Blackcandy: Self hosted music streaming server

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall themes

  • Thread centers less on Blackcandy itself and more on the broader landscape of self‑hosted music servers, how people assemble full stacks (server + clients + metadata tools), and why they self‑host instead of using commercial streaming services.

Why self-host music?

  • Desire to own collections rather than “rent” via Spotify/Apple Music.
  • Avoid disappearing tracks, regional restrictions, algorithmic recommendation bias, and corporate behavior seen as unethical.
  • Need support for rare material (demos, bootlegs, out‑of‑print albums) and exact releases/masters.
  • Many enjoy curating a library, doing metadata work, and treating music as a hobby.
  • Some still subscribe to streaming but use self‑hosting for gaps and long‑term control.

Blackcandy vs existing servers

  • People compare Blackcandy mostly to Navidrome, Jellyfin, Subsonic/Airsonic, Gonic, Funkwhale, Lyrion (Logitech Media Server), and Plex.
  • Interest in Blackcandy’s polished UI and custom mobile player; questions about offline downloads and CarPlay remain unclear.
  • Lack of mention of OpenSubsonic/Subsonic API support is a concern for those who rely on that ecosystem of clients.
  • Some dislike its tech stack (Ruby + Node + Docker) and prefer simpler/bare‑metal solutions.

Stacks, clients, and protocols

  • Common stacks:
    • Navidrome + Subsonic/OpenSubsonic clients (play:Sub, Symfonium, Substreamer, Amperfy, Supersonic).
    • Jellyfin + Finamp or Symfonium, sometimes plus Audiobookshelf and video via Jellyfin/Plex.
    • Gonic for directory‑based browsing and gapless playback cases.
    • Lyrion/Logitech Media Server and Squeezelite‑style players for multi‑room.
    • Icecast/mpd/Snapcast/OwnTone for radio‑like or multi‑room setups.
  • Protocols/“standards” discussed: OpenSubsonic/Subsonic, UPnP/DLNA, DAAP, AirPlay, Chromecast.
  • Many report that the weakest link tends to be clients (CarPlay, Alexa/Sonos, watch apps, gapless playback, codec support).

Metadata, organization, and discovery

  • Most servers rely heavily on file tags; users emphasize tagging with MusicBrainz tools or beets.
  • Debate over folder‑based browsing vs purely tag‑based UIs; some choose Gonic/Jellyfin specifically for directory browsing.
  • Several want better discovery on self‑hosted setups; ideas include using Discogs/MusicBrainz datasets, last.fm/ListenBrainz, or even local LLMs to build playlists.

Infrastructure and alternatives

  • Typical deployments: low‑power NAS or mini‑PCs (TrueNAS, Debian, Synology, TerraMaster), Raspberry Pis, plus Docker/Proxmox.
  • Access via Tailscale, WireGuard, Cloudflare Tunnel, or traditional reverse proxies (nginx, Traefik, Caddy) with per‑service subdomains.
  • Some argue streaming servers are overkill: they just sync the whole library to phone via Syncthing or SD cards, or use simple web playlists or network shares + VPN.