Free Software Activity: A Playlist maker for MPD based on genre and BPM

NOTE: This has been updated, rewritten, and otherwise improved. Read more here.

Back in November I wrote about mpdq, an MPD autoqueue client that has no external dependencies (and is pretty easy to set up).

I’ve used the data that MPDQ creates to make a playlist generator for MPD.  It makes it pretty easy to make playlists based on (currently) two criteria – genre and BPM.  Using Zenity, you’ll get a prompt asking you where to save the playlist, which genres to include, then what BPM to center around (and how much variation there should be).  Then, with just a touch of computer magic, you’ll get a nice playlist.

This kind of thing is important when you need a playlist of a specific BPM – like if you’re running for distance or doing another kind of cardio exercise.  Personally, I find high BPMs good for focusing on work, but you can use this to quickly find low BPM tracks as well.

I hope you find it useful!