I’ve cut my streaming subscriptions and replaced them with a mix of digitized CDs and FLACs, but the default media players built into Windows and Linux don’t offer the same convenience as Spotify. This is how I made my own music streaming service.

Navidrome is a personal streaming server

Whether you’re using Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube music, there is one constant behind the scenes: a music streaming server.

The streaming server is the software that transmits music from the service you’re using to the client on your PC or phone, which actually plays back the music.

I now have a large collection of MP3s and FLACs from digitizing CDs, but in order to replicate the convenience and accessibility of Spotify, I need my own streaming server.

There are a lot of options out there, including Jellyfin, which is particularly popular for TV and movies. However, Navidrome is a purpose-built streaming server for music, and it makes it easier to manage your music than other, more general options.

I’ve been running a Navidrome server on a Raspberry Pi as an in-car media streaming server, and now I’ve finally gotten around to setting one up on my home network.

You have app choices

Navidrome handles things “under the hood,” but it leaves the client side—the app that actually plays back the music—up to you. There are more than 40 clients that can connect to a Navidrome server, and you can try them until you find one that you like.

I’ve been using Symfonium with my car’s media server and like everything about it. The only potential downside is the one-time $9 payment for the app.

If you want something that is completely free, the Navidrome website has a list of other clients that are available. Some of them are available exclusively for the Apple ecosystem, but others are available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Android.

Most of them have all of the basic features you’ll need, so the determining factor comes down to which interface you like better.

Picking a server and installing Navidrome

Navidrome doesn’t require particularly powerful hardware, which means you can easily run it on an old thin client, a Raspberry Pi, or a container on a Proxmox server. That also means your music server probably won’t consume much power as long as your server is efficient, which is important for something that will be running 24/7.

If you want, you can also install Navidrome on Windows, but I’d recommend against it, since your main PC is likely to be turned off or go to sleep.

Since my setup is going to be on my home network, I have my Navidrome server running in a Proxmox container. However, a Raspberry Pi would also be a good option if you have an old one on hand.

I’d also recommend considering how you want to store your music. I have my Proxmox server configured so I can easily transfer the files I copy from CDs to my Proxmox server using SCP. However, on my Raspberry Pi media server, I just move things back and forth using a small external SSD instead.

If you’re going to use an external SSD, I’d recommend configuring Navidrome to look for music on that drive directly. That simplifies the entire process, since you only need to copy files to the drive and then plug it into your server to add new music.

Once you’ve figured what kind of setup you’d like, just follow the installation instructions on the Navidrome website to get it running. You only need to run four commands and add one line to a configuration file.

Create multiple backups of your music

Regardless of what hardware you use for your Navidrome server, you should make multiple backups of your music files. I’ve been digitizing CDs for a long while now, and while it isn’t difficult, it does take time per CD.

I wouldn’t want to lose all of those files just because I dropped the SSD going from my PC to my music server, or because of some other kind of hardware failure.

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Ideally, you want to make multiple backups in a few different locations. A hard drive stored in a cool, dry closet is a great place to start.

Once you cut your music subscription, you’re going to be tempted to do the same with other subscriptions. For anything besides, I’d recommend checking out Jellyfin—it is fantastic and completely free.

Brand

Raspberry Pi

Storage

8GB

CPU

Cortex A7

Memory

8GB

Operating System

Raspbian

Ports

4 USB-A

It’s only recommended for tech-savvy users, but the Raspberry Pi 5 is a tinkerer’s dream. Cheap, highly customizable, and with great onboard specs, it’s a solid base for your next mini PC.