This month in digital music libraries - November 2025
November 28, 2025 in digital music by Dan Gravell
November brought cultural milestones and new challenges for digital music enthusiasts. MTV’s closure marked the end of an era, while AI-generated music sparked questions about how we critique art that never truly existed. Music player design came under scrutiny with proposals for more immersive interfaces, and music theory got a fresh perspective from first principles.
But perhaps most pressing for self-hosters: storage prices climb as AI consumes capacity, and Windows users discovered their OS now deploys an AI agent with write access to their carefully curated libraries; an irony if you were trying to flee algorithmic streaming services…
Music culture and history
The month kicked off with a cultural milestone: MTV, the channel that revolutionized music broadcasting, has ceased showing music videos - though arguably the rot set in decades ago.
It was all downhill once they started airing "The Real World" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 1 November 2025 at 15:30
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On the more esoteric side of music appreciation, a thought-provoking essay grapples with the conceptual challenge of critiquing AI-generated cover albums - in this case, a generated Beach Boys interpretation of Beatles’ songs.
On _The Beach Boys Sing The Beatles_ : "I don't think the correct vocabulary or conceptual framework has yet been developed to discuss a work like this" nickdrozd.github.io/2025/10/07/b...
— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 7 November 2025 at 16:15
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Rethinking music player design
A compelling critique of modern music player interfaces proposes a beautiful alternative to the now-standard minimalist “now playing” screen - arguing that current apps and services don’t quite capture the immersive listening experience many users crave.
A really good rundown, with a quite beautiful proposal for an immersive "now playing" screen, of how different music apps and services don't *quite* hit the mark hicks.design/journal/my-p... Thanks @hicks.design - something that @asti.ga could follow.
— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 9 November 2025 at 16:01
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Music theory and audio technology
An intriguing exploration of music theory from first principles…
An interesting perspective on music theory: starting from random notes, how can laws of music theory be applied to constrain the music so it sounds good? dmitri.mycpanel.princeton.edu/whatmakesmus... Thanks @dmitri.tymoczko
— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 13 November 2025 at 15:30
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Meanwhile, the audiophile community considers whether hi-fi and immersive audio technologies can enhance the audiobook experience - a natural extension of the pursuit of sonic perfection beyond music.
How does hi-fi and immersive audio affect audiobooks? audiophilestyle.com/ca/bits-and-... Thanks @audiophilestyle.com
— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 17 November 2025 at 16:03
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Self-hosting under pressure
For those maintaining personal music libraries, November brought twin challenges. First, hard drive prices continue their upward march as AI data centers consume storage capacity - though perhaps the AI bubble will eventually burst and flood the market with cheap secondhand drives.
If you haven't upgraded your music storage recently, you might be too late... (or maybe you can wait for the #AiBubble to pop and pick up second hand storage on the cheap!) www.tomshardware.com/pc-component...
— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 19 November 2025 at 15:30
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More concerning: Windows users who self-host to escape algorithmic recommendations may want to investigate Microsoft’s new AI agent, which has write access to your music library. The irony of avoiding streaming services’ algorithms only to have an OS-level AI meddling with your carefully curated collection is not lost on anyone.
If you self host your own music library to avoid algorithmic recommendations, and use #Windows, you may want to disable this... www.windowslatest.com/2025/11/18/w... - note the agent has write access to your music!
— bliss - automated music library management (@blisshq.com) 23 November 2025 at 15:45
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More next month!
Photo by Bruno Bučar on Unsplash
