What You Need to Run Swing Music and Where the Project Stands

Updated

Swing Music (swingmx.com) is a self-hosted music streaming server, so the two things you must supply are your own music files and a machine to run the server on. It is distributed under AGPL-3.0, and the project describes itself as still young, with more features planned for future releases. If you want a hosted service that provides the music catalog for you, this is not that — it is closer to "a cooler Spotify, but you bring your own music."

What you need before installing

  • Your own music library. Swing Music streams files you already have. There is no built-in catalog to subscribe to.
  • A machine to run it on. The site offers a one-command install for Linux or Mac (Apple Silicon), Docker images, and portable binaries for Linux, Windows, and Mac, so a desktop, laptop, or home server all work as hosts.
  • Storage paths for music and config. The documented Docker setup mounts /music and /config as volumes, so plan where your library lives and where settings should persist.
  • A port to serve on. The Docker example maps port 1970 and sets SWINGMUSIC_PORT=1970, so that is the default to expect unless you change it.

Ways to install it

Method Command or artifact Notes from the site
One-command install curl -fsSL http://setup.swingmx.com | bash Linux or Mac (Apple Silicon)
Docker Compose ghcr.io/swingmx/swingmusic:latest Mounts /music and /config, port 1970
Docker CLI Same image Same mounts and port as Compose
Portable binaries Linux, Windows, Mac Download and run directly

A minimal Docker Compose service looks like this:

services:
  swingmusic:
    image: ghcr.io/swingmx/swingmusic:latest
    container_name: swingmusic
    ports:
      - "1970:1970"
    volumes:
      - /path/to/music:/music
      - /path/to/config:/config
    environment:
      - SWINGMUSIC_PORT=1970
      - SWINGMUSIC_DEVICE_NAME=Host name here
    restart: unless-stopped

Replace /path/to/music with the folder holding your library and /path/to/config with a folder for persistent settings. After the container starts, the server should be reachable on the port you mapped.

What the project gives you today

The site lists these features as available out of the box:

  • Clean, modern UI for browsing and playback.
  • Folder browser for navigating your library the way it is organized on disk.
  • Recommendations and mixes based on your listening activity (marked PRO on the site).
  • Listening stats covering history and habits.
  • Fuzzy search that tolerates typos and misspellings.
  • Duplicate handling that hides duplicate tracks, preferring the highest bitrate.
  • Collections that group albums, artists, and other items onto one page — described as "like a playlist, but for larger items."

Current project status

Swing Music is open source under AGPL-3.0 and is presented as a young project with more features to come. The site does not publish a stable release schedule or a feature roadmap, so treat the current feature set as the reliable baseline and watch the documentation and newsletter for updates. Pricing details are not stated on the page, so do not assume the hosted or PRO elements are free — check the site's pricing page before relying on them.

Quick decision guide

  • Choose Swing Music if you already have a music collection, are comfortable running a Docker container or a binary, and want a self-hosted interface with folder browsing, fuzzy search, and duplicate cleanup.
  • Look elsewhere if you want a service that supplies the music catalog, or you need a mature project with a long release history.