, it still being on github makes it difficult to contribute to since I left Microslop's ecosystem.

I wish there were something out there in Rust that were extensible, but plugins seem to be difficult in rust.

Really nice overview

MPV?

there’s really no need to have a giant translucent strawberry in the middle of my screen at all times.

Alright, so, how do we tell 'em it can be toggled in the settings?

No mention of Cantata, nor acknowledgement of Amarok’s recent revival. Whatever the reason might be for those omissions, this article doesn’t do a very good job of representing the state of linux music players.

I use tauron and the ui is nice but god dam I find using it to be confusing