Getting music around the house (cheaply) has been my priority recently. I have a touchscreen jukebox which runs Albumplayer which works nicely… however, this is used only for parties and isn’t ideal most of the time. 

UPDATE: 17 May 2010
iTunesTouch is now available for download. It’s in BETA release and can be found on the main iTunesTouch page

I have been testing out the iTunes “Remote” application on the iPhone… and I love it. When paired correctly with my iTunes library it allows me to change the current song and browse my entire library.

It’s also perfect for a party. Most of my mates have iPhones, so if they have this remote application, they can also browse the library and request / vote for songs. (This mode is different to the paired mode – so they cannot control what actually plays).

So all this is all good and well and now serves my purpose well. I have wireless speakers around the house, the jukebox sitting upstairs in a cupboard and all is fine and dandy.

The problem will come when I have my next party. The touchscreen jukebox will be required! I cannot expect people to use their phones to request music…. so I need a way for people to use the same database (iTunes). ITunes is great.. but putting that in front of my party guests will be a disaster. They have access to playlists and could ruin the flow of music. I need a way of having a “read/write” mode only… ie: no delete/amend options….

iTunes Jukebox Plugin

So I started looking for a plugin / application which could sit on top of iTunes and allow a more native jukebox style of application. There wasn’t really much I could find. So, I’ve started to write one.

MUST haves

  • Cover view of all albums (showing artwork)
  • click cover to view tracklist on a popup screen
  • Visible playlist which is controlled by iTunes DJ mode
  • Add to playlist (from the tracklisting – the track is added to the end of playlist)
  • Play / Pause button

NICE TO haves

  • Voting for existing tracks in the playlist (to bump up the list)
  • Admin mode login to remove tracks from playlist
  • Add entire album to playlist (possibly in admin mode only)

I will be using this post to keep people updated.

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