slate music GitHub

Your music.
In its own space.

A beautiful home for the records you own. Synced lyrics, bit-perfect sound and a library that keeps up with you.

Download for Windows

Windows 10 / 11 · v1.1.5 · Free & open source

Slate Music Home, with Jump back in and Recently added shelves of demo albums and the listening panel
Actual app. Original demo collection.View full size

Local by nature. Your library works offline.

Made for listening. Gapless, with room to breathe.

Always yours. Your files stay untouched.

For every album
you come back to.

The sleeves, the track order, the song you forgot you loved. Give your collection a place that feels like it belongs.

Blue Hour album detail in Slate Music, with original cover artwork and tracks in album orderAlbum view, with a demo record.

Find your way back.

Browse by album or artist, or press Ctrl+K and type a few letters: search forgives typos and finds songs, albums, artists and actions in one place.

Let the record play.

Gapless playback keeps an album together. Smart crossfades start where the music ends and never fade a song that runs into the next.

Arrange it your way.

Pick several songs, drag them onto a playlist or the queue, and sort any list by its columns. Your queue and place are there when you come back.

Every word,
right on time.

Now Playing gives a song the whole window: a large, sharp cover, colours taken from it, and lyrics that follow along.

Now Playing with a demo song: the cover on the left and synced lyrics highlighting the current line

Lyrics, word by word.

Each word lights up as it is sung when the lyrics carry word times; otherwise the line being sung does. From an .lrc file beside the song, lyrics stored in the file, or the free LRCLIB database. Click a line to jump to it.

Made from the cover.

The progress bar, playing indicator and backdrop take their colour from the album art. Covers are kept sharp for large screens.

Up next, in reach.

Switch to the queue without leaving the view. Ctrl+L opens it from anywhere; Esc takes you back.

Hear exactly
what you own.

Every step from the file to your speakers is shown, and nothing changes the sound unless you ask it to.

The signal path of a 24-bit, 96 kHz demo song played bit-perfect in exclusive mode

Bit-perfect, when you want it.

Exclusive mode sends each song at its own sample rate, with no Windows mixing or resampling. The signal path says when the device gets exactly what is in the file.

Even volume, no clipping.

Loudness levelling measures every song once (EBU R128, or the file's ReplayGain) and keeps albums as they were mastered.

Tuned to your headphones.

A 10-band equalizer with presets, remembered for each output device. Plug your headphones back in and the music follows them.

Your listening,
looked after.

Worked out from what you play on this PC. Nothing leaves it unless you choose.

Your year with a demo listening history: hours listened, longest streak, top songs and top artists

Your year in music.

Plays, minutes, your longest streak, new artists, and your top songs, artists and albums. Home brings back what you were playing and favourites you forgot.

Smart playlists.

Build playlists from rules, such as favourites you haven't played in months or songs from the 80s, and they keep themselves up to date.

Share it, if you like.

Scrobble to Last.fm, and let Discord show what you're listening to. Both are off until you switch them on.

A little less reaching.

Keyboard shortcuts, a command bar, Windows media and taskbar controls, and a mini-player that stays out of the way.

A library that keeps up.

Watched folders, quick rescans, moved songs recognized with their plays and favorites, and covers found beside your files.

Nothing between you and play.

No player account. No analytics. Local playback and organization work without a connection.

Spotify playlist import

The playlist you love.
The files you own.

Pick one of your Spotify playlists, your Liked Songs or your top songs. Slate Music looks for the matching recordings in your local library, keeping Spotify's order.

Review uncertain matches, correct versions, and save the playlist. It can update itself from Spotify each time you open the app. Missing songs stay visible and out of the playable queue.

Read the connection guide

Metadata matching only. No Spotify audio downloads. Connecting requires your own Spotify developer app and an eligible account.

How matching works Illustration
Original Blue Hour demo artwork

Blue Hour

Meridian

Album order, preserved
  1. 01
    First LightSame title, artist and recording
    Available
  2. 02
    Blue HourSame title, artist and recording
    Available
  3. 03
    In BetweenA different version needs a look
    Review
  4. 04
    A Quiet PlaceNo matching local file
    Missing
Only confirmed local files enter your queue.

Make yourself at home.

A few moments to set up.
Your collection takes it from there.

  1. 1

    Install Slate Music.

    Download the Windows x64 installer, run it, then open Slate Music from Start.

  2. 2

    Choose your music folder.

    Slate reads your tags and album artwork. Your music files and folders stay exactly as they are.

  3. 3

    Find a record. Press play.

    Build your queue, save your favorites, or let shuffle find something you haven’t heard in a while.

Before you press play.

The useful details.

Which audio formats can I play?

FLAC, MP3, WAV, AAC/M4A, ALAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus and AIFF have been tested. Raw AAC has limited seeking support. WMA, APE, DSD and protected files are not supported.

Music plays through Windows at 48 kHz stereo, or, with exclusive mode on, at each song's own sample rate with nothing changed on the way (bit-perfect). See audio details.

Does it really work offline?

Yes. Playback, search, playlists, lyrics files and your saved library work offline. Songs without lyrics of their own are looked up online unless you switch that off in Settings. Other features that go online are optional: Spotify import, original years, artist photos, Last.fm and update checks. Each can be switched off in Settings.

What does Discord see?

Nothing, until you switch on the Discord status in Settings. Then the Discord app on your PC shows "Listening to Slate Music" with the album cover, song and artist while music plays. The status goes only to that app and needs no Discord setup; to find the cover, the album and artist name are looked up in Apple's iTunes catalogue, Deezer's or MusicBrainz, which you can switch off.

Will it change my music files?

No. Slate Music reads your files and stores its own library database separately. It does not retag, move, rename or delete your music. Playlists, favorites and virtual albums live in Slate’s database.

What do I need on Windows?

Windows 10 or 11, a 64-bit x64 PC, WebView2 and a working audio output. WebView2 is usually already installed; setting it up on a new PC may need internet.

The installer does not currently have a Windows Authenticode publisher certificate, so Windows may show an unknown-publisher warning. Download only from the official GitHub release.

How do updates work?

Updates are checked and downloaded automatically by default. Update files and their version are verified cryptographically. Installation requires confirmation while paused, or your choice to install on exit. Your library and settings are preserved.

Is Slate Music free?

Yes. Slate Music is free and open source under the MIT license. No Slate account or subscription is needed. Spotify controls eligibility for its optional metadata API; see the Spotify setup guide.

Good records.
A good place to keep them.

Download Slate Music

For Windows 10 / 11. Yours to enjoy.

Release notes & all downloads